decalog10

RAFH says:"I don't know how atheists in general justify their trust in reality, because atheism isn't about trusting or not trusting reality, its a lack of belief in god(s) and other theistic beings. Sometimes that might include the supernatural at large as well."

Atheism isnt about trusting or not trusting reality? Think again. Life is uncertian and yet you beleive it has value, how do you justify this belief in the meaningfulness of life when all that is can also not be.

DBT

As there is insufficient evidence to support a belief in the existence of gods, a belief in the existence of a God is not only unjustified, but most probably mistaken.

decalog10

Perahelion:
Atheists are simply more evolved beings than theists, theists believe there is a mystical component to life of which there is absolutely no proof therefore they are likey to trust more in fantasy for their survival, atheists will be more practical and more likely to survive.

More evolved? LOL!

decalog10

MrWhy says:
Reality can be verified, which means it is consistent, reacts as expected, will not let you down. If your view of reality is not consistent and predictable then your view is not accurate. Much of reality can be sensually experienced. Some reality that cannot be sensed can be directly or indirectly measured scientifically.

Reality is not relative to the observer, as some would suggest. If two people jump off a 20-story building, landing on a concrete street, except for a few details, the results are not very relative. They are the same and predicable.

There is a class of events called thoughts, emotions, etc., that are wholly contained in a mind. (mind events?) Some people include these in the domain of reality, but mind events are very different in that they only exist to the experiencer. While these electrochemical events can be affected by external events, and also have effects within and outside the mind/body, the events themselves only exist in the individual mind that created them. This is the realm where gods live. They have no other known existence. Like the impact of a certain word dispersed in the air, their meaning and power is relative and manifest solely in a mind. These characteristics cause me to not include them as part of the reality domain.

Your wrong,reality will let you down.

Weltall

You've really got to learn to use the quote feature. Here's how, (quote)Text you want to quote(/quote), just replace the parentheses with square brackets. Also, it would help if you didn't copy three paragraph posts and respond with only 'Your (sic) wrong,reality will let you down'. Blanket denials don't explain why you object to the statement and don't leave room for discussion. Now then, as an atheist I observe that the nature of the world of yesterday and the world of today act in the same way and they will do so tomorrow. They have done so for billions of years, we can observe distant galaxies and see that gravity has worked as is for a very long time. The theist is the one with a problematic worldview. There is nothing in their worldview to prevent the god of choice from deciding tomorrow that 2+2=5 or that gravity is overrated and so stop the entire process. Whether the believer thinks their deity would do this or not is irrelevant.

decalog10

ziffel Believing in an invisible friend in the sky does nothing to make reality more certain, less fragile, or less futile. It's just another perception.

If this invisible friend in the sky is the infinite reality in all that is finite and if this infinite friend can save you from the finiteness of life then you would be wrong, the infinite friend would make reality more certain, less fragile and less futile.

decalog10

The question is why do you trust it, not that you dont trust it as much as theists do.
Nihilist have a mistrust toward reality, reality has no value for the nihilist.

DBT

Would a Nihilist care to step in front of a speeding truck in order to test his mistrust of reality? Perhaps solve the value problem at the same time?

Krosis

Here's an old quote.. and I'm not sure who said it...

"Reality is that which.. when you stop believing in it.. *doesn't* go away."

-A

Hot_ice72

This reminds me of Descartes 'Evil Demon' Argument. That we could be deceived by a powerful evil God and perhaps everything we experience is false and not really occurring. The argument just stabs at the notion that we can't be 'absolutely certain' of anything, because everything we've ever perceived could be wrong. The argument negates any understanding or 'trust' of reality, be it theistic or atheistic.

The real point is, do we have to be absolutely certain of our experiences of reality for them to be justified? I'd say no. Since we live most of our lives 'naturally' and synchronized with reality, there's no point in doubting it, or really, the burden of proof is on the arguments that claims reality is not what it seems.