As an addendum to this thread, why do I consider it important that...
Isaac Young@HariSel57511397
17 views
Aug 28, 2024
~1 min read
Advertisement
1
As an addendum to this thread, why do I consider it important that atheists properly articulate their beliefs in fiction?
The reason is that fiction is an instantiation of belief… 1/
The reason is that fiction is an instantiation of belief… 1/
Isaac Young@HariSel57511397
I caught some flak for my Prometheus thread, specifically accusations that I was strawmanning Atheism. So let’s address that here.
Why Atheism is really boring for storytelling, thread 2 electric boogaloo 🧵 1/
Why Atheism is really boring for storytelling, thread 2 electric boogaloo 🧵 1/
2
It tells you what people value, what their dreams are, where they think they’re going, and who they want to be. It’s a door into the soul, the heart of a person. And reading classic sci-fi tells me something very different than these men’s professed atheism. /2
3
These writers sought out adventure, meaning, purpose. They wanted mankind to be something special, hold some higher place in the world than apes. They wanted to keep the dignity of our species despite their belief in ultimate indifference. /3
4
But on the flip side, their repeated inability/unwillingness to enflesh their atheism in fiction gets at a glaring contradiction. Their hearts are saying one thing, their mind another. And their inability to reconcile the two doubtlessly bled over in their real lives. /4
5
And this gets at a glaring reality. Atheists don’t live like atheists. It’s impossible to internalize meaningless. Even your existential dread is a byproduct of a self-aware mind. You can’t totally escape rationality and meaning. That’s the function of the brain. /5
6
As a rule of thumb, beliefs are only really worth something insofar as you can instantiate them in yourself or the world around you. What does it say about a belief system that you won’t even consistently apply to fiction, let alone real life? /end
