Forcing myself to believe in delusions would cause me to be depressed. Without those delusions I'm not confused or depressed. If your depressed and are not deluded your clearly not optimizing the value of your life.
{2} As the very thought is scary and repulsing. I know that this is depression, i've never felt anything like it.. I'm lonely, sick, stressed, and depressed.
I'm usually one to say I'm a perfectly happy atheist... But I have been depressed lately, as I do not fit in, and that I know there is no god. Earth in comparison to the universe is so small... Anything that we could do wouldn't change anything beyond earth. I am deeply depressed lately, and I know not one person who can relate with me. I'm a sophomore in high school, and my peers are cliche teenagers. I truly wish I believed in religion, despite its falsity. I would never commit suicide though
I am one of those who gets a bit depressed, because even though there are plenty of beautiful and amazing things and reasons to live for, it doesn't change the deep ugly of this world either. The want for something more, such as a world of true compassion, equality, love, and peace. With belief in a God that world is promised, to some extent depending on the religion. I still can't bring myself to believe in one though :/
@GrapplingIgnorance I'm aware of that, none the less I am human and just like most people, I wish and hope for better for this fucked up, backward world. It's hard to accept that there will never be anything to answer for all the unnecessary and unfair pain, suffering, and evil. No one knows the absolute truth as to how life started or as to how the universe came into being. We have theories. People on both sides should never claim to know the whole truth as a human being. I doubt there is a God
@GrapplingIgnorance but that doesn't change the fact that as a human being who naturally hopes for a better, more loving, more fair world, you get depressed from time to time when realizing that there is more logic in a God NOT existing, and that there will never be a true answer for all the negative pain found in this world. Just "the laws of nature." That can be saddening when you've seen true pointless suffering of so many undeserving people and living creatures.
@dancesonpoles You could have faith in humanity. Even for things like reversing death with some advanced technology. However, that shouldn't be an excuse to not do anything. I DID want to go to college to be a physicist and help to perhaps make time travel a reality. I realized that I wasn't cut out for acedemia at all. So now, I'm learning independently C++ which is much more in harmony with the way my brain works. Do what you can. If you think you have a good idea, share it.
Most of me doesn't believe there is a God. I certainly don't believe in the Abraham God. I will admit that becoming more atheist has made me a bit depressed because when you start to travel and see the world for what it is, it suffocates you with sadness. The amount of pain, suffering, hatred, and injustice found around the world is enough to paralyze and good natured, compassionate human being. It's enough to make you cry. So from time to time when I realize the chances that there is no God
Rarely do I see a perspective that so closely matches my own. "Trite and trivial" indeed. Also, the rational processes of my mind attack and destroy "belief" in much the fashion of the immune system with a foreign organism. I could not prevent either with any amount of desire, nor would I want to. Truth (which cares not for your comfort) is a poison to emotional well-being. If one has an insatiable craving for this poison, the options are: develop a resistance, or die.
I had depression back in my religious days. It was because because I tried to approach a god and he never gave a damn (being non-existing) and thought it was because I wasn't good enough.
I was an Atheist Democrat in a Texas middle school with issues with paper (nails on a chalkboard doesn't even begin to describe it. The only one who truly could begin understand this disability was my brother, who faced the same challenge with nylon, only nylon is A LOT easier to avoid than paper, think about it, cardboard, mail, doctor forms, flat out paper, you can't avoid it. Not to mention what happens when preteen kids discover this weakness about me, IN A SCHOOL!) that sir. was true hell
Do you know of any good non-faith based resources for people who are non-believers, but are dealing with tragedy? Maybe I am not proficient at searches, but I find all manner of guides and such that while supposedly non-religious refer to higher powers and what not. Faith puts things into a frame of reference that allows the individual to rail against or accept that it is part of some grand plan, I would love to see alternatives. Railing against an indifferent cosmos feels lacking.
@smv1172 I don't rail against anything. When I'm dealing with hard times, I don't need to convince myself that any/every bad thing that happens to be is part of some greater plan set in motion by a higher power. I keep my problems in best perspective as I can given my minute place in the universality, and I understand I only have one life to live, in which good and bad things happen, so I'd rather relish the good than to dwell on the tragically bad.
Anyways, Theists, stop telling us that we need a god to be happy, or live our lives as we desire, we dont need a god to "Fill the space", Because, there is no such space, also, we are not the ones who always live in a mediocre way, thinking that if we die, we will get in a better place, there is no place, there is no afterlife, so, stop worrying about that, and live this, your first, and last life as theres no tomorrow, bring love to your people, and work hard for a better world
You have no idea what you're talking about. It's actually quite sad; but you're so sure of yourself, I won't even try to save you from your delusion...
I felt that if I became famous I could live on in the memories of society for just a while longer. However, I finally realized that I could decide to be happy and always be an optimist. Why be a pessimist, it just depresses you?! So I began trying to notice when I was having a negative thought and to replace it with a positive one. It has worked finally and I have changed my mental habits for the better.
Great topic! The first two to three years after deciding that religion did not make logical sense (ages 21 to 24 or so). I did struggle under a pretty deep depression. I tried psychologists and pills and meditation etc. etc. I also took to the false belief that in order to be happy I had to establish and attain difficult goals and that in the meantime I could not be happy. For instance: I had set for myself goals such as being a world renowned author or philosopher or constitutional lawyer etc.
I struggled with depression during my early twenties after I ditched my faith. I think it is a lot like withdrawals from a drug addiction. You lose a lot of friends, routines and good feelings that you were used to. It takes time to establish a new lifestyle that is fulfilling.
The cure for me was to engage in really hard work, and to look for ways to help others. It is always rewarding while you are doing it, and it makes your life better in the future as well.
I don't think depression has to do with atheism. When I was first depressed, I considered myself a Christian (though in retrospect, I was more of a deist), and also thought life was meaningless. My reasoning went like this: "If god exists, he has no god for himself, technically making him an atheist. As such, even if he exists his life would be useless, and in effect mine would be too." To me, depression is an illness that always finds a way to express itself, no matter your convictions.
As a recently (two years) converted Atheist, I find it depressing not because of any sort of "meaning of life", but I often feel afraid because of the knowledge that I'm on my own. There will always be things that are outside of our control, but praying to an imaginary sky fairy that I truly believed was real at least brought some piece of mind because I at least thought that I had some help along the way. Now I know that I have no one looking out for me. I'm on my own.
I tend to believe in the ideal of applied sociocultural evolution. Or in other words, people going back to some traditional mindsets without the filler of religion and advancing as a community by helping one another within a more tightly knit group based on clearly determined goals defined by us as people for a better tomorrow for all, not by tweaking an outdated doctrine and hoping for happiness when you're dead.
@BarryGormley2010 That's great that atheism is a help to you. I've always been atheist, so I can't say whether I'd be happier as a christian, if that was even possible. I'm not claiming that religion helps mental health for everyone, and I'm certainly not saying that it benefits society, just explaining why it could improve mental health and self-confidence for those who are naive and/or indoctrinated enough to truly believe it.
Now I guess it largely depends on the person but to me one has 2 goals, 2 desires he has to give his all. One is the combined desires of the flesh - all feelings(good and bad) make one feel alive(I think there was a song like that). The other is simple and pure. Curiosity. Ever since we were born we discovered stuff. We discovered fire. We discovered nitroglicerin. We discovered space. Now the closest to fullfiling this one, in our lifetime that is is the LHC. (how'd the world appear)
The reason I think atheism can be a factor in depression is that when you understand that you're only alive because of natural processes, that the world wasn't created just for you, that you have no fundamental right to use its resources, to be happy in your life, and even to exist in the first place, you lose certain attitudes to life and your place in the world that were an important factor in mental health for our species during its development so far, and this loss can affect us negatively.
@GrapplingIgnorance The "god delusion" has been an important part of life for all human societies since we evolved the ability to entertain it. Delusions don't normally benefit the deludee, but IF it's true that the human brain is "wired" for god-belief, we can infer that natural selection has selected in favour of that particular delusion, which tells us that it improves the individual's success. Not the truth of beliefs, the morality of behaviour, etc, but his success.
@GrapplingIgnorance That's because you KNOW it's a delusion. If you could put yourself in the position of someone who REALLY thinks it's real, you might feel differently, but it's very hard to do that. The same applies the other way round, which is why the things atheists say seem so bizarrely wrong to the faithful.
@KrisBlueNZ No. The reason atheism contributes to depression is because it's a constant reminder that there are so few of us who truly see the world for what it is, and we are few and far between. The very fact that we even NEED the word shows how insane the world within which the few sane live is.
@WCdragoninja Point taken. I'm sure I would be happier if I could believe that the CREATOR of the UNIVERSE would never allow a major catastrophe (e.g. nuclear war, natural disaster, resource depletion, global warming) to befall us. I think that's what you're getting at...? But I also think that if I could accept the delusion that the creator of the universe made the world FOR ME and that I DESERVE to be alive and using its resources, I would be happier and more content.
@iliveon I'm trying to understand the mentality of the folks that really BELIEVE that their sky daddy will always take care of them, and why they are so desperate to cling to that delusion. I agree, it IS a childlike mentality - the wish to be protected, the way children are protected by their parents (or god, the "father"), so they can feel safe and secure, and not need to worry about the big bad world. Reality tells us to grow up, but religion is a way to cling to childhood feelings.
@KrisBlueNZ You are telling me right now that you feel less happy? If so, man, that is you, but I for certain feel enlightened, estaught, questioning and wondering, and as Hitchens put it, "emancipated." Have you watched any, or read any of Christopher Hitchens? Perhaps you should buy his book "god is not great" and maybe then, you will not feel as bad about being in a world where you are a naturally occuring mammal with cognitive abilities to see miraculous nature all by itself, no add on's
@iliveon I'm a card-carrying skeptic and atheist. I have God Is Not Great. I understand the arguments. I'm trying to explore reasons why people feel so strongly attached to god.
I can't tell you that I feel "less happy" than I would if I were a christian - it's impossible for either atheists OR believers to KNOW anything like that.
I love knowing about reality, and I have something close to "faith" in the scientific method because of its power to tell us the REAL truth.
@iliveon Knowing about reality, and having defensible proof on my side, is liberating. However, I'm also a human being, and I'm very interested in the place that religion fills in the human consciousness. I like your analogy to the childlike state of dependence, which is one I hadn't explored seriously before, I guess.
I think by better understanding the role religion plays in believers' lives, we may be better able to disabuse believers of their dependence on it.
@KrisBlueNZ actually, though I have noit read god is not great, (yuet), I think a series on space would accomodate you. Something like the modern cosmos which is soon to come out. We have to learn that the universe can be wonderous and magical and miraculous without these invisible ideas, without these invisible adjectives that we use to describe gods and heavens and hells that we cannot even imagine. I hear that fiction stories are the best to touch and convey the wondrous aspect of reality.
@iliveon I've read about half of God Is Not Great and I find it quite boring, filled with anecdotes and verbosity. But I have The God Delusion and Greatest Show On Earth, and I think they are excellent.
Don't worry about me. I guess my comment seemed naive, but I well understand how I'm an "a naturally occuring mammal with cognitive abilities to see miraculous nature all by itself" as you so poetically put it.
I don't like sci-fi. It is only loosely based on reality. I prefer reality.
great video grappling, but could you talk a bit slower in you future videos? it would make your points a bit easier to follow. As for myself, I've never liked when atheism gets turned into nihilism, it's such an ugly sequence of reasoning.I'm glad your offering up a positive world view in this video.
It's kinda funny...when you have an imaginary friend people call you crazy but when everyone has the same imaginary friend they call it religion and shove it down your throat.
That our existence doesn't come pre-packaged with meaning and purpose is both a burden and an amazing, dignified privilege. "There is a grandeur in this view of life..."
I do get depressed, but it is not because of my lack of belief. It comes from seeing believers, and knowing they could watch this
watch?v=r6w2M50_Xdk&feature=channel_video_title or
watch?v=jyjNXdEGjO4&list=FLmdA1T0tmOfW2PeGfx5h1oQ&index=50&feature=plpp_video a hundred times and never truly get it. I am moved to tears of joy when I encounter a person who was religious when the light goes on and they actually understand. There are few feelings comparable.
@GrapplingIgnorance "And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly."
@MoralRapist I am familiar with that verse, it makes me giggle when I see things like Rick Perry's prayer rally. As for my own "favorite verse," I haven't given that matter much thought as of now.
maybe theres no actual purpose for our existence or life however why not take advantage of our existence and sentience and atleast try and change things for the better? or if you dont want to even try and do such a thing at the very least contribute to society in a productive way and live a happy life! oh and by the way the instruction booklet would be(no matter your displeasure) hitch hikers guide to the galaxy. and yes im fairly certain the answer to everything is infact 42.
If one day I go insane because of age, depression and/or sickness, I hope I get attached to an awesome dilusion and not something boring like Christianity.
I did go through that when I lost my faith, from "I'm going to live forever" to "I'm going to die and never ever ever come back" In time I didn't just accept it, but smiled on the fact that compared to have never existed at all its good to at least exist, even if its just for a few decades.
I believe that most (if not all) of the theist/atheist debate comes down "why?" We show that their "why" is complete bull; and they counter by noting we don't have much of one to begin with, that we tiptoe on the slippery slope of determinism and then crash spectacularly into a pit of impotence, that we're just a temporary molecule in a very long and ongoing chemical reaction, a fleeting spark form an ancient campfire. That's a whole lot of reality to rationalize away over morning coffee.
(cont) many atheists loose ties to friends and family simply for being atheists, and if that is the case it would make sense to me why those people are depressed.
@GrapplingIgnorance I’ve heard about various studies that have been done that say atheists are more depressed than theists and such, but I’ve never really given them much thought to be honest. There is certainly a chance that the groups or organizations who have conducted these studies have an agenda, and if so, they’re not worth paying attention to. I want to point out though that if that’s not the case, I can chalk atheist as a whole being more depressed than theists to the fact that (cont)
You were going fine until you said we were fortunate enough to be living beings. There was no 'us' until we existed. Therefore there is no fortune about our individual existence. I'm no anti-natalist or depression-sufferer but while we're grappling with ignorance let's not needlessly engage in our own.
@SelfImmolator It's my opinion that we're better off to have the opportunity to exist if even for a brief moment than to never exist at all. Holding that opinion doesn't make me ignorant.
@GrapplingIgnorance Don't get me wrong, I understand the sentiment, it's the logic behind it that I was challenging. It's similar to Dawkins idea that being alive "makes us the lucky ones" because so many other people aren't going to get to be born. Poor them, ey?
We can't be 'better off' having the opportunity to exist. There's nothing to compare it to. We exist by definition, we can't exist in a non-existent state in which we're worse-off. It's as flawed as saying we'd be better-off dead.
@GrapplingIgnorance Sadly, those of us with clinical depression or bipolar disorder may have a hard time seeing the bright side. Our world view is dictated by the whim of chemical imbalances that will literally drive many of us to suicide. It's all but impossible to feel lucky we're alive when many of us wish we'd never been born. Life for us is not only emotionally and physically painful, but also vast, indifferent, and purposeless. Especially when we've lost the rose-colored glasses of theism.
I agree, 100%. He makes a lot of great points, but in my state of depression I can't pull myself up out of it long enough to totally sympathize with him. So now what?
@beetlecommathe I'm obviously not talking about people with clinical depression and saying they should just "fix it" or simply change their minds to feel better. The point is that having a position of non-belief does not directly force people to be depressed.
@GrapplingIgnorance In my opinion you're wrong on this one GI. Finding purpose most of the time just isn't a rational decision. It just has nothing to do with it. It's better now but for a long time I just didn't have that drive in me. I didn't have that one thing that kept me going (or those numerous things for that matter). I just didn't. Sometimes your brain just tells you to fuck off and cry some more.
@ForYeensSake Nothing you just described explains how I'm "wrong" for having the opinion and personal perspective I do on life. Just because your personal circumstance leads you to be depressed doesn't mean that you are forced into depression due to non believing in God- which is the point of this video.
@GrapplingIgnorance Either you misunderstood me or I misunderstood you (and I'm guessing the latter but hoping the former). I am an atheist and had a mixed "liberation" (It's a terrible word but I don't know how to put it ok). However I responded to your comment that it is a failed analogy. Basically I was saying: Some people are (for a short time or for the rest of their lives) unable to see the colours. To see the bright side.
Ya great F~ing ending thats xactly what im frustrated about today,,But i just got a hug from a cute female friend so im not so pouty now... G.i u knw in this video if you were more water like you would look like Preditor in the first movie when he cloaks..
And by the way - awesome ending, and a friendly hello to the Mrs. G.I.: Anyone who can bring a little happiness to the man-in-the-hood is an awesome person in my book.
Excellent discussion of this topic - I also feel that meaning is subjective, and up to the individual - although (I will be one of those guys) I can understand where some of that depression comes from: The solitude of being the only person in the immediate vicinity with the same outlook on religion, the hopelessness of feeling surrounded by people who you feel are at least minimally delusional, and the fear/stigma of even bringing your views into the light with them... Just my opinion of course.
"If you don't currently have a life you feel is worth living in without misery then I suggest you do everything you can to fix it.
This has to be about the dumbest thing you've ever said.
If somebody has been clinically depressed their entire life, has tried countless anti-depressants and has always been depressed even when there's been nothing else wrong in their life,
@Primalxbeast I'm not clinically depressed as far as I know, but I do have to agree that it was kind of a very reckless thing for him to say, unless he's not opposed to suicide. Suicide was the first thing that came to mind upon reading that.
I'm slowly becoming more of a practicing buddhist, and this helps to deal with the suffering inherent in existence, but I've come to devalue life in this world or meaning from some form of pleasure or self-direction to an even greater extent.
@Primalxbeast Under the conditions you've described, that person is doing everything he or she can already, and that's fine. If a person decides (s)he's better off dead, and chooses to end his/her own life, that's their business as well. It's unfortunate to me, but I believe people deserve the right to end their own lives if they so choose. That doesn't mean they shouldn't hear from a dissenting opinion before confirming the decision, but I still think the call is ultimately his/hers, not mine.
@GrapplingIgnorance I honestly think that ending your life is the most selfish thing a person can do. It only causes more depression to those who surrounded that person.
If as an atheist there's anything I'm depressed about it's the innumerable mentally ill people around me worshipping an imaginary friend, believing in bullshit that doesn't exist and making others miserable because of it.
As a life long depressive and a life long skeptic I see these as being unrelated. Depression is the result of my brain not my beliefs. It's like being sick or hung over. It has been extreme at times but I have never craved delusion to get through it. Medication, exercise, cognitive therapy and other things scientifically shone to be effective are what helped. Those along with friends and family. I would hope that any depressed skeptics would consider this may be the same for them. Good luck.
@LastBankJob I agree completely, and while I have not always suffered from depression, when it comes it is not a result of my beliefs but of my opinion of myself as a person, and my seeming inability to make changes in my life. My depression is not rational, and I sometimes wonder if it is a result of itself....I am depressed *because* I am depressed.
I am trying now to watch what I eat and exercise more often, along with a good daily dose of fish oil! I want to enjoy this fabulous life.
It's like the meaning and purpose of Procyon. If you want to make sense of your life, then find something that makes you feel good and doesn't hurt anyone else then spend your life doing it; like masturbation or heroin.
i was just thinking about you the other day, wondering if you would be posting a new vid soon!figured the school year is keeping you busy!and i heartily agree!deconversion left me with a hole (not god shaped), just in my habits.when bad things arose i usually prayed, fasted, read the bible, asked for prayers.it was odd at first,realizing that i was just skipping that part and going right to "finding an answer and dealing with life",but i soon embraced it and moved on.
@practicalmagic9 i then felt sheepish about all the time i wasted in prayer,all the years of self flaggelation for whatever 'sin' i assumed i had committed,or ways i might have "let go of gods hand",or what lesson god was teaching me.nope...just life.i now find such peace knowing that my life, choices,and path is mine alone.bad things or good things happen for many reasons in and out of my control,and i wake each day grateful to be alive.i just don't have to be grateful to any sky daddy for it.
@practicalmagic9 i mean,i wake each day knowing i get to be here one more time.live my life, love my family,and i don't have to bend my knee to any tempermental sky daddy.good and bad things happen both in and out of my control but i no longer waste any precious time worrying if god is pleased with me.i am happier than i ever was as a theist.i cannot imagine ever going back.i tell myself my purpose in life,and it is to love,learn,and exist.i do not need god to be grateful.
@13Xanadu No, I'm working on getting other physical problems resolved atm, and it costs me $50 a visit to see a psychiatrist or therapist opposed to $35 for a specialist doctor(I'm seeing three doctors), I can't afford $200 a month, so it's something I'm putting off for now. I shouldn't need to see so many doctors soon and I plan to see a psychiatrist. Thanks.
@GrapplingIgnorance you're wrong GI, the meaning of life is to like the FSM, so that we may get into heaven with its beer volcano and stripper factory. oh and have you heard of this wonderfully convincing argument called pascal's wager?(sarcasm)
I love this video. It hits a lot of great points. I think that skeptics could become depressed by watching illogical people with faith making decisions that effect their lives. :D It could also be because the church gives people a kind of purpose. "We are made to worship him" and other such things. The religion makes you feel special as well. Living the skeptic life gives you all the reigns and some people don't know what to do in such a situation and the confusion can lead to depression.
Depression is depression - it hits some of us regardless of belief. I don't know how I'll feel when I'm close to death, but I'm pretty sure I'll be fine. I'm stardust... :)
GI, not all of us have a life that we feel makes up for itself. I would rather never have been born into this world, whether I believe in a god or not. It surprises me that anyone can look at this world and actually come to love it without simultaneously ignoring or putting out of mind some of our natural laws.
Interestingly this point is also true of theists, in so much as for them to love their world they must ignore their "reality" of an eternal hell in which their "god" said "few" would escape it. You could also add to this how "satan" can mislead and deceive and how "god hardens" people, perhaps their very own loved one. And for those of the Calvinist persuasion, their loved ones might not be "elect", which is to say they were predestined for hell.
Excellent video, and right on target. I can understand why people would look at it as a bleak existence without the false comfort of a deity, I use to believe the same when I was a part of the theistic collective. But once I embraced and came to terms with the reality that is, life is that more exciting and worthwhile. And it gives me great comfort and pleasure to know my life is my own and that I am free of the ritualistic duties, practices and mindset that are associated with divine fear.
People have been lied to since they day they were born, it's no surprise that depression sets in quite as frequently as it does, and I don't think the sceptic part has much to do with that. As a sceptic who has fought through depression and known exactly what it is like to be consumed by the understanding that there is no objective reason for anything, I can say with certainty that it's just the starting point. With a little education, it's a MONSTEROUSLY powerful place to start from.
what i like about being an atheist is not being afraid of death, so when my shitty life reaches a breaking point, im buying a gun and offing myself. probably gonna be sooner than later.
@gklcgr You say there is nothing beautiful in human beings while calling some other individual giving his two cents on a very specific manner a "fucking douchbag[sic]". If people are ever negative towards you, some of them will be affected by your own behaviour, so you're just fulfilling your own pessimistic expectations.
He was targetting a very specific thought that would make others feel depressed, not clinical depression. He means to let go of that specific chain of thought.
@gklcgr Kindly give the spec time when I said that depression was a choise? As for there being "nothing beautiful in life or in human beings," I warn you that only the Sith think in absolutes.
When I was a Christian and very, very seriously depressed I was a nihilist. I was also convinced that God was an absolute asshole for letting these things happen to me. He's supposed to care for his children, right?
Then I dismissed the idea of God and acquired medication. Both my mood and my thoughts lifted. There was no God ignoring suffering, taking a sick delight in torturing the innocents and ignoring their pleas for salvation.
Atheism gave me the "peace that surpasses all understanding."
I was depressed when i figured out i'm going to die one day. It was about the same age when i started questioning religious indoctrination :P It was bad for a short time... then i moved on: life is too short not to enjoy every day of it. (lol only now video reached its end and i see you finished similarily)
ive always thought that if your enjoyment of this life is dependent on the existence of an afterlife or the need to fulfil some "purpose" you must have a pretty shitty life. enjoy it while you can and dont worry about 2000 year old fairy tales
It's all how you look at it... from either perspective.
I can't think of anything more horrible than living forever. Thank GOD with an honest look at life, it's overwhelmingly obvious God doesn't exist.... at least not even remotely how any theist defines god.
Now how about taking some time to think about the fact that you don't need to eat meat to be happy and healthy? And that a lot of people who don't eat meat are happier and healthier than those that do?
@2bsirius Because I don't relate to or care about that issue at all, and you know that. You can make videos about that if you think it needs to be done.
@2bsirius "And that a lot of people who don't eat meat are happier and healthier than those that do?" Good comment until you say this. Considering the thought ? Why not. Even though GI only made one vid about this and it's not something he seems to care about much. But your formulation of that sentence means you think lots of people who don't eat meat are happier and healthier than EVERY person who eats meat. There, you lost anyone with a thought process. You should have said "some" not "those".
I think you're very mistaken, but GrapplingIgnorance is right that my comment was a bit off topic, so I went to your channel page to respond to your claims.
Not that I am depressed, but I would prefer that to spending my one and only lifetime deluded, and living in fear of a vindictive thought-policeman who doesn't even exist.
Rationality trumps bliss any day. If you find life depressing, fix it.
Agreed. Although I've never had an issue with depression resulting from a lack of faith, I think I can empathize with those who have left their faith behind. I imagine It must be something that many may have to struggle through for a lifetime, a kind of PTSD mixed with Stockholm syndrome. I'm not saying I don't get depressed, we all do, but my understanding of my place in the universe and knowing that I only get this one chance has actually helped me out of my depressions on occasion.
Here we have hit the nail on the head. The reason for the religious. It's called wishful thinking.
I for one would be thoroughly depressed if i thought every action and indeed every thought was being watched with a critical eye while wondering if i had offended this observer.
For me depression/anxiety/sadness has never been a result of non-religion. What has made me feel this way is my own failures, my own stupidity, mistakes, fears of rejection, etc. Yes, when naturally sad in this way I can't recourse to prayer or God (to convince myself everything is going to be OK), but I find the flip-side, that I don't have to feel guilty for not conforming to an outmoded and perverse "morality" as well as the feeling that everything goes, much more satisfying and comforting.
I've had people tell me that in order to call myself an atheist I must also be a nihilist. The idea that some form of nihilism and depression must follow from atheism is an assertion I find absurd. Does anyone REALLY want to go to Heaven? What would you do for eternity? Surely 10 trillion years of harp lessons can't be very appealing, or an eternity of bowing before the total dick of a deity most theists believe in. Doesn't living FOREVER devalue everything that happens in life? Great vid GI
@TitenSxull I don't believe in heaven. I don't a see a reason to. That said. I find this idea that forever would be boring a little strange. "10 trillion years of harp lessons" isn't very appealing, but an eternity of learning everything there is to know is beautiful thought to me. Moreover, I don't think you ever actually run out of things to learn and to know. I don't see a reason to believe it, but neither do I understand how people imagine they would end up being bored.
mwa.
Blaizerazer 1 month ago
Forcing myself to believe in delusions would cause me to be depressed. Without those delusions I'm not confused or depressed. If your depressed and are not deluded your clearly not optimizing the value of your life.
grahamgeons 1 month ago
{2} As the very thought is scary and repulsing. I know that this is depression, i've never felt anything like it.. I'm lonely, sick, stressed, and depressed.
caseykc18 1 month ago
I'm usually one to say I'm a perfectly happy atheist... But I have been depressed lately, as I do not fit in, and that I know there is no god. Earth in comparison to the universe is so small... Anything that we could do wouldn't change anything beyond earth. I am deeply depressed lately, and I know not one person who can relate with me. I'm a sophomore in high school, and my peers are cliche teenagers. I truly wish I believed in religion, despite its falsity. I would never commit suicide though
caseykc18 1 month ago
Epic ending.
What is the meaning of life? FCUKING being alive!
blancol 1 month ago
awww... that ending was cute
camcan004 1 month ago
I am one of those who gets a bit depressed, because even though there are plenty of beautiful and amazing things and reasons to live for, it doesn't change the deep ugly of this world either. The want for something more, such as a world of true compassion, equality, love, and peace. With belief in a God that world is promised, to some extent depending on the religion. I still can't bring myself to believe in one though :/
dancesonpoles 1 month ago
@dancesonpoles That's because desires shouldn't inform your beliefs or your understanding of truth.
GrapplingIgnorance 1 month ago 2
@GrapplingIgnorance I'm aware of that, none the less I am human and just like most people, I wish and hope for better for this fucked up, backward world. It's hard to accept that there will never be anything to answer for all the unnecessary and unfair pain, suffering, and evil. No one knows the absolute truth as to how life started or as to how the universe came into being. We have theories. People on both sides should never claim to know the whole truth as a human being. I doubt there is a God
dancesonpoles 1 month ago
@GrapplingIgnorance but that doesn't change the fact that as a human being who naturally hopes for a better, more loving, more fair world, you get depressed from time to time when realizing that there is more logic in a God NOT existing, and that there will never be a true answer for all the negative pain found in this world. Just "the laws of nature." That can be saddening when you've seen true pointless suffering of so many undeserving people and living creatures.
dancesonpoles 1 month ago
@dancesonpoles You could have faith in humanity. Even for things like reversing death with some advanced technology. However, that shouldn't be an excuse to not do anything. I DID want to go to college to be a physicist and help to perhaps make time travel a reality. I realized that I wasn't cut out for acedemia at all. So now, I'm learning independently C++ which is much more in harmony with the way my brain works. Do what you can. If you think you have a good idea, share it.
Keitaro2011 1 month ago
@Keitaro2011 I'm confused. Where did I say anything but not doing anything?
dancesonpoles 1 month ago
@dancesonpoles You didn't. It's just a common trap of optimism.
In my opinion, magical thinking can be very empowering if applied correctly.
Keitaro2011 1 month ago
Most of me doesn't believe there is a God. I certainly don't believe in the Abraham God. I will admit that becoming more atheist has made me a bit depressed because when you start to travel and see the world for what it is, it suffocates you with sadness. The amount of pain, suffering, hatred, and injustice found around the world is enough to paralyze and good natured, compassionate human being. It's enough to make you cry. So from time to time when I realize the chances that there is no God
dancesonpoles 1 month ago
Rarely do I see a perspective that so closely matches my own. "Trite and trivial" indeed. Also, the rational processes of my mind attack and destroy "belief" in much the fashion of the immune system with a foreign organism. I could not prevent either with any amount of desire, nor would I want to. Truth (which cares not for your comfort) is a poison to emotional well-being. If one has an insatiable craving for this poison, the options are: develop a resistance, or die.
Snakepliskinist 1 month ago
@Snakepliskinist Bingo.
GrapplingIgnorance 1 month ago
Funny how so many things came from egypt via the Greeks to modern Christianity lol.
0001lsw 2 months ago
42 is the number of judges which test the soul of the dead and weigh the heart before transcendence in the Egyptian theosophy.
rollingcube 2 months ago
1:30 Maybe desires can become beliefs, because now you have a hot roomie that could double for Beyonce =D
tex959 2 months ago
I had depression back in my religious days. It was because because I tried to approach a god and he never gave a damn (being non-existing) and thought it was because I wasn't good enough.
DialogueChild 2 months ago
I was an Atheist Democrat in a Texas middle school with issues with paper (nails on a chalkboard doesn't even begin to describe it. The only one who truly could begin understand this disability was my brother, who faced the same challenge with nylon, only nylon is A LOT easier to avoid than paper, think about it, cardboard, mail, doctor forms, flat out paper, you can't avoid it. Not to mention what happens when preteen kids discover this weakness about me, IN A SCHOOL!) that sir. was true hell
crownedkitty67 2 months ago
Do you know of any good non-faith based resources for people who are non-believers, but are dealing with tragedy? Maybe I am not proficient at searches, but I find all manner of guides and such that while supposedly non-religious refer to higher powers and what not. Faith puts things into a frame of reference that allows the individual to rail against or accept that it is part of some grand plan, I would love to see alternatives. Railing against an indifferent cosmos feels lacking.
smv1172 2 months ago
@smv1172 I don't rail against anything. When I'm dealing with hard times, I don't need to convince myself that any/every bad thing that happens to be is part of some greater plan set in motion by a higher power. I keep my problems in best perspective as I can given my minute place in the universality, and I understand I only have one life to live, in which good and bad things happen, so I'd rather relish the good than to dwell on the tragically bad.
GrapplingIgnorance 2 months ago
@GrapplingIgnorance Thanks for the reply, it is really cool that you are so ready to respond to your viewers. Have a good one GI.
smv1172 2 months ago
Awww the kiss :3
Anyways, Theists, stop telling us that we need a god to be happy, or live our lives as we desire, we dont need a god to "Fill the space", Because, there is no such space, also, we are not the ones who always live in a mediocre way, thinking that if we die, we will get in a better place, there is no place, there is no afterlife, so, stop worrying about that, and live this, your first, and last life as theres no tomorrow, bring love to your people, and work hard for a better world
JjXuxinho 2 months ago
You have no idea what you're talking about. It's actually quite sad; but you're so sure of yourself, I won't even try to save you from your delusion...
M3PanoS 2 months ago
I felt that if I became famous I could live on in the memories of society for just a while longer. However, I finally realized that I could decide to be happy and always be an optimist. Why be a pessimist, it just depresses you?! So I began trying to notice when I was having a negative thought and to replace it with a positive one. It has worked finally and I have changed my mental habits for the better.
afornase22 2 months ago
Great topic! The first two to three years after deciding that religion did not make logical sense (ages 21 to 24 or so). I did struggle under a pretty deep depression. I tried psychologists and pills and meditation etc. etc. I also took to the false belief that in order to be happy I had to establish and attain difficult goals and that in the meantime I could not be happy. For instance: I had set for myself goals such as being a world renowned author or philosopher or constitutional lawyer etc.
afornase22 2 months ago
Fuck the blue pill. My purpose is here in reality.
zEropoint68 2 months ago
Great topic. Nice ending :-)
I struggled with depression during my early twenties after I ditched my faith. I think it is a lot like withdrawals from a drug addiction. You lose a lot of friends, routines and good feelings that you were used to. It takes time to establish a new lifestyle that is fulfilling.
The cure for me was to engage in really hard work, and to look for ways to help others. It is always rewarding while you are doing it, and it makes your life better in the future as well.
TheFaithCheck 2 months ago
I don't think depression has to do with atheism. When I was first depressed, I considered myself a Christian (though in retrospect, I was more of a deist), and also thought life was meaningless. My reasoning went like this: "If god exists, he has no god for himself, technically making him an atheist. As such, even if he exists his life would be useless, and in effect mine would be too." To me, depression is an illness that always finds a way to express itself, no matter your convictions.
ANameIsChosen 2 months ago
As a recently (two years) converted Atheist, I find it depressing not because of any sort of "meaning of life", but I often feel afraid because of the knowledge that I'm on my own. There will always be things that are outside of our control, but praying to an imaginary sky fairy that I truly believed was real at least brought some piece of mind because I at least thought that I had some help along the way. Now I know that I have no one looking out for me. I'm on my own.
jlotus100 2 months ago
I tend to believe in the ideal of applied sociocultural evolution. Or in other words, people going back to some traditional mindsets without the filler of religion and advancing as a community by helping one another within a more tightly knit group based on clearly determined goals defined by us as people for a better tomorrow for all, not by tweaking an outdated doctrine and hoping for happiness when you're dead.
No god needed to create a better life.
...Though I'm agnostic. >_>
monody 2 months ago
but....the answer is ALWAYS 42! Right?
WAIT A MINUTE! Was that a WOMAN!? How the hell did that happen?!
KingHeathen 2 months ago
@BarryGormley2010 That's great that atheism is a help to you. I've always been atheist, so I can't say whether I'd be happier as a christian, if that was even possible. I'm not claiming that religion helps mental health for everyone, and I'm certainly not saying that it benefits society, just explaining why it could improve mental health and self-confidence for those who are naive and/or indoctrinated enough to truly believe it.
KrisBlueNZ 2 months ago
I like the cameo appearance of Ms. GrapplingIgnorance at the end!
Impalamark64 2 months ago
Now that I read my post I should probably stop using "one" so much.
bananaondrugs 2 months ago
Now I guess it largely depends on the person but to me one has 2 goals, 2 desires he has to give his all. One is the combined desires of the flesh - all feelings(good and bad) make one feel alive(I think there was a song like that). The other is simple and pure. Curiosity. Ever since we were born we discovered stuff. We discovered fire. We discovered nitroglicerin. We discovered space. Now the closest to fullfiling this one, in our lifetime that is is the LHC. (how'd the world appear)
bananaondrugs 2 months ago
The reason I think atheism can be a factor in depression is that when you understand that you're only alive because of natural processes, that the world wasn't created just for you, that you have no fundamental right to use its resources, to be happy in your life, and even to exist in the first place, you lose certain attitudes to life and your place in the world that were an important factor in mental health for our species during its development so far, and this loss can affect us negatively.
KrisBlueNZ 2 months ago
@KrisBlueNZ I don't consider a happy delusion to be a contributor to good mental health.
GrapplingIgnorance 2 months ago 10
@GrapplingIgnorance The "god delusion" has been an important part of life for all human societies since we evolved the ability to entertain it. Delusions don't normally benefit the deludee, but IF it's true that the human brain is "wired" for god-belief, we can infer that natural selection has selected in favour of that particular delusion, which tells us that it improves the individual's success. Not the truth of beliefs, the morality of behaviour, etc, but his success.
KrisBlueNZ 2 months ago
@GrapplingIgnorance That's because you KNOW it's a delusion. If you could put yourself in the position of someone who REALLY thinks it's real, you might feel differently, but it's very hard to do that. The same applies the other way round, which is why the things atheists say seem so bizarrely wrong to the faithful.
KrisBlueNZ 2 months ago
@KrisBlueNZ No. The reason atheism contributes to depression is because it's a constant reminder that there are so few of us who truly see the world for what it is, and we are few and far between. The very fact that we even NEED the word shows how insane the world within which the few sane live is.
WCdragoninja 2 months ago
@WCdragoninja Point taken. I'm sure I would be happier if I could believe that the CREATOR of the UNIVERSE would never allow a major catastrophe (e.g. nuclear war, natural disaster, resource depletion, global warming) to befall us. I think that's what you're getting at...? But I also think that if I could accept the delusion that the creator of the universe made the world FOR ME and that I DESERVE to be alive and using its resources, I would be happier and more content.
KrisBlueNZ 2 months ago
@KrisBlueNZ you have a child mentality.
iliveon 2 months ago
@iliveon I'm trying to understand the mentality of the folks that really BELIEVE that their sky daddy will always take care of them, and why they are so desperate to cling to that delusion. I agree, it IS a childlike mentality - the wish to be protected, the way children are protected by their parents (or god, the "father"), so they can feel safe and secure, and not need to worry about the big bad world. Reality tells us to grow up, but religion is a way to cling to childhood feelings.
KrisBlueNZ 2 months ago
@KrisBlueNZ You are telling me right now that you feel less happy? If so, man, that is you, but I for certain feel enlightened, estaught, questioning and wondering, and as Hitchens put it, "emancipated." Have you watched any, or read any of Christopher Hitchens? Perhaps you should buy his book "god is not great" and maybe then, you will not feel as bad about being in a world where you are a naturally occuring mammal with cognitive abilities to see miraculous nature all by itself, no add on's
iliveon 2 months ago
@iliveon I'm a card-carrying skeptic and atheist. I have God Is Not Great. I understand the arguments. I'm trying to explore reasons why people feel so strongly attached to god.
I can't tell you that I feel "less happy" than I would if I were a christian - it's impossible for either atheists OR believers to KNOW anything like that.
I love knowing about reality, and I have something close to "faith" in the scientific method because of its power to tell us the REAL truth.
KrisBlueNZ 2 months ago
@iliveon Knowing about reality, and having defensible proof on my side, is liberating. However, I'm also a human being, and I'm very interested in the place that religion fills in the human consciousness. I like your analogy to the childlike state of dependence, which is one I hadn't explored seriously before, I guess.
I think by better understanding the role religion plays in believers' lives, we may be better able to disabuse believers of their dependence on it.
KrisBlueNZ 2 months ago
@KrisBlueNZ actually, though I have noit read god is not great, (yuet), I think a series on space would accomodate you. Something like the modern cosmos which is soon to come out. We have to learn that the universe can be wonderous and magical and miraculous without these invisible ideas, without these invisible adjectives that we use to describe gods and heavens and hells that we cannot even imagine. I hear that fiction stories are the best to touch and convey the wondrous aspect of reality.
iliveon 2 months ago
@iliveon I've read about half of God Is Not Great and I find it quite boring, filled with anecdotes and verbosity. But I have The God Delusion and Greatest Show On Earth, and I think they are excellent.
Don't worry about me. I guess my comment seemed naive, but I well understand how I'm an "a naturally occuring mammal with cognitive abilities to see miraculous nature all by itself" as you so poetically put it.
I don't like sci-fi. It is only loosely based on reality. I prefer reality.
KrisBlueNZ 2 months ago
@iliveon Sorry, I misread you. I thought you were suggesting "SCIENCE fiction". In either case I prefer reality.
KrisBlueNZ 2 months ago
There is a big difference between 'failing & falling' and being 'hi-jacked'.
There are consequential manifestations of depression that can be much worse than a clinical diagnosis based upon conjecture and medical opinion.
Us 'depressionists' can't understand why the entire world isn't seeing things as they really are.
Most times the diversion of entertainment is just not enough to overcome reality.
Isn't being happy just as big a facade as religion is without imagined absolutes?
PsychedelicRoadshow 2 months ago
great video grappling, but could you talk a bit slower in you future videos? it would make your points a bit easier to follow. As for myself, I've never liked when atheism gets turned into nihilism, it's such an ugly sequence of reasoning.I'm glad your offering up a positive world view in this video.
breathicy 2 months ago
Um; it's not 42? Crap.
SuperSoylent2 2 months ago
But think about it. With eternity you could do absolutely everything billions of times and still have eternity to live through.
funnyvidssnet 2 months ago
It's kinda funny...when you have an imaginary friend people call you crazy but when everyone has the same imaginary friend they call it religion and shove it down your throat.
CriKKKeycrocodile 2 months ago in playlist Atheism
Pretending to be an atheist is sadly not a new low for makebelivers.
fearfullpeople 2 months ago
:O There is a MWA at the end!
doutonight 2 months ago
That our existence doesn't come pre-packaged with meaning and purpose is both a burden and an amazing, dignified privilege. "There is a grandeur in this view of life..."
727Phoenix 2 months ago
I do get depressed, but it is not because of my lack of belief. It comes from seeing believers, and knowing they could watch this
watch?v=r6w2M50_Xdk&feature=channel_video_title or
watch?v=jyjNXdEGjO4&list=FLmdA1T0tmOfW2PeGfx5h1oQ&index=50&feature=plpp_video a hundred times and never truly get it. I am moved to tears of joy when I encounter a person who was religious when the light goes on and they actually understand. There are few feelings comparable.
MyPisceanNature 2 months ago
I would be more depressed if I believed in an all powerful, all loving god while living in this sick, crazy world.
HybridD91 2 months ago
wait.... GI has a GF?
awesomemaster1906 2 months ago
@awesomemaster1906 Hey ladies dig mysterious guys who have brains ;).
MyPisceanNature 2 months ago
Death stopped being scary when I was sure there was no God. Life stopped being scary when I knew death wasn't important.
aphoxema 2 months ago
@GrapplingIgnorance "And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly."
MoralRapist 2 months ago
@GrapplingIgnorance how are you doing? keep rocking the internet!
Out of curiousity,what is your favorite bible verse (i'm an atheist too) mine is Matthew 6:5-6
MoralRapist 2 months ago
@MoralRapist I am familiar with that verse, it makes me giggle when I see things like Rick Perry's prayer rally. As for my own "favorite verse," I haven't given that matter much thought as of now.
GrapplingIgnorance 2 months ago
maybe theres no actual purpose for our existence or life however why not take advantage of our existence and sentience and atleast try and change things for the better? or if you dont want to even try and do such a thing at the very least contribute to society in a productive way and live a happy life! oh and by the way the instruction booklet would be(no matter your displeasure) hitch hikers guide to the galaxy. and yes im fairly certain the answer to everything is infact 42.
ThePrind12 2 months ago
If one day I go insane because of age, depression and/or sickness, I hope I get attached to an awesome dilusion and not something boring like Christianity.
AnthicusZithna 2 months ago
I did go through that when I lost my faith, from "I'm going to live forever" to "I'm going to die and never ever ever come back" In time I didn't just accept it, but smiled on the fact that compared to have never existed at all its good to at least exist, even if its just for a few decades.
ateopuertorico 2 months ago
BLASPHEMY! THE ANSWER TO EVERYTHING IS 42!
Feralus69 2 months ago 2
I believe that most (if not all) of the theist/atheist debate comes down "why?" We show that their "why" is complete bull; and they counter by noting we don't have much of one to begin with, that we tiptoe on the slippery slope of determinism and then crash spectacularly into a pit of impotence, that we're just a temporary molecule in a very long and ongoing chemical reaction, a fleeting spark form an ancient campfire. That's a whole lot of reality to rationalize away over morning coffee.
aMulliganStew 2 months ago
(cont) many atheists loose ties to friends and family simply for being atheists, and if that is the case it would make sense to me why those people are depressed.
MrRationalThought 2 months ago
@GrapplingIgnorance I’ve heard about various studies that have been done that say atheists are more depressed than theists and such, but I’ve never really given them much thought to be honest. There is certainly a chance that the groups or organizations who have conducted these studies have an agenda, and if so, they’re not worth paying attention to. I want to point out though that if that’s not the case, I can chalk atheist as a whole being more depressed than theists to the fact that (cont)
MrRationalThought 2 months ago
I've been a lot less depressed since giving up all the inconsistencies of religious belief.
Cayvmann 2 months ago
I know a number better than 24...25.
Beyonce's misuse >_<
CriKKKeycrocodile 2 months ago
You were going fine until you said we were fortunate enough to be living beings. There was no 'us' until we existed. Therefore there is no fortune about our individual existence. I'm no anti-natalist or depression-sufferer but while we're grappling with ignorance let's not needlessly engage in our own.
SelfImmolator 2 months ago
@SelfImmolator It's my opinion that we're better off to have the opportunity to exist if even for a brief moment than to never exist at all. Holding that opinion doesn't make me ignorant.
GrapplingIgnorance 2 months ago
@GrapplingIgnorance Don't get me wrong, I understand the sentiment, it's the logic behind it that I was challenging. It's similar to Dawkins idea that being alive "makes us the lucky ones" because so many other people aren't going to get to be born. Poor them, ey?
We can't be 'better off' having the opportunity to exist. There's nothing to compare it to. We exist by definition, we can't exist in a non-existent state in which we're worse-off. It's as flawed as saying we'd be better-off dead.
SelfImmolator 2 months ago
ITs Miss Grappling Ignorance!!!
great video!
Xloi63 2 months ago
For some depressed people, like myself, saying to 'find your own purpose' is like telling the colour-blind to go and find colour.
BeautifulMagical 2 months ago
@BeautifulMagical Sounds like a failed analogy.
GrapplingIgnorance 2 months ago 4
@GrapplingIgnorance Sadly, those of us with clinical depression or bipolar disorder may have a hard time seeing the bright side. Our world view is dictated by the whim of chemical imbalances that will literally drive many of us to suicide. It's all but impossible to feel lucky we're alive when many of us wish we'd never been born. Life for us is not only emotionally and physically painful, but also vast, indifferent, and purposeless. Especially when we've lost the rose-colored glasses of theism.
beetlecommathe 2 months ago
@beetlecommathe
I agree, 100%. He makes a lot of great points, but in my state of depression I can't pull myself up out of it long enough to totally sympathize with him. So now what?
randomflyingpigeons 2 months ago
@beetlecommathe I'm obviously not talking about people with clinical depression and saying they should just "fix it" or simply change their minds to feel better. The point is that having a position of non-belief does not directly force people to be depressed.
GrapplingIgnorance 2 months ago
@GrapplingIgnorance In my opinion you're wrong on this one GI. Finding purpose most of the time just isn't a rational decision. It just has nothing to do with it. It's better now but for a long time I just didn't have that drive in me. I didn't have that one thing that kept me going (or those numerous things for that matter). I just didn't. Sometimes your brain just tells you to fuck off and cry some more.
ForYeensSake 2 months ago
@ForYeensSake Nothing you just described explains how I'm "wrong" for having the opinion and personal perspective I do on life. Just because your personal circumstance leads you to be depressed doesn't mean that you are forced into depression due to non believing in God- which is the point of this video.
GrapplingIgnorance 2 months ago
@GrapplingIgnorance Either you misunderstood me or I misunderstood you (and I'm guessing the latter but hoping the former). I am an atheist and had a mixed "liberation" (It's a terrible word but I don't know how to put it ok). However I responded to your comment that it is a failed analogy. Basically I was saying: Some people are (for a short time or for the rest of their lives) unable to see the colours. To see the bright side.
ForYeensSake 2 months ago
The answer is 42, you just misunderstood the question.
jenko4292 2 months ago
It is 42!!!! Prove me wrong!!! oh wait.....
KspekEvo 2 months ago
I agree. Decide for yourself what purpose you want, decide what purpose makes you happy. Work toward YOUR purpose. That is happiness.
adolthitler 2 months ago
Life is the meaning. One need not search for what one already has.
RakaTheTenacious 2 months ago
Ya great F~ing ending thats xactly what im frustrated about today,,But i just got a hug from a cute female friend so im not so pouty now... G.i u knw in this video if you were more water like you would look like Preditor in the first movie when he cloaks..
karlbuttler 2 months ago
@karlbuttler It's crazy that you mention that because she and I JUST watched that movie last night...
GrapplingIgnorance 2 months ago
And by the way - awesome ending, and a friendly hello to the Mrs. G.I.: Anyone who can bring a little happiness to the man-in-the-hood is an awesome person in my book.
laffoonrt 2 months ago
Excellent discussion of this topic - I also feel that meaning is subjective, and up to the individual - although (I will be one of those guys) I can understand where some of that depression comes from: The solitude of being the only person in the immediate vicinity with the same outlook on religion, the hopelessness of feeling surrounded by people who you feel are at least minimally delusional, and the fear/stigma of even bringing your views into the light with them... Just my opinion of course.
laffoonrt 2 months ago
@GrapplingIgnorance
"If you don't currently have a life you feel is worth living in without misery then I suggest you do everything you can to fix it.
This has to be about the dumbest thing you've ever said.
If somebody has been clinically depressed their entire life, has tried countless anti-depressants and has always been depressed even when there's been nothing else wrong in their life,
There is only ONE way left to "fix" that misery.
Primalxbeast 2 months ago
@Primalxbeast I'm not clinically depressed as far as I know, but I do have to agree that it was kind of a very reckless thing for him to say, unless he's not opposed to suicide. Suicide was the first thing that came to mind upon reading that.
I'm slowly becoming more of a practicing buddhist, and this helps to deal with the suffering inherent in existence, but I've come to devalue life in this world or meaning from some form of pleasure or self-direction to an even greater extent.
Alastair 2 months ago
@Primalxbeast Under the conditions you've described, that person is doing everything he or she can already, and that's fine. If a person decides (s)he's better off dead, and chooses to end his/her own life, that's their business as well. It's unfortunate to me, but I believe people deserve the right to end their own lives if they so choose. That doesn't mean they shouldn't hear from a dissenting opinion before confirming the decision, but I still think the call is ultimately his/hers, not mine.
GrapplingIgnorance 2 months ago
@GrapplingIgnorance I honestly think that ending your life is the most selfish thing a person can do. It only causes more depression to those who surrounded that person.
smiley17777777 2 months ago in playlist Atheism
If as an atheist there's anything I'm depressed about it's the innumerable mentally ill people around me worshipping an imaginary friend, believing in bullshit that doesn't exist and making others miserable because of it.
d3st88 2 months ago
So cute at the end. So the hooded skeptical hero has a partner ?
All teasing aside, nice video, and a good answer to the "problem".
gilless429 2 months ago
I knew it, the answer must be 43 since it is greater than 42 :P
CholoBoliviano 2 months ago
As a life long depressive and a life long skeptic I see these as being unrelated. Depression is the result of my brain not my beliefs. It's like being sick or hung over. It has been extreme at times but I have never craved delusion to get through it. Medication, exercise, cognitive therapy and other things scientifically shone to be effective are what helped. Those along with friends and family. I would hope that any depressed skeptics would consider this may be the same for them. Good luck.
LastBankJob 2 months ago
@LastBankJob I agree completely, and while I have not always suffered from depression, when it comes it is not a result of my beliefs but of my opinion of myself as a person, and my seeming inability to make changes in my life. My depression is not rational, and I sometimes wonder if it is a result of itself....I am depressed *because* I am depressed.
I am trying now to watch what I eat and exercise more often, along with a good daily dose of fish oil! I want to enjoy this fabulous life.
ulthea 2 months ago
It's like the meaning and purpose of Procyon. If you want to make sense of your life, then find something that makes you feel good and doesn't hurt anyone else then spend your life doing it; like masturbation or heroin.
wwickeddogg 2 months ago
i was just thinking about you the other day, wondering if you would be posting a new vid soon!figured the school year is keeping you busy!and i heartily agree!deconversion left me with a hole (not god shaped), just in my habits.when bad things arose i usually prayed, fasted, read the bible, asked for prayers.it was odd at first,realizing that i was just skipping that part and going right to "finding an answer and dealing with life",but i soon embraced it and moved on.
practicalmagic9 2 months ago
@practicalmagic9 i then felt sheepish about all the time i wasted in prayer,all the years of self flaggelation for whatever 'sin' i assumed i had committed,or ways i might have "let go of gods hand",or what lesson god was teaching me.nope...just life.i now find such peace knowing that my life, choices,and path is mine alone.bad things or good things happen for many reasons in and out of my control,and i wake each day grateful to be alive.i just don't have to be grateful to any sky daddy for it.
practicalmagic9 2 months ago
@practicalmagic9 i mean,i wake each day knowing i get to be here one more time.live my life, love my family,and i don't have to bend my knee to any tempermental sky daddy.good and bad things happen both in and out of my control but i no longer waste any precious time worrying if god is pleased with me.i am happier than i ever was as a theist.i cannot imagine ever going back.i tell myself my purpose in life,and it is to love,learn,and exist.i do not need god to be grateful.
practicalmagic9 2 months ago
@practicalmagic9 I too enjoy that life far more than the one with hallow prayers and one sided conversations with God.
GrapplingIgnorance 2 months ago
@13Xanadu No, I'm working on getting other physical problems resolved atm, and it costs me $50 a visit to see a psychiatrist or therapist opposed to $35 for a specialist doctor(I'm seeing three doctors), I can't afford $200 a month, so it's something I'm putting off for now. I shouldn't need to see so many doctors soon and I plan to see a psychiatrist. Thanks.
kitsunegames 2 months ago
@GrapplingIgnorance you're wrong GI, the meaning of life is to like the FSM, so that we may get into heaven with its beer volcano and stripper factory. oh and have you heard of this wonderfully convincing argument called pascal's wager?(sarcasm)
MoralRapist 2 months ago
Sorry buddy. It IS 42. My daughter was born on 10/10/10 = 42 (from digital to decimal). ;-)
ILYIAB 2 months ago
@ILYIAB lol. you make joke!
MoralRapist 2 months ago
@MoralRapist Of cos! It's still a great coincidence. No? :-)
ILYIAB 2 months ago
I love this video. It hits a lot of great points. I think that skeptics could become depressed by watching illogical people with faith making decisions that effect their lives. :D It could also be because the church gives people a kind of purpose. "We are made to worship him" and other such things. The religion makes you feel special as well. Living the skeptic life gives you all the reigns and some people don't know what to do in such a situation and the confusion can lead to depression.
raichutoyou 2 months ago
Depression is depression - it hits some of us regardless of belief. I don't know how I'll feel when I'm close to death, but I'm pretty sure I'll be fine. I'm stardust... :)
AuntieDiluvian 2 months ago 4
@AuntieDiluvian i actually loved this comment! <3
MsRobotRock 2 months ago in playlist Favorite videos
Was that Beyoncé at the end there?
AsifVidios 2 months ago
GI, not all of us have a life that we feel makes up for itself. I would rather never have been born into this world, whether I believe in a god or not. It surprises me that anyone can look at this world and actually come to love it without simultaneously ignoring or putting out of mind some of our natural laws.
Alastair 2 months ago
@Alastair Great point.
Interestingly this point is also true of theists, in so much as for them to love their world they must ignore their "reality" of an eternal hell in which their "god" said "few" would escape it. You could also add to this how "satan" can mislead and deceive and how "god hardens" people, perhaps their very own loved one. And for those of the Calvinist persuasion, their loved ones might not be "elect", which is to say they were predestined for hell.
IntelligentProbe 2 months ago
@Alastair If you don't currently have a life that you feel is worth living in without misery, then I advise you do everything you can to fix that.
GrapplingIgnorance 2 months ago
Excellent video, and right on target. I can understand why people would look at it as a bleak existence without the false comfort of a deity, I use to believe the same when I was a part of the theistic collective. But once I embraced and came to terms with the reality that is, life is that more exciting and worthwhile. And it gives me great comfort and pleasure to know my life is my own and that I am free of the ritualistic duties, practices and mindset that are associated with divine fear.
CognizantPsyche 2 months ago
Wow, I'm stunned. How the hell did you find another faceless, amorphous, colorless blob to kiss?
Is there some chatroom or bar where hooded silhouettes hook up? O_o
stiimuli 2 months ago
People have been lied to since they day they were born, it's no surprise that depression sets in quite as frequently as it does, and I don't think the sceptic part has much to do with that. As a sceptic who has fought through depression and known exactly what it is like to be consumed by the understanding that there is no objective reason for anything, I can say with certainty that it's just the starting point. With a little education, it's a MONSTEROUSLY powerful place to start from.
inquisitorMence 2 months ago
Was that Beyonce that came in at the end?
ryankc83 2 months ago in playlist Atheism
I think all it comes down to is simple. What is the meaning of life? Whatever you make it.
mikeyaintskerd 2 months ago in playlist Atheism
what i like about being an atheist is not being afraid of death, so when my shitty life reaches a breaking point, im buying a gun and offing myself. probably gonna be sooner than later.
mattakudesu 2 months ago
@mattakudesu There are much cleaner and more peaceful methods- but to each his/her own I suppose.
GrapplingIgnorance 2 months ago
It isn't the the non-existence of god that depresses me, it's the existence of religious people and all the stupid shit they do and say.
InvincibleIronyMan 2 months ago 2
@InvincibleIronyMan Totally agree!
IntelligentProbe 2 months ago
depression isnt a choise fucking douchbag. And there is nothing beautiful in life or in human beings.
gklcgr 2 months ago
@gklcgr You say there is nothing beautiful in human beings while calling some other individual giving his two cents on a very specific manner a "fucking douchbag[sic]". If people are ever negative towards you, some of them will be affected by your own behaviour, so you're just fulfilling your own pessimistic expectations.
He was targetting a very specific thought that would make others feel depressed, not clinical depression. He means to let go of that specific chain of thought.
NikiPaprika 2 months ago 3
@NikiPaprika Bingo.
GrapplingIgnorance 2 months ago
@gklcgr what a debbie downer~
MsRobotRock 2 months ago
@gklcgr Kindly give the spec time when I said that depression was a choise? As for there being "nothing beautiful in life or in human beings," I warn you that only the Sith think in absolutes.
GrapplingIgnorance 2 months ago 8
When I was a Christian and very, very seriously depressed I was a nihilist. I was also convinced that God was an absolute asshole for letting these things happen to me. He's supposed to care for his children, right?
Then I dismissed the idea of God and acquired medication. Both my mood and my thoughts lifted. There was no God ignoring suffering, taking a sick delight in torturing the innocents and ignoring their pleas for salvation.
Atheism gave me the "peace that surpasses all understanding."
shadowswallow 2 months ago
I was depressed when i figured out i'm going to die one day. It was about the same age when i started questioning religious indoctrination :P It was bad for a short time... then i moved on: life is too short not to enjoy every day of it. (lol only now video reached its end and i see you finished similarily)
Anonymous247n 2 months ago
ive always thought that if your enjoyment of this life is dependent on the existence of an afterlife or the need to fulfil some "purpose" you must have a pretty shitty life. enjoy it while you can and dont worry about 2000 year old fairy tales
jamieconon 2 months ago
I love it when christians pretend to be atheist just so they can do this:
"Hey you, fellow atheist, I am an atheist too! Let us not be depressed any longer and become christians! Amirite?"
sw33tb0y77 2 months ago
longtime no see. one of the weirdest perceptions of atheists is that we are somehow unhappy, pessimistic, depressed or whatevs.
managarm1349 2 months ago
live love be happy thats it forget the fantasy religions !
flexbrat 2 months ago
It's all how you look at it... from either perspective.
I can't think of anything more horrible than living forever. Thank GOD with an honest look at life, it's overwhelmingly obvious God doesn't exist.... at least not even remotely how any theist defines god.
sfg911 2 months ago
Your points are spot-on!
Excellent video...
Now how about taking some time to think about the fact that you don't need to eat meat to be happy and healthy? And that a lot of people who don't eat meat are happier and healthier than those that do?
Just saying...
2bsirius 2 months ago
@2bsirius Because I don't relate to or care about that issue at all, and you know that. You can make videos about that if you think it needs to be done.
GrapplingIgnorance 2 months ago 8
@GrapplingIgnorance
Yes, I agree.
2bsirius 2 months ago
@2bsirius "And that a lot of people who don't eat meat are happier and healthier than those that do?" Good comment until you say this. Considering the thought ? Why not. Even though GI only made one vid about this and it's not something he seems to care about much. But your formulation of that sentence means you think lots of people who don't eat meat are happier and healthier than EVERY person who eats meat. There, you lost anyone with a thought process. You should have said "some" not "those".
gilless429 2 months ago
@2bsirius That's funny cause most of the Vegans I know are often sick and weak.
TheAnubisDrake 2 months ago
@TheAnubisDrake
I think you're very mistaken, but GrapplingIgnorance is right that my comment was a bit off topic, so I went to your channel page to respond to your claims.
2bsirius 2 months ago
BLASPHEMER! The answer to life IS 42!
Elsoddo 2 months ago 32
@Elsoddo It's so annoying to hear people say that as a response to, "What is the meaning of life?"
In the book, if you recall, that's not the question they asked.
nottilthursday 2 months ago
@Elsoddo 42 is the answer to life the universe and everything.
satanisthetruegod666 2 months ago
Not that I am depressed, but I would prefer that to spending my one and only lifetime deluded, and living in fear of a vindictive thought-policeman who doesn't even exist.
Rationality trumps bliss any day. If you find life depressing, fix it.
L00NGB00W 2 months ago
Agreed. Although I've never had an issue with depression resulting from a lack of faith, I think I can empathize with those who have left their faith behind. I imagine It must be something that many may have to struggle through for a lifetime, a kind of PTSD mixed with Stockholm syndrome. I'm not saying I don't get depressed, we all do, but my understanding of my place in the universe and knowing that I only get this one chance has actually helped me out of my depressions on occasion.
cali4niaSon 2 months ago
Here we have hit the nail on the head. The reason for the religious. It's called wishful thinking.
I for one would be thoroughly depressed if i thought every action and indeed every thought was being watched with a critical eye while wondering if i had offended this observer.
pilgrimpater 2 months ago
Tea, coffee, pumpkin pie, wine and really good orgasms is the meaning of life. ^__^
MistressArte 2 months ago
the ending made everyone depressive who is forever alone...
Quiestre 2 months ago 9
@Quiestre We're all alone at one point. It's up to individuals if it's permanent or temorary.
GrapplingIgnorance 2 months ago
@GrapplingIgnorance I'd argue that, if you have no time, or no money, or you are just plain awkward.. then you lost the game
Quiestre 2 months ago
For me depression/anxiety/sadness has never been a result of non-religion. What has made me feel this way is my own failures, my own stupidity, mistakes, fears of rejection, etc. Yes, when naturally sad in this way I can't recourse to prayer or God (to convince myself everything is going to be OK), but I find the flip-side, that I don't have to feel guilty for not conforming to an outmoded and perverse "morality" as well as the feeling that everything goes, much more satisfying and comforting.
8DX 2 months ago
Yes, extremely fortuitous to be alive.
JusticeIsWhere 2 months ago
I've had people tell me that in order to call myself an atheist I must also be a nihilist. The idea that some form of nihilism and depression must follow from atheism is an assertion I find absurd. Does anyone REALLY want to go to Heaven? What would you do for eternity? Surely 10 trillion years of harp lessons can't be very appealing, or an eternity of bowing before the total dick of a deity most theists believe in. Doesn't living FOREVER devalue everything that happens in life? Great vid GI
TitenSxull 2 months ago
@TitenSxull I don't believe in heaven. I don't a see a reason to. That said. I find this idea that forever would be boring a little strange. "10 trillion years of harp lessons" isn't very appealing, but an eternity of learning everything there is to know is beautiful thought to me. Moreover, I don't think you ever actually run out of things to learn and to know. I don't see a reason to believe it, but neither do I understand how people imagine they would end up being bored.
t3tsuyaguy1 2 months ago