Atheism and happiness

[bandit4god]

For my part, my atheism has no connection to happiness

This is the 2nd or 3rd time a version of this quote has come up.  If that's true, why do you come on this forum?

[hackenslash]

Because learning is a major part of what makes me happy, and in places like this, I learn much, and I also like to think that I impart some learning on others.

Simple, really.

[bandit4god]

If that's the case, then it seems atheism has a material impact on your happiness.  Your atheistic views have brought you here, where you are able to do so much learning and impart learning on me and others!

[Cite134]

Honest theist question: what is life's goal for an atheist?  Stated differently, what is happiness?

I'm not sure what my goal is to do in life tbh. I'm still trying to figure that out.
Hapiness is what you make it.

[Cite134]

For my part, my atheism has no connection to happiness

This is the 2nd or 3rd time a version of this quote has come up.  If that's true, why do you come on this forum?

For me...because it's something to do?
Perhaps for intellectual stimulation, idk. Although, it has no bearing on my overall happiness.

[Meghatron]

Thanks, all!  This thread about Atheism and happiness is designed to gain some insight into what atheist hold to be their Ultimate Fact.  Let's take a second look at some of the quotes that have come before:
- "...my goal is whatever I want to do on a given day..."
- "...exploring and satiating my curiosity makes me very happy..."
- "...according to some theistic faiths I have lived in sin in my pursuit of happiness..."
- "...you are free to live your life in accordance with your own desires..."
- "...Atheists create their own goals..."
- "...people should do whatever makes them happy..."
- "...the meaning of life is whatever they choose it to be..."
- "...my life goal is to enjoy life and try to make life better for others while I'm at it..."

This may (or may not) point to the Atheist's Ultimate Fact as being "it's all about me."  If someone held the Ultimate Fact of their lives to be "it's all about me", any argument, debate, evidence, or theories to the contrary would simply bounce off (or incite anger, as this post may do!).

Some of you have contended that every living thing does whatever it wants to do.  Is it not possible for humans (alone of any other living thing) to deny themselves and hold an Ultimate Fact of "it's not all about me"?

For me being an Atheist has very little correlation with me being happy. If I pretended that I believed in God (like I did 8 years ago) my inner voice would still scream “there is no God...punch yourself in the face dumb ass” all day. Living like that made me very unhappy. Does that make me selfish? I’m just being real with myself. If I wanted play in make believe land like you folk do...well I would have gotten into LARP.

[bandit4god]

Yikes... I'm getting a lot of responses that atheism has nothing to do with your happiness.  It's a big internet, gang, why not join a forum that's more aligned with topics that will impact your happiness?

[Meghatron]

Yikes... I'm getting a lot of responses that atheism has nothing to do with your happiness.  It's a big internet, gang, why not join a forum that's more aligned with topics that will impact your happiness?

Nonbelievers make you happy and that's why you are a member of this forum. Awww THANK YOU!!! That is so flattering.

[The Magic Pudding]

Yikes... I'm getting a lot of responses that atheism has nothing to do with your happiness.  It's a big internet, gang, why not join a forum that's more aligned with topics that will impact your happiness?

I usually get my happiness at the farmers market, the stuff at the supermarket isn't really fresh, even if they say it is, and the frozen stuff is only for emergencies.  Some people swear buy the canned stuff but once you open the can it has to be used quickly.
Stick with the fresh stuff I say.

[Inevitable Droid]

Yikes... I'm getting a lot of responses that atheism has nothing to do with your happiness.  It's a big internet, gang, why not join a forum that's more aligned with topics that will impact your happiness?

Was the title of this thread inspired by the name of this message board?  Happy Atheist Forum?

First, it's possible to have two attributes simultaneously without either of them being causal to one another.  I'm male and I'm Italian.  If I wanted to, I could join a message board where Italian males congregated, if one existed.  Doing so wouldn't imply that being male made me Italian, or that being Italian made me male.

Second, we who post at this message board presumably do so because we enjoy it.  I certainly do.  Thus posting here adds to my happiness.  What this implies is, talking about atheism adds to my happiness.  Being atheist and talking about it are two related but separate things.  Ask me if I talk about atheism because it adds to my happiness, and I answer yes.  Ask me if I am atheist because being atheist adds to my happiness, and I answer no.  I am atheist because I'm not theist, and I'm not theist because theism is contrary to my epistemology.

Third, if the question about atheism and happiness were phrased differently, so as to get the causality right, I would answer a qualified yes to it.  Ask me if my happiness or its pre-requisites are causal to my atheism, and I answer no.  Ask me instead if my atheism or its pre-requisites are causal to my happiness, and I answer that atheism as such isn't, but its pre-requisites are.  Atheism's pre-requisites are my epistemological assumptions, and my epistemological assumptions cause me only to believe what has a high probability of accuracy, which causes my behaviors to be grounded in accurate premises, which causes me to generally fulfill my intent, which makes me happy.  

Thus neither my atheism nor my happiness are causal to one another, but a third thing is causal to both, and that third thing is my epistemology.
     
Fourth, theism, if I tried to indulge in it, would cause me great mental distress, because the cognitive dissonance would be loud and continual.  Theism and my epistemology cannot co-exist in my head without blaring klaxons assaulting my mental ear nonstop, which certainly would subtract from my happiness.

[The Magic Pudding]

Ye, I'm with my robot pal who's fun to be with.

[hackenslash]

If that's the case, then it seems atheism has a material impact on your happiness.  Your atheistic views have brought you here, where you are able to do so much learning and impart learning on me and others!

Wrong, that's not what I said. I come here to learn, which has nothing to do with atheism. I visit lots of fora, with a wide variety of demographics. As for atheistic views, I have none, because atheism in its rigorous form doesn't constitute or engender any views. I simply don't believe in deities, which is all that atheism is.

If you're going to twist what I say, you know what you can expect the outcome to be.

[Chandler M Bing]

Very well put, Whitney.

For my part, my atheism has no connection to happiness. It's simply the absence of a single class of belief. The things that make me happy are, I suspect, largely the same things that make just about everybody happy, and belief in a cosmic curtain-twitcher is not necessary for that.

What makes you happy?

Life, love, learning, music, literature, good food, drink, drugs...

All manner of things really. If I were pressed to sum up in one word what makes me happy, it is this: Experience.

For an atheist, you sound very spiritual.

[hackenslash]

Define 'spiritual'. I certainly don't believe in the existence of anything called the 'spirit', but I do recognise that there are things that transcend the mere material. I couldn't do my job without said recognition.

[Chandler M Bing]

Define 'spiritual'. I certainly don't believe in the existence of anything called the 'spirit', but I do recognise that there are things that transcend the mere material. I couldn't do my job without said recognition.

That's what I meant. That you recognise that there are things that transcend the material. You used words like love, life, experience. Ultimately everything is an experience.