A Simple Species, A Lazy Species, A Cowardly Species, a Tribal Species. But With Some Redeeming Features.

Looking at the news recently –  the Israel/Hamas war, trump, election denial, climate change, etc – and the comments and generated by this I was struck once again by a truth about us as a species.  We are a simple, lazy species, a tribal species.  With some redeeming features though. 

We Are a Simple Species

We are a simple species. We dislike complexity and seek simplicity in our thinking. We see a Muslim group attack and kill civilian women and children and simplify that by saying that all Muslims kill and murder innocent women and children. 

A Palestinian group sees a member of a nation that has reduced them to an afterthought, if even that. A nation which daily creates difficulties in a life already difficult. And so thus sees all citizens of that nation as enemies, even those that are working to create a peaceful way forward.

The world sees Muslims/Jews killing innocent women and children and so all Jews or all Muslims are killers and evil. 

We are a lazy species. We have a way of seeing and understanding the world and all that the world shows us, each piece of it in its place, and all supporting the whole picture.  Because of this all new information must then be understood within that way of seeing the world. We do not like to question this way of seeing. It is much easier, and more comfortable, to make the world’s information fit our seeing rather than question how we see the world. Rearranging the many pieces of our view of the world is hard and stressful work, so instead of making the effort to actually see we weed out what the world shows us and toss what does not fit, and then twist the square shape so that it fits the star shaped hole.

And so, the election was stolen, we live in on a young earth where each creature miraculously came into being, the climate is not changing, vaccines are evil, and the list goes on and on.

We are a simple lazy species.  We live in a complex, complicated world. One in which boundaries are more often blurred instead of sharp. One in which multiple motives, both noble and base, are often at work at the same time.  One in which there are multiple interacting causes.  One in which names that we create to describe the world often do not do so fully. 

Which is why we so often blunder.  We not take the time to question and research, to follow the different causes, to understand them. 

We are an inclusive and divisive species; a tribal species. We are born into a family, and a society.  And need both.  And will protect them, the us, against those who are not us, the them. And because we are simple we do not consider that perhaps our boundaries are too small.  And because we are lazy we do not search for the commonalities that are there.  And because we are cowardly we are afraid to do so, especially when our own may condemn us. 

Which is why if you condemn Hamas actions as evil and immoral you are against the Palestinians.  And why if you condemn the atrocities being committed by the Israeli military now against the Palestinians you are condemned as being antisemitic.

We are a cowardly species.  We are afraid to be wrong, and so do not question our beliefs.  Especially those that are most important to us. Fear motivates and affects our thinking.  Fear of those coming across the borders who are the other, fear of losing our comfortable lives if climate change is real, fear of new vaccines, and so forth.  And when combined with us being lazy, being simple, being tribal this can and does lead to tragic results. 

Some redeeming features.  While we are simple, we have learned how to handle complexity and rise above it.  At times. 

While we are lazy, we have been motivated to act and to question. And to change. Usually not easily or quickly. But still….

While we are cowardly, we have forced ourselves to be brave and to question and to learn. At times.

While we are tribal, our tribal nature is what has allowed the human species to survive and spread across the world. And through our history our definition of us has become broader and broader. 

And despite our simple, lazy, cowardly, tribal nature we have made a great deal of progress over the millennia. Human rights are a new construct, one not present thousands of years ago. And even if not universally followed at least it has the power to demand lip service.  Democracy is another recent invention. As is the growth of sciences.  Our lifespans have increased and child mortality decreased. And we are forming larger and larger groups of us. And creating organizations to reduce conflicts or at least their deadliness, between these groups. Not perfectly, not even close to perfectly.  But they are there, and that too is new. 

So, despite our nature I think there is still hope, even as we are going through one of those valleys that are so much a part of our history. In the past we have always climbed again.  I think we will here too, eventually, as we wrestle with our own natures.   

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A Foolish Consistency

“A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds…” 

Ralph Waldo Emerson

I have always liked this quote, even though I have not read much of Emerson.  None in fact since I graduated high school almost 50 years ago.  However, during those 50 years my views of what a “foolish consistency” consists of has changed.  Or more accurately it has been expanded. 

For Emerson a foolish consistency meant that past beliefs should not limit you and prevent you from changing views.  Even more importantly, such consistencies can trap you into living within past limits and structures instead of enjoying and growing into the present.  A foolish consistency limits both individuals and societies.  “Because it has always been done that way” is a fatal attitude in regard to progress. 

This is something I totally agree with.  However, I believe that this does not go far enough in regard to understanding what a foolish consistency is. Or, rather, that it ignores other aspects of foolish. 

My expansion of this understanding of what constitutes a foolish consistency can be found mirrored in an article I read about Camus recently, “Camus’s Atheism and the Virtues of Inconsistency”, by Craig Delancy. 

“But fundamentalism is not just a conviction that one’s sacred text is complete and true, but also a demand that we all believe and act consistently with that text. Camus recognized that this demand for radical consistency is shared by other forms of extremism.”

This consistency is why creationists deny the evidence for evolution, why climate change deniers deny the evidence for climate change. Why trump supporters ignore the evidence of his corruption and for the fact that the elections were honest and accurate. In other words, a consistent belief held and acted upon no matter what creates extremism.  Which for Camus, interestingly enough, included Marxism. 

For myself, I have, over the years, been moving from the belief that all of my beliefs have to be rational, all of them have to have consistent standards of evidence and reasons for holding, to thinking that there are other good reasons for believing something true.  While holding consistent beliefs based on rational thought is overall a good thing, it is not always good. And definitely not necessary.  And, I think, like Camus, holding consistent and non -contradictory beliefs is impossible to do. 

We hold beliefs for many reasons.  Humans, unlike Vulcans, are primarily creatures of emotion and feelings first. Reason and logic come in second. And because of that reason and logic should, as Hume said, both “…be the slave of the passions.”  Not just are, but ought to be. 

This is seen in matters both small and large.  What foods I like is not a rational decision.  Nor is who I find attractive, or interesting.  For that matter, the way we live our lives. Most atheists I know live their lives as if it has meaning or purpose of some sort – either small or large. That there is a reason to continue on living, even when life itself becomes filled with pain and suffering. That there is a reason to risk their health, their livelihood, their life for causes and people.  They believe this even though there is no intrinsic meaning in the universe.  It just is.  The same by the way holds true for theists, just in a different form. 

For myself, I also believe that even all my beliefs about reality don’t have to be consistent with reason and logic and evidence.  I am coming to the belief that if a person believes something solely due to the fact that it comforts them, that it provides them some strength or support, then, even if that belief has no evidence for it, or even if it has some evidence against it that would seem to make it greatly improbable, that is still a valid reason for holding a belief as being true.

As with all things there are limits to these sorts of beliefs (one being not forcing others to believe the same, but that is a limit many beliefs have, even rational ones).  But, having limits on such doesn’t negate the fact that such beliefs are valid, even if not universally shared. In fact, I think a foolish consistency on the reason for holding beliefs can lead to personal unhappiness. And, possibly, extremism.

I am not sure if Camus would have gone as far as I have on this.  It has been over 20 years and probably closer to 30 since I last read anything of his.  But I think he might at least be sympathetic to such a view.  Especially in light of his remarks in a speech to the monks of a Dominican monastery, as reported in the blog:

“Camus’s remarks to the monks are disarming. He begins with two important disclaimers: “I shall never start from the supposition that Christian faith is illusory, but merely from the fact that I cannot accept it.” And: “I shall not try to change anything that I think or anything that you think (insofar as I can judge of it) in order to reach a reconciliation that would be agreeable to all” (3). Camus goes on to make but a single point: that if he would ask anything of the Christian community, it would be that they would speak clearly against injustice, and not with the cowardly evasions that the Church adopted in response to Nazism.”

And this is the bottom line of all beliefs in my mind.  Why they are held, while important, is of lesser importance in most cases than the question of whether they support justice and humanity.  With that I can work with anyone no matter what their beliefs or why they hold them.  Without that, then no belief, no matter how rational or how much evidence it has for it, I cannot. 

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Blank Spaces

I was lying in bed the other morning, remembering.  I do that much more often now since I lost Dindy, my wife of 42 years, 17 months ago.  I was going through memories of our life together – our pets, our homes, our work, being with our children and then grandchildren, as well as our parents and other family, our vacations, and on and on.  I noticed that while I had many good memories that I treasure and want to keep till I too go, I had a much, much greater amount of blank. So much empty space between one memory and the next. So many probable good memories of the person I loved the most and who was and remains an essential part of me, gone forever.

After an emotional moment, or two, I started thinking about our own identity.  A large part of our identity consists of our memories.  What does it mean that not only mine, but most (I assume) identities rest on so much blank space?  

The answer I came to is one I have used when asked about meaning for an atheist in regards to dying.  How does an atheist deal with the idea that when they die their life will have had no meaning, have had no impact once all of those who knew them are gone too?   How can meaning be found in something fleeting and transitory.

The answer is that even though the memory is forgotten, that forgotten moment shaped things and impacted people, even if only in small ways. Each small tap of a sculptor’s mallet helped shape the stone into a statue even though most are forgotten. And despite the moment being forgotten, that impact stays behind and is passed on, usually unknowingly.   This is true on both a personal and an objective level.  

Our forgotten memories still shape us – what we like and dislike, our propensity to be moody or chipper or quick to anger or quick to cringe.  They still shape and support our identity.  It is why even those memories we no longer remember are so important.  I know that my time together with Dindy has made me a better person than I would have been otherwise, even if I cannot remember most of our time together, cannot remember all the good moments, meaningful moments, hard moments. 

So too with the world.  How we live, how we interact with the world….let me change that word world.  Very, very few individuals interact with the whole world.  In fact, no one does. They interact with parts of it, usually very small parts of it.  World sounds so grandiose and sets up expectations of major actions, events, changes.  Irrational and unrealistic expectations.  And unnecessary ones. 

The reality is that our interactions are more limited – family and friends, co-workers, local politics, local charities, helping or ignoring a stranger in need, providing a bright moment to a child, or to an animal.  Those moments add up to shape the part of the world that is around us.  That part that we interact with and see most closely. And those impacts, although not remembered, are carried on by those people to impact others.  That blankness helped to shape their personality, their identity, their beliefs, their actions.  Which in turn continues on, spreading in ripples outward through both geography and time. 

Yes, the changes may be minimal. Or may consist of nothing more than reinforcing something good, or bad, already being done.  So?  It is an effect; it is an impact.  And it lasts. 

We make too much of grand changes and impacts, of world-shaking moments and people.  However, over time, it is these small actions, the forgotten memories, these blanks, that actually shape and maintain the world.  This can’t help be anything but true.  Billions of us make small impacts. Only a few make world changing ones. Those billions add up, like grains of sand on a beach. And even those world changing ones are brought about by the millions of preceding small blanks that have shaped people and events.  Including that of the person making a large impact. 

Yes, when the human race or its successors, if any, finally die out then those changes that we were a part of will no longer exist. Again, so?  Too much is made of the idea that things have to be eternal to be important.  Is the laugh of a child, the bloom of a rose, the touch of a lover any less sweet and important even though all are transitory?  Is my time with Dindy any less important for having been too short? 

So, though I wish I could recall more memories of Dindy, and greatly regret the blankness of my life, and even more strongly wish that I was still creating new ones of both memories and blankness, I am grateful for the blanks too.  Because those moments were an important part of shaping me into the person I am now and while not totally satisfied with myself – not even close- I do like who I am and am grateful for being me. 

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Random Thoughts on my 68th Birthday

My most current random thought is I must really dread being 67 and looking forward to becoming 68.  April 29^th was actually my 67^th birthday, but I typed in 68^th, and then overlooked it until it was almost time to post.  This is either a human mistake, an aging mistake, or a clairvoyant one.  Take your pick. 

No matter which type of mistake I am definitely closer to my end than my beginning.  Much closer.  I find that I am not worried about the end so much.  I am more concerned about being healthy as long as possible.  But my actual end, not as much.  This even though many think I should be since I am an atheist.  I will say though that I am an atheist who hopes (not thinks or has faith mind you) that there is an afterlife. And that helps. 

As did the death of my wife, Dindy.  She was my major joy in life and with her passing in Dec 2021 I lost that joy.  I still plan to live until I am 100. That continues to be my goal. But my expectations of how those years will play out from now till then have changed.  Along with this I have found that my birthday has spawned a great deal of grief fueled moments.  After all, how do you celebrate getting older when the best part of getting older is gone?

Since Feb 28^th I have been off work due to recovering from surgery on my ankle – I can’t walk or drive right now.  I won’t be able to do so until May 30^th….I hope.  However, being off work is like a preview of me being retired and only reinforces my puzzlement at those who could become bored in retirement. 

I never find the time to do all that I wish even when I have full command of my day.  Between reading, watching TV, blogging, writing stories, commenting and arguing on Facebook, going to movies (and once I am on both feet again going to plays and concerts as well as, most importantly, visiting with grandkids and kids) there are not enough hours in the day.  I can understand intellectually why some have problems with boredom and retirement.  But personally, give me retirement, the sooner the better. 

Although in overall good health, once my ankle heals, my body knows it is 67 and doesn’t hesitate to remind me of that fact.  My mind though still thinks of me as 21 or so.  Heck, even when I look in the mirror I still see the 21 year old unless I pay attention. 

Yeah, I know that these thoughts are not original. But I am 67 years old.  Original has already been done by both me and others.  And original or not, the more important thing is that they are true.  Even more important is that no matter my thoughts, no matter my feelings, no matter my words,  no matter my actions – many others have thought and felt and said and acted in the same way I have and am and will.  That thought can give me comfort at times. 

I find myself spending some time trying to make sure that when I discuss how messed up today seems to be politically and socially that I am making an objective observation and not an old man’s complaint that things were better in my day.  Linking this back to my thoughts on retirement, if I were retired in reality, I would be able to attend different rallies, protests and capital showings.  Just had a notice show up in my emails about an event at the Texas capital to protest and possibly testify before the state Congress about a bill that would harm religious liberty being considered by the Texas legislature.  Were I retired I would be here.

I do get annoyed at those who are older, around my age and up, who complain about how kids today are soft or weak or less moral or whatever.  And about how music has gone downhill since their day and is getting worse. 

For myself, I think the kids today are doing fine.  In some ways they are different than my generation, but then they grew up in a different environment with different challenges so not being somewhat different would be strange.  However, I have no issue with them, or no more than I do with members of my generation and older.  I certainly do not see them as being worse than my generation.  In many ways they are better.    

I also think the music of today is fine and enjoy a great deal of it.  Love some of it in fact.  Lady Gaga, Pink, Elle King, Cage the Elephant, Ed Sheeran, and many others.  Just came across Orianthi, The Commoners, Royal Blood,  and The Thundermothers.  Not sure if I love them yet, but I like what I am hearing.  Orianthi, I am coming close to loving and a few more songs might do it. So yeah, lots of good music being made today. 

And that is all for my random thoughts for now.  Now is the time for a random nap – something else I will be better able to do once I am actually retired. 

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Not Quite Right Memes

I thought I would do something different with this blog.  Instead of writing about a subject I am going to post several memes that I disagree with.  We all have seen them at times, something that makes us go, “Oh give me a break”.  Here are some with my reasons for thinking them wrong. Or, at best, only partially true.  Most of these, by the way, I found on Facebook or on other social media. 

Let me start with this.  I have often seen people say the respect is earned, not given.  However, I have always believed you give respect first and that others lose it by their behaviors.  And I have to say that initially I thought this meme was going to say that with its treating and talking to people as you wanted to be treated. But then its conclusion seems to contradict that.  Respect is given but can be lost. 

Hmmm, and if the water you are in is the middle of the Pacific Ocean.  The odds greatly favor you not having a choice then.  So too with many people today.  It is not by choice that they are drowning. 

Actually, some rich, smart, tough and honest people do.  People are a  mix of traits and can be many different things at the same time – Arrogance and being a braggart can go with being smart, with being rich, with being tough, with being honest.  The only trait they do not go with is humble.  But, the weak, poor liar can also be humble.  This is not a good test for who is and who is not a conman.  

I can tell this is untrue just from personal experience.  I have never been happy with myself.  But, for many years I lived with someone who made me very happy despite that.  Sometimes – often – it is not about ourselves, but about those around us.  Or the situation we are in.  Such can lift us up, or push us down. 

Much as I love Audrey Hepburn, she is wrong. Try jumping to the moon from where you are at.  Take as many jumps as you like. For extra points do it when the moon is on the other side of the earth.  Some things are impossible.  The trick is in figuring out which are and which are not.  Which ones are not so you don’t give up. Which ones are so you don’t batter yourself against a wall until you are bloody and blaming yourself for not being able to do the impossible. 

Choice can and usually does play a role in happiness. But so does chance. For the Jews swept up in the Holocaust and into the camps, that was chance.  I do not believe that any of those in the camps could choose to be happy in that camp. That was not a choice.

The same holds true in many other situations around the world and in every society. Situation and chance play a role.  To imply that it is all choice is to create unnecessary guilt when people are unable to chose to be happy. 

Although there are several more I could post let me close with a closing thought on these memes, about a commonality they all have.  They all oversimplify what a much more complex reality.

While they do so with the intention to motivate and keep a person going through hard times, or to uplift a person who is down, or to try to give a person who feels powerless a sense of control, doing so in this way also creates a very real risk of making a person feel even more down, even more of a failure and more powerless.

Now, let me post a couple of memes that I agree with. 

In other words our children are the key to improving the world. 

In other words, it’s OK at times to be unhappy, to not be efficient and effective, to not be responsible, to make mistakes, to not try to be better.  Be nice to yourself.  Be real instead. 

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Our Days are Numbered

I recently came across a group of Christians who took much comfort in their grief over the loss of a loved one from two particular Bible verses.   One that I had an almost visceral reaction against. A reaction against that was just as strong as the comfort they seemed to take from it.  The verses in question are these: 

A person’s days are determined;
    you have decreed the number of his months
    and have set limits he cannot exceed.

Job 14:5 NIV

Your eyes saw my unformed body;
    all the days ordained for me were written in your book
    before one of them came to be

Psalm 139:16 NIV. 

God has numbered our days and nothing that we either do or do not do will change the day of our dying.  Or its manner.  The their days are numbered is something that these Christians all took great comfort from and seemed to help them in their feelings of guilt over things they either did do or did not do that they believed led up to their loved ones death. 

I too have felt that same guilt overall, or in my case, one particular shoulda coulda.  However, the idea that there is nothing that could have been done to prevent my wife’s untimely death is something I find objectionable in the extreme.  It is most definitely not comforting for me.  Even though my wife and I did not choose it, I fervently want there to have been something we could have done that would have made a difference on when and how she died.  To believe that we had some measure of control.

I found more comfort in the idea, also brought up at this group, that we make the best decisions we can based upon what we know and believe and are capable of at the time conjoined with the idea that no one is perfect.  From that, I do not experience guilt as strongly as before and now it tends to edge more into extreme regret than actual guilt.  Most of the time.  But I would much rather continue to feel and experience this guilt in all its stabbing pain than to believe that there was nothing that could have been done to change the outcome – the day of her actual death. 

While I am not sure absolute free will exists, I do believe that our decisions do matter and do make a difference.  Not only in life and death issues but everyday decisions and actions – what we say and do with our children and what we do at work, how we treat others, our decision to exercise and diet or not, and on and on and on.  All are meaningful decisions.  Decisions and actions that can and usually do make a difference for good or ill. 

I can understand how believing that there was nothing you could have done or not done that would have prevented a loved one’s death can be comforting.  Especially in those rare cases where a decision made directly caused the death.  For example, a co-worker who accidentally shot and killed his significant other when cleaning a gun.  However, this is a very shallow and superficial sort of comfort.  And one that contradicts other tenets of the Christian faith.  The belief that humans have free will.  And without free will then where is the justification for some being thrown into hell and others rising to heaven? 

Further, these Christians and I have the same problem with this idea: it makes all of our actions and decisions futile and worthless.  It means that we unable to make a difference anywhere at anytime. The main difference between myself and these Christians is that I am aware of this problem. 

As I said earlier, I am not sure if I believe in free will or not. But I do believe our actions and ideas and words can and do make differences large and small in both our own lives and in the lives of others.  Atheists often are criticized for having meaningless lives.  And it is partly true. The universe has no meaning.  There is no given meaning to our lives, no large or small metaphysical reason for our being born. 

If so, then what purpose or meaning or reason can be found in doing anything? Especially since nothing is permanent.  In a million years whatever effect your life might have had would surely be totally erased from the universe. Which is true.  But also irrelevant. 

We do not live in the million years from now.  We live in the now, in the moment by moment.  The moment we live in is what we experience – love, shame, hate, friendship, elation, hunger, pain, loneliness, satisfaction, hope, despair and on and on ad on.  All the very many different ways we experience moments, as well as who we experience them with.  And if we can change and effect one moment, then so what if is doesn’t last?  For that moment it was real. And if we are lucky and work at it we string a series of good moments to experience and know.  And life is good. The memories are good as well as biting.

And this is why I was so revolted by the idea of our days are numbered. It takes those moments away and truly makes us futile creatures in both life and death.    

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Grief and Loss: The failure of Atheism Part 2

In a previous blog I talked about me looking into the possibility of there being a life after death after all, basically questioning my previous beliefs Let me say at the outset that I am still looking and thinking.  And still an atheist. 

My motive for writing this blog are twofold. First, to comment on some of the reactions and how they can show the difficulties of looking beyond our own beliefs and views. Second, to provide a little more information on the boundaries of my search. 

When I posted my first blog there were many good, thoughtful, and supportive comments, which were greatly appreciated.  In fact, all comments were appreciated.  Some though made arguments against the idea of an afterlife and my search that I thought interesting. 

First and foremost, many seemed to think I had already made up my mind. 

Despite what I said in my blog about this being the start of a process of questioning and not the end, some seemed to think I had already changed or made up my mind.  As I said in the blog, and as I say now, I am still an atheist.  I am just an atheist who is questioning core beliefs.  There are no set conclusions, no set destination. 

For myself, I have always considered occasionally questioning beliefs that you are certain is true is a good thing.  For one, it is how many atheists come about.  But this also applies to other areas in addition to that of religious beliefs. I am not so arrogant as to assume that all my beliefs, no matter how strongly held, are correct.  History shows that they probably will not be.  And given that there are so many moral people who are well informed and intelligent who also believe in an afterlife, and a God for that matter, then it seems rational to me to allow the emotion generated by my wife’s death to point out a direction for my reason to explore. 

Arguing from biology that a life after death is impossible. 

This involved the belief (which has strong support by the way) that our brain is the source of our consciousness. Which would probably mean that no brain, no consciousness.  As I have said, I am an atheist.  I am very well aware of this and still agree with it for now. Those who brought this up often seemed to think I did not.  Or that I was trying to willfully delude myself.  Both beliefs about me are wrong.

However, as I said above, this is open to question.  Consciousness is still a very unsettled area of science. Its explanation does not rest on as firm a foundation as relativity or evolutionary theory. This piece by Sam Harris, “The Mystery of Consciousness“), shows that even atheists can question whether the brain is the final or complete answer to consciousness.  So why not question this assumption, even if it has some support from science?  Which, by the way, opens up the possibility of an afterlife without a God. As a matter of interest, I have found at least three atheists who think so and have written about it.  I have not read what they had to say yet, but will. And then make my own decision.

Arguing from a traditional view of the afterlife

Some brought up hell and how could I live with the idea of hell and how would I know where my loved ones would wind up.  The simple answer is that I am not looking at the traditional ideas of the afterlife as promoted by traditional Christianity, Islam, and Judaism.  Yet, that did not seem to occur to those who brought this up, and some continued to do so after I informed them of this.

This assumption of a traditional view of the afterlife, usually Christian (although it fits with Muslim and Jewish too) is not surprising.  They did not stop and think to ask what exactly I was looking at and considering. Which, by the way, is actually very normal.  We all interpret the world, including the words we read, by our own previous ideas and assumptions.  The problem comes in not changing those when they are shown to be incomplete or wrong. 

This is one reason why there are young earth creationists, anti-vaxxers, the election was stolen beliefs, and so forth – they have some assumptions that they know are true and are beyond questioning.  These are extreme versions of this trait, but it also holds true for even more rational beliefs.  And why, when new discoveries are made in science, it can take time for people to be convinced.  Some of that is good in the right context and amount – science for example.  But, when taken to extremes, always wrong. 

While on this about assumptions, let me say I am guilty of the same in this blog.  I had started to put in a part about those who argued about the existence of God on the list, stating that I was talking about the afterlife and not the existence of God.  However, in rereading my blog I see I did mention God.  What I was thinking was not clearly expressed by the words in that blog, but, of course, I remembered the intent and not so much the words when I started to add God to the list above.  Until I rechecked my blog. 

So, let me now clarify that point.  My main focus is on an afterlife.  If I can be convinced that there is one without a God, that would be cleaner and easier to do rationally.  When God is added to it, then you have various philosophical and moral problems associated with such in addition to the scientific issues with a life after death. But I will say, if strong enough reasons can be given for this hypothetical God, not enough to prove necessarily, but enough so allow for a reasonable belief in such, I may well believe in God.  Reasonable would also include having to be a moral God.  But, again, that has not happened yet.  And most likely will not.

An Observation

Some atheists tried in various ways to convince me that there is no real comfort to be found in believing in an afterlife, or that the comforts provided by atheism in the face of loss of loved ones is just as good as those found by believers.  I can only say – huh?  

Thinking about the impact my loved one made in so many people’s lives, or thinking that her constituent parts are now part of the universe and eternal, or that even though her name will someday be forgotten but her impact on the world will live on in the generations after her, is somehow as comforting as believing that the woman I loved and talked with and laughed and cried with is still alive as a personality that can feel and see and who I can someday see and be with?  As comforting as believing that this woman’s last thoughts were not that of knowing she was going to die soon and of all that she was going to miss – her grandchildren’s upcoming dance recital and the exchange of presents, of going to see Hamilton in January, of future conversations with me and her family and friends – but of knowing that she continued on past this, and while missing all of those events, still  aware of them and who could look forward to being reunited not only with loved ones and friends who have already died but also  those of us who will someday die? 

Not even close.

On my last birthday I received a pocket compass.  When the lid is flipped open it, in part, reads “…where and how far this amazing journey takes us I will always and forever be right by your side”.  I find much lesser comfort in any belief that means that this is wrong.  As would most people. 

Or the other tactic of trying to say that a life after death is not to be desired, would be horrible, is most definitely not a thing to want.  Usually this is done by arguing only about one possible belief in an afterlife (hell is often a part of this). 

I can only say – really? 

Those who argued this seem to want to believe that an atheist, a belief in no God and no afterlife, is in every way superior to believing in a God and/or an afterlife.  That is wrong. 

Atheism is statement of what is perceived to be true on one question, does God exist.  Nothing else.  No promise of comfort in holding such belief.  No promise that holding such belief is going to be better in every way other than being true on that one question from those who do believe.   Its only claim is to be a more factual statement on one aspect of reality.  There is no promise that that reality is going to be better.  That is an emotional response.  One revealing more about our needs as human beings that about reality.  Of course, this being true, and given what I said, for some people that will be true – an afterlife is not something to be desired, or, probably more common, the comfort atheism affords to loss is the equal of believing in an afterlife.  We are varied in our needs and thinking.  So, some do feel this to be true.  Many though, and I believe even most atheists, when offered a choice would choose life after death as being the more comforting belief.  

That does not mean atheism offers no comfort.  It does.  As many thoughtful atheists pointed out to me, and for which I am grateful.  But, while a meal of rice and beans may indeed keep soul and body together, they are not as satisfying, to me at least, as pizza or Tacos with nachos 

Clarifications. 

Let me now clarify some other aspects of my search. 

First, any afterlife which has an eternal hell I will reject on moral reasons alone.  Even if such existed I would be against it.  Which means I seriously doubt that I would be convinced by any argument or reasoning in such an afterlife (for one thing I would hate to pit myself against a being that could create an eternal hell.  I would be seriously outmatched).  An afterlife in which we still have struggles and challenges is possible, but hell is a hard no. 

Second, I am not going to be a traditional believer.  I do not see my becoming Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu or any other religion.  Those issues still seem too great for me to do so.  It is one reason I mentioned Martin Gardner, since he is a noted skeptic who is not a member of any religious group thinking they all are wrong on significant issues but who nonetheless still believes in a God and, more important to me, a life after death. 

As a side note, it was his book “Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science” that started my transition from believing that ESP and the paranormal were real to realizing that they most likely were not.  I have greatly enjoyed his books and his work.  And it was his being one of the founding members of Committee for the Scientific Investigation of the Claims of the Paranormal that was part of my motivation for me subscribing to the Zetetic (now the Skeptical Inquirer, of which I am still a subscriber through all its years).  It is one reason why, many years ago, I was surprised to find that he believed in God and an afterlife.  I have never read why before though.  I am now. 

Third, I am aware of how our motivations and needs can cause our reasoning to go badly astray. Because of that I am reviewing some material I have read in the past on this and making a conscious effort not to make such errors.  Which makes this month’s issue of Skeptical Inquirer with its article “The Irrational World of Motivated Reasoning” rather timely. 

Fourth, and final point.  I will not proselytize.  This is my search and if I wind up changing my views on the afterlife and God, they will be my beliefs.  As I have said, when I finally conclude my search I will post a blog on the results, whether I change my beliefs to either believing in an afterlife without a God, an afterlife with a God, or still stay with my current atheist beliefs that neither exist.  And will explain why.  But no proselytizing beyond that explanation and defense of it if questions and challenges are posed. 

As for when the process will be finished, I don’t know.  I am still reading Martin Gardner’s book and have several articles and some of other books lined up to read.  I will say that for now, my atheisms still holds.  In fact, I think it very unlikely that I will change my mind on the non – existence of God.  But, in regards to a life after death – while still unlikely it is still a possibility.  Smart money would bet against it, but it is less certain now than before. 

Final, or rather for the moment final thoughts on this may be ready in two to four months. Or it may be in a year or three.  After all, it took me a little over three years of questioning and modifying my beliefs and remodifying them and so forth for me to change from a traditional Christian to an atheist. Although I hope and think it will be closer to two or three months instead of years, it will take what it takes.

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Grief and Loss: Failure of Pure Atheism Part 1

My Better

Dindy 9/18/1959 – 12/13/2021

Today I lost my someone who made things better. 

When I was confused and questioning, she made things better. 

When I was hurting and lost, she made things better

When I did not know what to do and doubted myself, she made things better. 

And during the good times, the laughing times, the play times with our children and grandchildren, she made things better. 

When we went to plays and fairs and movies and beaches and more, she made all that was good and fun even better. 

 When in a room together, silent, each doing something different, she made it better. 

She made my life better in all and every way.  And now, she cannot make this better.  And I feel lost

I have always thought that straight atheism is a totally negative belief.  It denies one thing – the existence of a omnipotent being. However, it posits nothing, gives nothing, provides nothing.  It is a blank and a void that needs to be filled in.  Without something with which to fill this void, atheism is nothing more than bleak nihilism.  Which is why I have more often called myself a humanist.  Which I imagine I will remain being too.  But, as the new year begins, I may be revising my ideas and beliefs so that my humanism after will be slightly, or greatly, different than the one I held before.  Then again, it may not.    

Let me state at the outset that I come to no conclusions in this blog.  This is just the start of a process of questioning and thinking.  One brought about by the death of my wife of 42 years.  And the fact that traditional atheism, even the traditional humanist type, that believes in no God and no life after death, has no comfort to give when a loved one dies too soon. 

As for why I am sharing this personal journey (a journey which may arrive at the same port it started from)?  I am sharing this because I believe that this is an issue that is common to all people, and most especially atheists. What do to with loss.  How to handle it.  Also, because for most atheists, questioning is important.  Which should include our own beliefs. 

I know many will criticize even this sort of questioning as being more the result of emotions than of reason and logic and evidence. However, so what if it is. After all, most atheists do not downplay the theist who questions the existence of a God on the basis of loss and emotion.    

More importantly, we are, at our core, essentially emotional creatures. We are not computers, not machines, not Vulcans.  We are emotional humans.  Something Hume recognized and acknowledged when he stated, “Reason is, and ought only to be the slave of the passions and can never pretend to any other office than to serve and obey them.”

Reason and logic and evidence have their place – an important and critical place – but theirs is not the sole or even most important place.  That is in emotion. Which means that our beliefs will never be, and should not ever be, totally the product of only rational thought. 

So, if my emotions demand that death not be the end, that losing my loved one much too soon, so unexpectedly soon, cannot be the final end, why shouldn’t I at least listen to it and give it due consideration and thought? I am not and never have been and never will be perfect in my actions, my thoughts, my beliefs.  In that I am like all humans. Knowing that, questioning of beliefs I had thought true is good. 

Further, there is something to be said for holding a belief just because it provides emotional comfort.  Something that my wife and I did with our semi- held belief in the Rainbow Bridge.  Our emotional needs are as important as any of our physical ones.  In some ways more so.

This is not to say that there are no limits to such believing.  There most definitely are. But, the fact that a belief is held just because if provides emotional comfort is not reason by itself to denounce and deny it.  Such a belief may not be rational, but neither is the fact that only emotion supports it make it irrational.  If the belief is not clearly contradicted by reason and evidence, as is young earth creationism, then it is not proven irrational.  And if it benefits a person, why not belief?  It is a question of do our beliefs serve us or are we the puppets of our beliefs?  My initial thought is that it the answer to this is more complicated than a straight yes or no. 

Then there is the fact that we may never be intelligent enough to fully understand our natural universe. That, although we have advanced further in our understanding than our Australopithecus ancestors, that there well may be a point at which we reach our limits of understanding the natural world. At that point we would be like  Australopithecus wondering about the lights in the night sky.  This means that although we do not have the answers to all questions, and likely never will, that does not make all things we do not have answers to untrue.  Or not natural. 

As I said at the beginning, there will be no consummation of this thought in this blog. This is the start of the testing and exploration, not the end result.  I have started reading Martin Gardner’s “The Whys of a Philosophical Scrivener” as well as reading the different responses to it. From there, we’ll see. I have no set date for concluding or adding to this subject. That remains to time and chance. But, in the meantime, while questioning, I will hold on to my current beliefs of no life after death and no eternal omnipotent being. And hope.

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A Christmas to Remember

This will be a Christmas that all of us who are old enough to carry memories will well remember.

This is the Christmas in which COVID killed hundreds of thousands of Americans.  The Christmas in which COVID is presenting us with new peaks of destruction and deaths in America.

This is the Christmas where social gatherings were discouraged and mask wearing encouraged and at too few times mandated. The Christmas where you did not go see family and friends, did not have Christmas, birthday, anniversary, or any sort of parties. 

This is the Christmas where the ignorant and the selfish refused to consider others as they refused to wear masks and social distance. Their right to be maskless trumped the rights of others to live. 

This is the Christmas where those who were hospitalized with COVID struggled without the physical presence of their loved ones and friends. And who too often died alone and apart from those family and friends. 

This is the Christmas where too often businesses were locked down. Too often due to those who refused to social distance and wear masks.  And due to those business who refused to close when COVID was close and high.

This is the Christmas when our federal government refused to provide enough money for small businesses to survive without endangering their employees during this pandemic of closings and loss of business.  The Christmas when our federal government refused to provide enough money and help to those who have lost jobs and income due to COVID. Or forced them to make a choice between working and money, and their and their family’s health and safety.

This is the Christmas where so many went above and beyond in working to help. From the healthcare workers on the front lines, to those who staffed and kept essential business and services going. Grocery store workers, nurses, doctors, police, and so many others.

This is the Christmas where not just one but several vaccines were developed in record time. 

This is the Christmas in which the president who led in the wrong direction during this pandemic and who is responsible for the deaths of many thousands of Americans, was voted out of office.

This is the Christmas in which those who are reading these words managed to survive to reach.  Perhaps hurt and damaged economically and in health, perhaps with terrible losses – parent, child, friends, relatives – but survived to find ways to deal with that grief and those challenges.

This is the Christmas where, though often not able to physically be with those we love most, we can still connect to in so many ways impossible to those living 30 years ago, 50 years ago, 100 years ago.  Zoom, Facebook, telephone calls, and so many other ways to see and talk and keep in touch with those we care about. While not the same as actually being there, it is still contact of a type that we should be grateful we can do now. 

This is the Christmas where, with the vaccine and a new president who listens to scientists and experts, we can hope for a better future and a recovery from the damage done.  Not quickly, not soon enough, but hope that it will happen now. 

This is the Christmas when we will mourn our losses; of the presence of others we once thought would be with us longer; of our health and that of our relatives and friends; of our finances and jobs; of our certainty in how our lives and world worked.  And then, while mourning, find ways to continue on. Hopefully this is the Christmas we can do such together.

This is the Christmas where hope is provided by the actions of so many, by the vaccines and by a government that may now be guided by the Guiding Star of science, reason, empathy and concern for all. Let us hope that this star can guide us to a better place than where we are now, and that the forces of King Herod do not derail us.

But, Christmas is all about hope, and so this is the Christmas where I will continue to do so, and look for the signs to justify such hope.

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False and True Hope in a Time of Pandemic

Sunday I saw a letter to the editor in the Star Telegram from Mr. Roy Hampton.  Mr. Hampton was encouraging trump  with this letter, and at its end he stated, “Stay on the side of hope; Mr. President, we are with you.”    This sentence struck me.

Mr. Hampton is correct, one of the things trump is doing is expressing optimism and trying to encourage hope among those listening about the coronavirus.  However, not all hope is alike; some varieties are dangerous and toxic, eroding trust and, eventually, hope.  The other can uplift and motivate people to  persevere and act well in trying and dangerous times.

Other than presentation, what differentiates between good and bad hope?   Truth and actions.  Is what is being said truthful or misleading?  Is what is being said accurate and the best known, or is it a verbal sleight of hand to misdirect attention from what is actually happening.  Are actions being taken that will adequately address the danger?

For examples of how hope was promoted and encouraged during dangerous times, and done so in a good way, you cannot do better than read Lincoln’s, FDR’s and Churchill’s speeches .  They combined accurate information, they did not play down the danger and threat, and they still encouraged and fostered hope.  They provided motivation for people to continue to persist in the face of grave danger. And they did so eloquently.   And then they took appropriate actions.

For an example of false hope, the type that makes bad situations worse, there is no finer example than trump.

Instead of preparing Americans for what was coming by letting them know that, though small then, this was a very real danger, a danger that needed actions now to prevent it from becoming a consuming conflagration, trump denied and minimized it.

JAN 22:

Context:  One confirmed case in the US.  At this time WHO reports cases in Thailand, Japan, South Korea as well as, of course, in China.  WHO states that the virus risk is very high.  US Intelligence had been increasingly strong in their warnings of the dangers of this virus in their intelligence briefings for the president in January.

trump said: “We have it totally under control. It’s one person coming in from China. We have it under control. It’s going to be just fine.”

trump’s actions: By this time the trump administration had offered to send experts to China to investigate the virus. They had also issued and updated a travel advisory to China, created an incident management system in order to better share information about the virus, activated the CDC emergency operations center, and implemented public health entry screening at three US airports that received the most travelers from Wuhan China.  Dr. Fauci had also announced that the NIH was working on the development of a vaccine for the coronavirus.  On Jan 23^rd the CD also sought a special emergency authorization from the FDA to allow states to use its newly developed coronavirus test.

Commentary: While creating a sense of optimism, it did so at the expense of truth.  As time went on, it became obvious that we did not have it under control.  Instead of this false hope, trump could have created a sense of how important it was that we as a nation take this threat seriously and start to respond strongly and appropriately now.   trump could and should have gone over why this virus was so potentially dangers, and then  listed what steps he had taken and what further ones could be necessary in the future.

Also, while the health screenings at the three airports were a good idea, they were not implemented well and the screenings were spotty. Further, since many people with this virus do not show any symptoms, they would be missed.  Finally, by the time even these inadequate screenings were put into place, over 4,000 people had already arrived here from Wuhan China.

True hope missed, false hope created.

JAN 30

Context:  WHO declares a global health emergency.

trump said: ” We think we have it very well under control. We have very little problem in this country at this moment — five — and those people are all recuperating successfully. But we’re working very closely with China and other countries, and we think it’s going to have a very good ending for us … that I can assure you,”

On Feb 2 trump, while on the Hannity show,  states, “We pretty much shut it down coming in from China.”

trump tweeted:  “China has been working very hard to contain the Coronavirus. The United States greatly appreciates their efforts and transparency. It will all work out well. In particular, on behalf of the American People, I want to thank President Xi!”  Jan 24

“Just received a briefing on the Coronavirus in China from all of our GREAT agencies, who are also working closely with China. We will continue to monitor the ongoing developments. We have the best experts anywhere in the world, and they are on top of it 24/7!” Jan 29

trump’s actions: trump blocks travel from China, and holds a campaign rally.  Declared a public health emergency.  A Coronavirus Task Force meant to monitor and contain spread of the coronavirus and inform the president had been formed on Jan 29^th.   On the 31^st all flights from China funneled into just seven US airports.

Commentary:  By the time the travel ban from China was instituted, the virus was already here. While it may have slowed its progress somewhat, it did not do so by much.  The saying closing the barn door comes to mind.  Further, the screenings were still spotty, there was no consistent quarantine of travelers from China, especially important since so many with this disease are asymptomatic.

Further, I do not see or find anything about looking at critical inventory for medical supplies, finding ways to address shortages, talking to the governors of states in order to prepare for coordinating responses.

I also see no coordination of fact gathering of how other countries are responding.  And even though he declared a public health emergency, he did not use any of the extra powers given to him under that act to do anything.

Also, given how one of the groups trump is now blaming for the poor US response to the coronavirus is  China, his praise of China then comes across as contradictory.  As so many of his statements do.

True hope missed, false hope created.

FEB 29

Context: First coronavirus death in US (yes, now we know there were a couple of earlier ones, but that was not known until recently).   Seventy four confirmed cases in the US.

trump said: “I had a long talk with President Xi — for the people in this room — two nights ago, and he feels very confident.  He feels very confident. And he feels that, again, as I mentioned, by April or during the month of April, the heat, generally speaking, kills this kind of virus,”. Feb 10.  Twelve confirmed cases.

“We’re very much involved. We’re very — very cognizant of everything going on.  We have it very much under control in this country,”. Feb 23.  Fifty one confirmed cases.

“The Coronavirus is very much under control in the USA. We are in contact with everyone and all relevant countries. CDC & World Health have been working hard and very smart. Stock Market starting to look very good to me!” Feb 24.

“You may ask about the coronavirus, which is very well under control in our country. We have very few people with it, and the people that have it are – in all cases, I have not heard anything other,”

“I want you to understand something that shocked me when I saw it that — and I spoke with Dr. Fauci on this, and I was really amazed, and I think most people are amazed to hear it: The flu, in our country, kills from 25,000 people to 69,000 people a year. That was shocking to me. And, so far, if you look at what we have with the 15 people and their recovery, one is — one is pretty sick but hopefully will recover, but the others are in great shape. But think of that: 25,000 to 69,000. … “And again, when you have 15 people, and the 15 within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero, that’s a pretty good job we’ve done,”  Feb  26.  Sixty confirmed cases.  Note: as of today , April 27, we have over 976,000 confirmed cases and over 55,000 deaths in the US.

“We’ve taken the most aggressive actions to confront the coronavirus. They are the most aggressive taken by any country and we’re the number one travel destination anywhere in the world, yet we have far fewer cases of the disease than even countries with much less travel or a much smaller population.” Feb 29.

trump’s actions: Feb 5 the trump administration briefed US lawmakers on coronavirus.  Feb 6 started shipping CDC test kits to US and international labs. Feb 9, the White House Coronavirus Task Force started briefing governors.  They also worked with a couple of different companies to develop a vaccine and a treatment, requested $2.5 billion dollars for dealing with this virus, allowed certified labs to develop and test virus testing kits while reviewing pending applications, banned all travel to Iran, and announced a level 4 travel advisory to areas of Italy and South Korea.

Commentary:  The trump administration knew how bad it was likely going to be in the beginning of February. After all, it was based on a briefing about the coronavirus that some Congresspersons sold their stocks.  In fact, one of these, Senator Burr, told a private group at a luncheon that,

““There’s one thing that I can tell you about this: It is much more aggressive in its transmission than anything that we have seen in recent history … It is probably more akin to the 1918 pandemic.”

He warned that companies might have to curtail their employees’ travel, that schools could close and that the military might be mobilized to compensate for overwhelmed hospitals.”

Meanwhile, both he and trump continued to downplay and dismiss the seriousness of this pandemic in their public statements.

As for the testing kits, the ones distributed on Feb 6 were quickly found to be defective.  We have not made up for the lost time and are still grossly behind the number needed to test enough to safely come off stay at home.  This is not to mention that there have been very few, or no efforts to establish contact tracing teams.  Oh, and yeah, the coronavirus and flu are not comparable.  The coronavirus is much worse.  We have already exceeded the number of deaths from the flu during one year within just a month.  We are set to exceed the most recent high number of flu deaths during a full year within another couple of months.  In a year, the numbers will not even be close to being comparable.

Then there are the lies trump told about us acting more aggressively than any other country – Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Germany acted much more aggressively than the US, and others did too.

True hope missed, false hope created.

This is getting to be much longer than I had envisioned, and is already about twice the length of what I try to write, so  just a couple more quotes from trump and I will then sum it all up.

“There is tremendous hope as we look forward and we begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel.”  March 24.  US had 65,800 confirmed cases.  Now, we have 976,000 confirmed cases.   A 1,483% increase in just over a month.

“Anybody that wants a test can get a test.” March 6. Not even close to being true then.  Still not close to being true now.

And many more such statements that I did not quote, enough to more than triple the length of this blog.

 

To sum it all up

Hope is not generated by downplaying and dismissing how serious a situation is.

Hope is not generated by touting questionable therapies that have not been anywhere close to being proven.

Hope is not generated by refusing to take any responsibility and, instead, blaming everyone and everything else.

Hope is not generated by talking about grossly unrealistic timelines for a vaccine.

Hope is not generated by touting cleaning products as possible solutions.

Hope is not generated by having your administration contradict itself, and the health experts.  trump is leading the way on this contradiction, not only with his administration and health officials but with himself. Such as when he praised those protesting stay at home actions but then goes on to condemn Georgia starting to open up again.

Hope is not generated by stating that you have taken actions you have not, that you have sufficient supplies of medical equipment and testing equipment when you don’t.

Hope is not generated when you take minimally effective actions.

Hope is generated by being honest and upfront about how bad a situations could get, and the consequences to Americans if it does get that bad.

Hope is generated by going over what is being done to prevent the worst case, what will probably happen  in the future, and what each person can to both survive and help prevent the worst.

Hope is generated by focusing resources and people on what is needed – in this case, testing kits and contact tracing.

Hope is generated by effectively coordinating responses and actions – both with state governments and with private industry.

Hope is generated when you mention those who have died and publicly mourn their loss.

Hope is generated when you make it clear that saving lives is first priority, and that help will be provided for people to both survive economically and to, eventually, fix the economy again (and being upfront thatthis will take time).   To express the reality that without it being safe to work again, the economy will not recover and not get better.

 

The problem with false hope is that it winds up creating mistrust when trust is most needed, creating frustration during times already overflowing with frustrations and creating greater fear and uncertainty during a time of fear and uncertainty.  Due to political needs and desires, expediency, and a lack of empathy and care, trump has chosen to provide false hopes. And in so doing made our bad situation much worse.

True hope, the type that sustains people and helps them weather the bad is based upon honesty, truth, and appropriate action.

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