Makers of Supernatural claims have an inescapable burden of proof.
The Burden of Proof
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Category Archives: Thought
Losing Your Religion: Analytic Thinking Can Undermine Belief
People who are intuitive thinkers are more likely to be religious, but getting them to think analytically even in subtle ways decreases the strength of their belief, according to a new study in Science.
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Analytic thinking undermines belief because, as cognitive psychologists have shown, it can override intuition. And we know from past research that religious beliefs—such as the idea that objects and events don’t simply exist but have a purpose—are rooted in intuition. “Analytic processing inhibits these intuitions, which in turn discourages religious belief,” [British Columbia psychologist, Ara] Norenzayan explains.
Instinctive Thinkers More Likely to Believe in a Personal God – and Less Likely to be Atheists
Late last year some fascinating research revealed that people who take a more deliberative approach to problem solving – rather than just going with their instincts – are also less religious. Now some independent research not only confirms those findings, but also extends them to show how there is a progressive link thinking style and decreasing religious beliefs.
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The key results are shown in the figure. People who believe in a personal god are disproportionately likely to have got every question wrong.
Pantheists, who believe in god as an impersonal force, did better. Deists, who believe in an impersonal god who does not intervene in the universe, did better still, and agnostics even better. Atheists were the most likely to give correct answers.
The Periodic Table of Irrational Nonsense
Click HERE for The Interactive Periodic Table of Irrational Nonsense
Source: Science, Reason and Critical Thinking
Stephen Fry: Kinetic Typography / Language
BBC Documentary: The Romantics / Liberty / 2005
The 18th century was a time of opulence and privilege for some. Europe was dominated by the twin authority of the Church and King – but beneath the surface, new forces were gathering to challenge their absolute rule.
Al Stefanelli: Tyranny – A Seemingly Lost Concept on the Majority
I’ve written and re-written this post four times already this morning. With each edit came the revelation that it had morphed into another version of a rant against those who are under the notion that we are a Christian nation because of majority rule. Well, I’ve written about that many times and with each word that appears before me on my word processor, it becomes inevitable that I find myself writing about it yet again. Regardless of how many times I hit the “back space” 0r “delete” key, my mind stubbornly returns to the concept of tyranny.
Through the cobwebs and scattered papers that litter the floor of my mind and amongst the remnant memories of thousands of books that I have read which sit on the dusty shelves of my recollective, there emerges the single, unadulterated and clear thought [WOW!] of why the religious right continues to hawk their snake oil salve that consists of the single mandate that we should all acquiesce to their dictates and doctrines.
Richard Dawkins / MSNBC’s “Up with Chris Hayes” / Atheism in America / Sunday at 8am EDT
As the line between religious beliefs and political views becomes more and more blurred in the Republican presidential campaign season, MSNBC’s groundbreaking weekend program “Up w/Chris Hayes” will take an in-depth look into atheism in America on Sunday, March 25. The two-hour program (8-10am ET) will talk to several prominent figures in the field, examining how religious views intersect with our political views on both the left and the right, and will discuss the marginalization of those who do not believe in God. The special program comes one day after Saturday’s Reason Rally for atheism on the National Mall in Washington, DC.
Guests of the program will include: Richard Dawkins, author of “The God Delusion”; Steven Pinker, author of “The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined”; Susan Jacoby, author of “Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism”; Robert Wright, author of “The Evolution of God”; and Journalist Jamila Bey.
As part of the discussion about atheism in America, “Up” will speak with a working Christian member of the clergy who will reveal publicly, for the first time, that he is an atheist.
How Religion’s Demand for Obedience Keeps Us in the Dark Ages
. . . [W]hile the secular arguments for dictatorship have been greatly weakened, the religious arguments for it have scarcely changed at all. Religion is very much a holdover from the dark ages of the past, and the world’s holy books still enshrine the ancient demands for us to bow down and obey the (conveniently unseen and absent) gods, and more importantly, the human beings who claim the right to act as their representatives. It’s no surprise, then, that the most fervent advocates of religion in the modern world are also the most deeply inculcated with this mindset of command and obedience. . . .
In sharp contrast to the religious and conservative worldview of obedience and submission, the worldview of freethinkers and progressives at its best is one that exalts freedom and liberty — freedom to make our own choices, freedom of the mind to travel and explore wherever it will. These are our commandments: Think for yourself and don’t blindly bow down to the claims of another. Exercise your own best judgment. Ask questions and investigate whether what you’ve been taught is true.
Read and Think!
Source: Reid All About It
Always Question Authority 