Why do you believe(or not believe)?

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Regarding Moviefan2k4 calling suicide selfish I think that is his religion talking. Christianity likes to dump lots of guilt on people. Sometimes people's lives can be in such a position that suicide is a release from a living hell. I've known people who are terminally ill and dying slowly in agony, suicide is a release, it is most definitely not selfish. What is selfish are do gooders and the morally pious declaring it to be selfish - they are the selfish ones trying to impose their will and morality on those who want to exit from this life. I'm also speaking as someone who survived a serious suicide attempt a number of years ago. As my physical health continues to decline in various ways and my financial poverty worsens (I have little chance of ever securing work again) I am positive that suicide will be inevitable for me (maybe not for several years though). I won't fail next time - the details are already carefully planned in my mind. If a point is reached when the quality of life is sufficiently bad then I see no point in perpetuating it.

Regarding belief or not believing in gods, I'm atheist, or more accurately Zen Buddhist / Atheist. I've had a good science education and can see superstition for what it is - fiction. There is no evidence supporting the existence of any gods and I see no reason to believe in any for that same reason. I similarly don't believe in pink unicorns. If ever I encounter a pink unicorn or a god then I will change that belief; until then I consign all gods to the realm of mythology and pink unicorns to the realm of fairy tales.

Tallyman, there could be a pink unicorn on the planet Zygog. Ya never know

Even if there is I see no reason to attribute the formation of the universe to them or pray to them or believe that pink unicorns will provide a life after death.

First off, I want to assure you, I do not believe in the version of God that exists in the Bible or other Middle Eastern religions. I do, however, believe there could be a pink unicorn somewhere in the universe that simply has not been discovered due to our limitations on earth. And, if there could be a pink unicorn...well, you know the rest.

For all we know there could be a thriving civilization on planet YYY that absolutely refuse to believe in the existence of homo sapiens o O

I think it highly likely that there are civilisations elsewhere in the galaxy more technologically advanced than humans; perhaps some are so advanced that humans would consider them to be "god like". However, the existence or non-existence of such beings is irrelevant to the fact that there is no evidence of any actions on Earth by any gods. As scientific knowledge has progressed those things which used to be attributed to gods have been shown to be a product of natural processes within physics and chemistry. Earth is not the centre of the universe, nor does the sun revolve around the earth, nor has a god created life. We have all evolved from organic molecules over billions of years, whether you like the fact or not. Having read one of your other posts you don't appear to understand the process of evolution so I can only assume you have not studied evolution as I have. If you want to create imaginary god friends that is fine for you; if having such a friend benefits your life then great for you; however it doesn't make such gods real outside of your own head. There is no evidence of any gods and I see no reason to believe there ever will be... if anything science leaves less and less room for any gods as our knowledge casts light and removes the darkness of superstition.

Sure there will likely always be people who always believe in gods and deny evolution. That is their personal choice - to ignore the truth. Evolution is a fact; no matter how much Christians and Muslims bury their head in the sand and say nay. Those who believe in creationism are either self deluded or uneducated or both, simple as that.

So many more questions without answers! It really causes one to wonder about evolution, Oh yes I do not question the existence of evolution, just feel like humans gloss over it , could be more complicated than they realize. There could be some speedy evolutionary component. This could allow a species to jump through the evolutionary hoops more quickly than, say, humans (although humans have experienced this phenomena in their own evolution to a certain extent.) There could very well be creatures much more advanced than us. The reason we cannot find them (they could have found us for all we know) but if they have not found us, it's simply because space is soooooo vast it takes forever to get anywhere and they are in different sections of the universe, not in ours.

Regarding the speed of evolution, it has recently been found that a major contributor to the evolutionary process are retroviruses. They can copy and paste large segments of DNA between different species while they go about their own reproduction. This provides a mechanism for larger steps in the evolutionary process than simple DNA transcription errors or mutations. There are multiple physical processes involved in evolution; some trigger slow changes and some much larger as with the retrovirus DNA transfers. Analysis of human DNA shows that our genome is littered with random virus DNA.

An interesting aspect of this is that a different action may be triggered in different species. I forget the specific details of the following example but here is what I remember: A certain protein specific to viruses has been found to be essential regarding the formation of the placenta in mammals. The origin of this section of DNA has been shown to clearly have originated from a certain virus (it contains other codes specific to the virus but are junk in mammals). This demonstrates that the evolutionary step that led to the first mammals was caused by a virus infection! It really is quite fascinating. Every day there are more discoveries regarding the mechanisms of evolution and the impact they have.

Another exciting area is what might be called genetic archaeology. Scientists are no longer restricted to studying the fossil record to see how creatures evolved, they are now delving into the DNA of many organisms and seeing what DNA comes from where. It sounds like an exciting new field of study. Organisms not only have the "live" DNA that expresses itself in the form and nature of the organism, but they also have lots of so called "junk" DNA, relics from the evolutionary past of the organism or transfers from other species. Valuable clues regarding the evolutionary history of every organism on the planet today.

Interesting! Thanks, Tallyman! I, like so many others, wonder how humans, in particular, evolved so quickly. This could, quite possibly, shed so insight. Retro Virii seem to be greater contributors than we realize. Most consider them a nuisance and hindrance but there must be something to them.

I used to think I believed in buddhist tenets. Now that I know myself better, I can't say I believe in all things. What I can say is that I find it plausible. I find it plausible first because the doctrinary core of buddhism is very sound; then because I have experienced a bit of the key aspects of buddhism; also because people I trust have reported to have experienced much deeper things; and last, but not the least, because the happiest man I've met in person was a buddhist master _ a happiness not aquirable from the exterior.

If it is this plausible, it's worth trying to find out for myself if it's true. So far it has been a very interesting journey.

Let's turn this around: How does one logically go about disproving the existence of God?

How do you logically disprove the existence of pink unicorns or any other entity that humans can imagine? Because you can't prove or disprove the existence of imagined entities is no reason to believe they exist.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell%27s_teapot

Thank you for the teapot. Russell had his moments, but the teapot was one of his many low-points. I'll take Wittgenstein over Russell any day, thank you. The teapot is not analogous to our question. We are not considering a "thing" whose existence or nonexistence is relatively inconsequential to our understanding of the cosmos or of ourselves. Rather, we are dealing with a fundamental question for why things exist: the nature of causality. This is not even a religious question. It's philosophical.

What if the universe's origins were due to chance/random quantum fluctuations/etc. Is that a sufficient answer? Does a quantum mechanical fluctuation presuppose a cause? Do we assert:
1) At the origins of the universe causality did not exist;
2) A finite thing/"state"/"event" can be the cause of its own existence/event;
3) Causality in itself is a phony concept, there is only Bayesian analysis;
4) Something else.

It isn't even a philosophical question; it is a physics question. The nature of reality and the complex depths of modern physics are much deeper than the verbose ramblings and speculations of philosophers.

God is. Simple.

I'm more interested in the question of what advantages there are to faith. What do I get in exchange for my faith and what evidence supports that I'll receive it?