To the Atheist members of vgchartz

[Jay520]

WereKitten said:

Ok, let's say that we are not born with a philosophy as in "a set of specific beliefs about phenomena", because at birth we dont see or care about the sun or the thunderstorms, but we might still be born with an ingrained philosophical scaffolding/method as in "in doubt, it's less dangerous to give intentional meaning to the observed world phenomena". At birth, we're already scared by the sudden loud noise of the thunder, because it's safer to assume that sudden loud noises are associated with dangers, and the most dangerous phenomena are conscious predators. Basically all children go through a magical thinking and animistic phase, and the same is true for many adults.

What I'm trying to say is that while logically it's true that the default position is that of non existence of unproven entia, and that we should apply Occam's razor, antropologically and biologically our default method of knowledge might not be logical at all, but intuitively - and of course deceptively - skewed toward animism. Which is, itself, a philosophical belief. Semantics aside, I'm sure you understand what I meant :)

I think I get what you are saying. Correct me if I'm misinterpreting you, but you're saying that because we all go through imaginary and magical thinking at some point in our lives, that makes the magical/imaginary thinking the default position. While it may be true that everyone goes through imaginary/magical thinking, I don't think that makes it default, because it is not until years after birth that such thinking arives. Your assertion would still agree with mine that people aren't born with any philisophical beliefs (such as a belief in God), but we attain them later in life.

And besides, when it comes to belief in a God, that's simply not the case anymore. It may have been true in the past that people naturally associated God with inexplicable phenomena. But today, most things can be explained and I don't think it's default for people to bring God into the equation. For the most part today, people's belief in God is the result of cultural upringing, not innate inclinations.