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I know the easier question is how, but can anyone prove why? Doesn't that leave a small sliver of doubt in some atheist minds?
A small sliver of doubt has little impact on the weight of the observable facts. The observable fact is that believers live in a world of their own imagination and make believe.
Asking "why" is a reasonable thing to do. Expecting that there must be an answer to the question "why"
is unrealistically simplistic however. Because it assumes everything must have a greater purpose. And that assumes that there must be higher forces at work. Which is childlike thinking. I have always found existence to be spectacular. And that is all the "why" I have ever required.
Nothing needs to happen for a reason, creatures simply adapt to their surroundings. And if the religious answer for existence is to continually worship the one who supposedly created us, no thanks.
I know the easier question is how, but can anyone prove why? Doesn't that leave a small sliver of doubt in some atheist minds?
We humans are not really currently evolving. For the vast majority of humans, we are too successful at converting the world we live in to suit our needs. Humans that are less suited for survival are cared for and protected by humans who are better suited for survival. Currently there is no driving force of hardship that would serve to cause evolution to occur among humans.
What is occurring however is an increasing diversity among humans. Should the ever popular apocalypse ever actually occur, natural selection will weed out those humans best suited to survive and successfully reproduce from those less suited for survival. Natural selection has shown a tendency in the past to favor intelligence in humans.
A small sliver of doubt has little impact on the weight of the observable facts. The observable fact is that believers live in a world of their own imagination and make believe.
Asking "why" is a reasonable thing to do. Expecting that there must be an answer to the question "why"
is unrealistically simplistic however. Because it assumes everything must have a greater purpose. And that assumes that there must be higher forces at work. Which is childlike thinking. I have always found existence to be spectacular. And that is all the "why" I have ever required.
"Reasonable" based on our understanding of the universe as delimited by our brain. However, while reasonable, it may still be as nonsensical as the question "why is blue?" - but our brains are unable to recognize that.
"Reasonable" based on our understanding of the universe as delimited by our brain. However, while reasonable, it may still be as nonsensical as the question "why is blue?" - but our brains are unable to recognize that.
"Why is blue" is not an unknowable question. The term "blue" in the English language somewhat arbitrarily identifies a particular hue of light in the rainbow of hues that exist in the spectrum of light that human eyes can detect. Light is a product of electromagnetic vibrations. Visible light, to humans, occurs at wavelengths of roughly 400 to 700 nanometers. The eye human perceives blue when observing light with a wavelength between approximately 450 and 495 nanometres. Objects which appear blue to a human eye do so because the object absorbs the wavelengths of light with a wavelength outside of 450 and 495 nanometres, and reflect the wavelengths of light 450 and 495 nanometres back to our eyes.
The human brain is perfectly capable of understanding the universe. Not all human brains were created equal, of course. Some brains confuse make believe for observing and actually understanding.
We humans are not really currently evolving. For the vast majority of humans, we are too successful at converting the world we live in to suit our needs. Humans that are less suited for survival are cared for and protected by humans who are better suited for survival. Currently there is no driving force of hardship that would serve to cause evolution to occur among humans.
I would argue that humans ARE evolving, but we are now largely self-directing our evolution (for good or ill). "Converting the world we live in to suit our needs" is part of that.
There are still driving pressures though. Existential angst is still a huge problem. Self-awareness was, and still is, very nearly more than we can bear, and modern technological, urban living makes it worse. There are still things, like the common cold, that we don't control basically at all, and then there's the flu, that we have poor control of, cancer, that we have VERY poor control of, etc.
I guess that's the big difference between believers and non believers: believers ask 'why', non believers understand there is no 'why'. Why implies a 'who'. We don't believe there is a 'who', therefore there is no 'why'.
I would argue that humans ARE evolving, but we are now largely self-directing our evolution (for good or ill). "Converting the world we live in to suit our needs" is part of that.
There are still driving pressures though. Existential angst is still a huge problem. Self-awareness was, and still is, very nearly more than we can bear, and modern technological, urban living makes it worse. There are still things, like the common cold, that we don't control basically at all, and then there's the flu, that we have poor control of, cancer, that we have VERY poor control of, etc.
Humans have greatly diversified over the last 10,000 years. There were perhaps a few million of is back then, and there are something like 7 billion of us now. But there is no evidence, no reason to suppose, that modern humans are significantly changed (have evolved) over the course of those 10,000 years. The invention of air conditioning not withstanding. Natural selection does continue to work to thin the herd to a certain degree, this is true.
Pastor EATEN by crocodiles trying to walk on water
Jonathan Mthethwa was killed by three crocodiles as he carried out a religious demonstration in Zimbabwe.
Shocked witnesses said the clergyman had “prayed the whole week” before the stunt went tragically wrong.
He had also fasted in the lead-up to the attempted miracle, which was inspired by a Biblical tale of Jesus walking on water during a storm.
Horrified members of the Saint of the Last Days Church said the pastor was completely devoured in a “couple of minutes”.
He promised he would demonstrate his faith to us today, but he unfortunately ended up drowning and getting eaten
He had waded around 30 metres into what was known locally as 'Crocodile River'. At this point he had promised his congregation he would rise up above the water.
Instead he was brutally attacked by a group of crocodiles who had been hidden in the deep water.
Deacon Nkosi said: “The pastor taught us about faith on Sunday last week.
“He promised he would demonstrate his faith to us today, but he unfortunately ended up drowning and getting eaten by three large crocodiles in front of us.
The attack occurred when the pastor was attempting to walk on water
“We still don’t understand how this happened because he fasted and prayed the whole week.”
I know the easier question is how, but can anyone prove why? Doesn't that leave a small sliver of doubt in some atheist minds?
For the same reason possums, anteaters, dolphins etc are here.
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