Happy Atheist Forum

So, who's your favorite famous atheist? Dead or alive.

Mine are Penn & Teller, Richard Dawkins and of course Charles Darwin.  

I dont think Darwin was an atheist. I remember reading somewhere that he had a difficult time publishing his findings because they went against his beliefs

Quote from: "MariaEvri"I dont think Darwin was an atheist. I remember reading somewhere that he had a difficult time publishing his findings because they went against his beliefs

Yes, I've read that too. But I thought I'd mention him anyway.

Nietzsche is the only correct answer to this question.  

Quote from: "maccecilie"So, who's your favorite famous atheist? Dead or alive.

Dr. Gregory House

Hismikeness

Noam Chomsky

Isaac Asimov
Bertrand Russell
Mark Twain

Francis Galton

(https://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.martinfrost.ws%2Fhtmlfiles%2Fmar2007%2Ffrancis_galton.jpg&hash=0a1a304b7ed4ce7d3bebd9e00e595bda822d1330)

Quote from: "Wikipedia"Sir Francis Galton FRS (16 February 1822 â€" 17 January 1911), cousin of Sir Douglas Galton, half-cousin of Charles Darwin, was an English Victorian polymath, anthropologist, eugenicist, tropical explorer, geographer, inventor, meteorologist, proto-geneticist, psychometrician, and statistician. He was knighted in 1909.

Galton had a prolific intellect, and produced over 340 papers and books throughout his lifetime. He also created the statistical concept of correlation and widely promoted regression toward the mean. He was the first to apply statistical methods to the study of human differences and inheritance of intelligence, and introduced the use of questionnaires and surveys for collecting data on human communities, which he needed for genealogical and biographical works and for his anthropometric studies. He was a pioneer in eugenics, coining the very term itself and the phrase "nature versus nurture." As an investigator of the human mind, he founded psychometrics (the science of measuring mental faculties) and differential psychology. He devised a method for classifying fingerprints that proved useful in forensic science. As the initiator of scientific meteorology, he devised the first weather map, proposed a theory of anticyclones, and was the first to establish a complete record of short-term climatic phenomena on a European scale.[1] He also invented the Galton Whistle for testing differential hearing ability.

Is there anything that this man didn't invent or discover. Jesus.

Well, I like him mainly for his mutton chops, but all that other stuff is kinda cool, bit nerdy though. Like I said, mutton chops.

^ Unimpressive manhair.

(https://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fbehance.vo.llnwd.net%2Fprofiles4%2F134218%2Fprojects%2F383752%2F1342181262811951.jpg&hash=fa4ca13dd6e66c6f09c41c0369c8a51867e90489)

More. (http://www.behance.net/Gallery/Beardfolio/383752)

Ah, but are they atheist?

(also, epic thread derail appears to have happened, this is not the first time I have come across the world beard and moustache championship)

No! They aren't atheists. None of them. Who cares about the derail anyway? I think you already answered the question. As did I. Defend your interest in manhair!

(https://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fpix.motivatedphotos.com%2F2008%2F11%2F12%2F633620949410122924-ihaveawindmillinmybeard.jpg&hash=67ff7a468e10812ca650e9be97abffab098013e1)
(https://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg91.imageshack.us%2Fimg91%2F2775%2Foctopustbearddisagreesau5.jpg&hash=b375e384ee6639acbff7810a74d097ce270bbb83)

^ I have to admit that this is quite funny.

Derren Brown

Dawkins, Twain, Vonnegut, Douglas Adams, Penn Gilette, and  Greg Graffin.

My beef with Nietzsche (and I own almost all of his books), especially in The Antichrist, is that he seems to have a problem with the virtues of Christianity (e.g. charity) rather than the vices (scientific denial, increased correlation with being a douchebag, proselytizing). Could anyone shed some light on this?

Quote from: "nikkmichalski"My beef with Nietzsche (and I own almost all of his books), especially in The Antichrist, is that he seems to have a problem with the virtues of Christianity (e.g. charity) rather than the vices (scientific denial, increased correlation with being a douchebag, proselytizing). Could anyone shed some light on this?

Nietzsche used rhetoric to maintain a certain distance from his subject matter. It can be difficult to decode.

He considered Christianity to be nihilistic. He often uses Christianity as a metaphor for other kinds of nihilism. The title of this book sums up his position: "the anti-nihilist".

When he talks about God, he's using it as a metaphor for objectivity. So "God is dead" means "objectivity is dead".

He does have an issue with Christian vices. The difference is that what Nietzsche recognizes as a vice (like having pity), a Christian might very well see as a virtue. Nietzsche's alternative justification for altruism is his "excess of power".

Disclosure: AlP is not a Nietzschean  

Stalin has the best 'stache!

(https://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fflashyourstache.files.wordpress.com%2F2007%2F10%2Fstalin.jpg&hash=857ffb8793f7b017d460fe1d0d376fe13fdbc2c5)

Uh, Is stalin the Atheist's version of Godwin's law?

"The longer a discussion of atheism continues, the probability of Stalin being mentioned approaches 1."

Quote from: "Ninteen45"Uh, Is stalin the Atheist's version of Godwin's law?

No, we get compared to/associated with Hitler all the time, too.

I cannot allow a discussion on beards to go without this:
[youtube:s83vad02]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYi24D9lHqc[/youtube:s83vad02]


And so I'm not being off-topic:
Douglas Adams
Gene Roddenberry

Quote from: "elliebean"

Quote from: "Ninteen45"Uh, Is stalin the Atheist's version of Godwin's law?

No, we get compared to/associated with Hitler all the time, too.

Not as often though.

Quote from: "AlP"

Quote from: "nikkmichalski"My beef with Nietzsche (and I own almost all of his books), especially in The Antichrist, is that he seems to have a problem with the virtues of Christianity (e.g. charity) rather than the vices (scientific denial, increased correlation with being a douchebag, proselytizing). Could anyone shed some light on this?

Nietzsche used rhetoric to maintain a certain distance from his subject matter. It can be difficult to decode.

He considered Christianity to be nihilistic. He often uses Christianity as a metaphor for other kinds of nihilism. The title of this book sums up his position: "the anti-nihilist".

When he talks about God, he's using it as a metaphor for objectivity. So "God is dead" means "objectivity is dead".

He does have an issue with Christian vices. The difference is that what Nietzsche recognizes as a vice (like having pity), a Christian might very well see as a virtue. Nietzsche's alternative justification for altruism is his "excess of power".

Disclosure: AlP is not a Nietzschean  :D