Are Atheists Mostly Left Brained?

"If God didn't exist, would you create him?"

Originally posted by Watcher-In-The-Shadows
reply to post by Welfhard

 

Which cuts both ways.

Incentive to be selfish by being selfless.

The majority of belivers have actually justified God completely in their own head through logic and reason (ask BigWhammy) which is the same underlying principles as 'science'. Furthermore, the majority of scientists are actually religious people, therefore, could it actually be the believers that are unwilling to accept that God may not exist? Or, is this debate worthless as it applies to both beliefs equally?

Just try reversing the roles and read posts by the OP again.

It's a double-edged sword shoved right through the heart of the science vs. religion debate, bearing either good news or bad news for the faithful masses

.
Clearly, such ideas are falsified because religious people are often scientific people, and scientific people are often religious people. There is no 'science vs. religion' debate, merely those who do not understand it or those who wish to create one in order to push their own beliefs.

Or that God is indeed intricately placed in our consciousness from the beginning? But now, it is not necessarily a popular way to believe? Or is not considered intelligent enough?

Intelligence does not infer the ability to be right. People who are not intelligent probably either accept what has been taught to them, whether that is through religion or atheism.

On the left versus right brain 'thing', here's an interesting point of view.

Why a Left Brain society? - Amagons posts.

[edit on 18/5/2009 by C0bzz]

reply to post by MatrixProphet




We need to ascribe importance/relevance to things in our lives , from a pebble on a beach to the face of a loved one etc. We constantly update what is trivial and what is emotionally salient to us personally.

The key areas are the connections between the sensory areas of the temporal lobes and the gateway to the emotional centres of the brain ~ the amygdala .

With the strength of this connection determining how emotionally salient something is , sufferers of temporal lobe seizures may be indiscriminately strengthening ALL pathways during seizures.
Things that did not hold meaning are now imbued with a deep significance , often interpreted as a deeply religious experience.

Part 1




Part 2



====================
Theological implications of split-brain patients .


In extreme cases of epilepsy , patients have the corpus callosum cut , effectively creating two human beings/spheres of consciousness in one skull.
The findings relating to religious beliefs are very interesting .




==========================

I took the test on Left brain right Brain. It said I was technically right brained. I had 10 questions right brained and 8 left brained.

For the record I am atheist..

My feelings are that whatever a person needs to be a better person, if it is religion or not I have no problem with it. I have just seen a lot of awful things done to humanity in the name of religion (buy Humans) it makes me sick.

I control what type of person I will be.. I don't need religion to dictate to me what kind of person I should. I am a good person because it is the right thing to do.

I do not hate religion at all. It serves a purpose to many people.

I live in a small town in Iowa that is very religious. Mostly evangelical and Pentecostal as well as a lot of catholics. They go around on a daily basis to houses trying to get people to convert (not the catholics) as well as Mormons and Jehovas witnesses. I am straight forward with them telling them I am athiest and they gasp and act like I am the devil except for one group, the Mormons they are very friendly and want to talk about it, so a lot of times I will let them come in and talk. We just discuss why we believe what we believe and that is all.

I have read the Bible,Torah, The Qur'an, many sutras on Buddhism. I did not take my decission lightly and studied up before I decide Atheism was the right pick for me. I could have chosen to be Agnostic; I feel that is the easier way out which pretty much means you are not discounting there could be a god but you need proof. Religion is based on blind faith and I just cannot put my life in the hands of blind faith, Others can do that and I have no problems with that.

I like to use my older brother as an example. He is Evangelical he pushes it on everyone, he is very narrow minded and the only right way is his way. His life is in shambles. He and his wife have a mountain of debt and cant stand the sight of each other. He verbally abuses her on a constant basis and their kids. Do you know why she doesnt leave him? Their religion frowns on Divorce. So she will most like stay with him forever and be miserable.

I could go on forever why I chose to be Atheist but dont want to bore everyone.

I will stop rambling now sorry about that everyone.

Again back on topic I am right brained from the test anyway

[edit on 5/18/2009 by pcgeek]

really interesting topic mp

I just done some tests and i am right sided which i was expecting to be honest.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/02647c202d84.jpg[/atsimg]

Originally posted by badmedia
Those who operate on feeding the left brain externally generally look for authority and credibility. That is how they decided fact from fiction. If someone with a bunch of degrees/certificates says something, they will accept that as fact. And then Christians of course do the same exact thing with the bible/church.

I'm an atheist and I disagree with the above. If the world's smartest scientist told me that there was an invisible leprechaun standing next to me, despite his credibility, degrees, and certificates, I would still ask for evidence to make my own determination. I most certainly do not accept anything that is thrown at me from an accredited scientist. If they can not back up their statements with proof then it doesn't matter.

As an atheist, here is my issue with things. Our whole society is based around the belief in GD. If, and it's a big if, there is no such being, then that means that our WHOLE lives are lies. The society that holds us down, makes us feel we have the right to make laws to rule over other peoples lives, all of its for nothing, and there's so many people who are left living miserably because of it.

As an atheist, sometimes I wish that I did believe in a GD. It would make my life so much easier. But I can't trust a bunch of primitive peoples ideas.

My atheism has made me neurotic, suffer from panic attacks, deal with insomnia, obsessive.. all because my brain has been condidtioned to believe that these stories must be true, because they have survived this long, yet make no sense.

I don't understand the comment about atheists not being able to pick out patterns, as I see plenty of patterns, EVERYWHERE. I know that this statement isn't true, and whoever made it is wrong.

And it's not melatonin that the pineal gland produces, it's '___', the spirit molecule. You don't get it from mushrooms, but it's always in your brain. But oh no, you can't take it, religion says it's bad for you. So bad in fact that we aren't even allowed to start a topic about it on ATS without having someone tell you you've sinned (in this case violated the T&C) and that your post will be deleted.

I felt really bad about losing faith and am probably still a weak agnostic depending on what time it is... but once I had some dim hope unnamed that our curiosity and technology would help us understand and become something better than what we are eventually... and it will! Transhumanism defined really set my mind at ease... even if there is no god we can still explore, live forever and discover whatever the universe has to offer.... i guess my new religion is technology, including mother nature's technology :-) It is we who decide what is morally right and wrong anyway. You know it is wrong to kill out of self defense, steal etc.. deep down you don't need to be told this. We can enhance all our bad attributes out.

So... onward! To Starbucks!

Originally posted by miragezero
You know it is wrong to kill out of self defense, steal etc.. deep down you don't need to be told this. We can enhance all our bad attributes out.

So... onward! To Starbucks!

Which only proves my point I was trying to make above..If it's self defense, why is it wrong to kill? If you are starving and the only way to eat is to steal it, is it really wrong? I mean, if you DON'T steal the food, you're only allowing yourself to die, which is suicide, and that's a sin...
When in reality, who are you really hurting when you steal? The Bilderburgs? J.P.Morgan? The Rothschilds? Aren't these the people we SHOULD be stealing from, since they do it to us on a daily basis? Yet we are unabled by these same people, since it's THEIR currencies that the churches/mosques/ whatever use!

I really wish there was a GD, as I'd like to think that sometime I could just be and not tortured by the world around me. However, we all know that saying about something being too good to be true......

These past few posts by fellow atheists are spot on. Life would be so much easier if we believed there was a GD. We would be able to march through life a lot easier.

But we chose our own path and question what is supposedly the norm and are looked down on by many of our friends, family and society in general.

I will not change how I feel to FIT IN. I choose to question the norms and will continue to, I never argue with religious folks, what is the point. We can never win because they have something we don't, BLIND FAITH.



[edit on 5/18/2009 by pcgeek]

reply to post by Welfhard

You misrepresentation and misunderstanding of neuropsychology bugs me.

Buy some "Black Flag" and get over it!!

What experience do you have in addictionology?

reply to post by tim1989

"If God didn't exist, would you create him?"

If the concept didn't originally exist, why would I feel the need to invent it?

Why would a successful independent bright thinker have a need to invent a higher power?

[edit on 18-5-2009 by MatrixProphet]

reply to post by Jazzyguy

Not necessarily about the left hemisphere overall especially since a lot of famous scientists (such as Albert, Isaac, Galileo) believe in a certain concept of God.

Actually, these individuals most likely used both quadrants. Unless they functioned through primarily the left side and "religion" was a left brain exercise.

A spiritual connection (not religious) REQUIRES one to tap into the right brain, but a person can be religious and not be at all spiritual (or God connected).

Does this help? Or clarify it better?

Originally posted by kyanther

Which only proves my point I was trying to make above..If it's self defense, why is it wrong to kill? If you are starving and the only way to eat is to steal it, is it really wrong? I mean, if you DON'T steal the food, you're only allowing yourself to die, which is suicide, and that's a sin...
When in reality, who are you really hurting when you steal?

Well if you break in and steal from me then i will be scared and probably kill in self defense because i'm not going to wonder why you have decided to break in my house in the first place... well I say that, but i might say "wtf are you doing?" first... but it is within the law in my state to kill someone who has broken into your home as it should be. If you steal from a store you still rip a lot of people off because they will just raise prices on their remaining inventory. Someone always pays for it somehow... If you have energy enough to steal then you have energy enough to go through garbage, plant a garden, hunt or better yet- find a job. :-D

There are no sins btw, which is why no one can make a complete list of them. There are crimes and misdemeanors and immoral acts. We all either do them or think of doing them to some degree... there's all sorts of thought experiments to go through. What if you squash a spider? It probably is wrong to some degree since you were just to lazy to take it outside. The spider certainly doesn't know any better not to be in your house... Then again, spiders can be dangerous and mother nature is telling you to squash it lol... you just have to override her with your intellect sometimes.;-)

reply to post by mostlyspoons

Its not so much that you people lack faith, its that you lack HEART and SOUL

I believe that atheists have heart, but the soul is a little too right brain for many of them. Let me give you an example:

My father was an atheist/scientist/evolutionist. He was also an artist. So he was a brilliant man because he could access both quadrants.

But...his art often was critiqued as being a little soulless. He had a very difficult time matching heartfelt emotions with mechanical logic. So his art tended to be a little too mechanical in feel. Does this make sense?

I know brilliant artists that happen to be atheists, but I being really connected to my right brain, can feel an emptiness in many of their works. They may get it "technically" right (which is their left brain in action), but have difficulty infusing soul into their work.

Im going to piss people off when i say this :p but aint this what this sites for ?

Anyway, my view broke down allot is that ALL religion was created as a olden day LAW. there were no laws, people ran riot basically doing what they please, and then they got killed for stealing etc etc. Then came religion - people stopped thieving, people stopped killing the people. All because they would be "judged" at this 1 time when they died, and had no control over what GOD said. and then they would be in hell for ever and ever etc etc.

that scares any one, that makes any one change. If religion wasnt created all them years ago, and just brought out now - people would thrown upon it and look toward science like we are now. Where PROOF exists (But its been hidden by our elites, but thats a whole new thread lol)

So theres no proof, just story's of miracles so and so had 1000's of years ago.

Religion has brought noting but wars and supremest people into power.

Abolish religion and we for 1 will be more conscious, and ready to accept the real reason why we are on this planet!

Im on my way im an atheist haha!

reply to post by MatrixProphet


I guess we look at things a bit differently my friend. (I do not follow ANY religion).

You take a concept (organized religion) and make it your own. Yet I imagine that there is more to it then religious followers think. There is no way what we have been told by normal humans is the base of our existence.

Maybe it is you who are left-brained, and can not think of anything besides an old tradition.

If I am going to jump the grand canyon with a dirt bike, I am going to take the mathematician over the priest any day.

reply to post by MatrixProphet


Sorry it took awhile to respond, Matrix.

But yes I'm a very creative person. I have a creative energy. I enjoy doing things in a non-traditional way. I'm very visual in my learning style, as well. Memorization isn't useful at all for me. I learn by doing. Hands-on.