Alain de Botton: Atheism 2.0

http://www.ted.com What aspects of religion should atheists (respectfully) adopt? Alain de Botton suggests a "religion for atheists" -- call it Atheism 2.0 -- that incorporates religious forms and traditions to satisfy our human need for connection, ritual and transcendence.

TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes. Featured speakers have included Al Gore on climate change, Philippe Starck on design, Jill Bolte Taylor on observing her own stroke, Nicholas Negroponte on One Laptop per Child, Jane Goodall on chimpanzees, Bill Gates on malaria and mosquitoes, Pattie Maes on the "Sixth Sense" wearable tech, and "Lost" producer JJ Abrams on the allure of mystery. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design, and TEDTalks cover these topics as well as science, business, development and the arts. Closed captions and translated subtitles in a variety of languages are now available on TED.com, at http://www.ted.com/translate

If you have questions or comments about this or other TED videos, please go to http://support.ted.com

• Category

  People & Blogs

[marco brenni]

Brillante analisi del VERO ATEISMO che non rifiuta la spiritualità umana, né la morale, né le esigenze psicologiche dell'uomo ! Rifiuta solo le religioni e le chiese istituite, ed evita pure come la peste la raffigurazione pseudo-umana di un Dio "buonissimo, perfettissimo e onnipotente", che altro non è che una nostra proiezione psicologica compensativa dei nostri evidenti limiti : "È l'uomo che ha creato Dio(-uomo) e non Dio che ha creato l'uomo" (Feuerbach, Freud, ecc.)

[Violaghost]

I've watched a ton of TED talks, and their meaning and impact aside - he's one of the best speakers I've ever heard. Just a touch on the fast side. But both of his speeches are such pleasures to listen to, both in pacing, phrasing, and delivery.

[Chuck Norris]

you dont believe in god but you believe in jb "belieber" fuck you

[kdjets]

Interesting lecture, but I feel as if he constricts art by saying it must always explain it's message. I've seen plenty of abstract "modern" art that certainly says things about the human experience. It's up to the artist to decide what the piece is deliberately saying, if anything at all, and how much it conveys the message.

[Joao Rijo]

you're giving the word atheism more then it's commonly meant.

It only means the believe that there does not exist deities or the absence of believe that there exits or does not exist deities. (I'll take the opportunity to suggest a distinction between the 2: the 1st call it distheism, the 2nd, atheism.

all the rest you mentioned; relying on religious practices, using logic, not needing leaders, etc. is not a necessary part of atheism, they just seem to be more common in atheists then in theists.

[fontaineconsult]

That is a good point. All I can say is that I think up until recently (with the exception of sports) religion has been the best example of the effective use of these institutions/technologies. Now, that could be because religion for most of history was the only powerful cultural game in town. But, either way, I think the success of religion can be attributed to many of the things he talks about, and that is what, according to him, we should learn from.

[KKahden]

What I don't understand about Botton is his framing the issues in terms of "religion." He talks about the social and psychological utility of religious architecture, for instance, but he must understand that the great religious buildings are not a question for theologians but for architects and engineers. So why does he insist on attributing their design and construction to the "deep wisdom" of religion as opposed to treating them soberly as architectural forms and marvels of engineering?

[level1mallow]

That's just religion in disguise! Don't you understand that?! Atheism goes against that, atheism is about living life without relying on religious techniques, practices or doctrine, that we can speak and think and come together as reason and logic dictates. We don't need a leader! We don't need a Pope or a preacher to tell us how to think or spoon-feed ethics to us!

What you really want, what you really need, is religion. And that's something you don't have the right to sneak on the rest of us.

[fontaineconsult]

So when is the lined crossed for you? If I go to an atheist congregation that meets in a building with ornate science inspired decorations, that has a "leader" that studies atheists/scientific/humanist texts and "preaches" them to us in an engaging fashion so people like me with work and responsibilities don't have to. That is the kind of thing is he talking about. It needs to be bigger than a hobby.