The Main Reasons I'm an Atheist: 3. EVERYTHING has a physical explanation

There are numerous reasons to why I'm an atheist.

In this final blog post in the series I'll be listing the last (and most crucial) one.

For the first post, please click here:
http://bigheadatheist.blogspot.co.il/2014/05/the-main-reasons-im-atheist-1-world-is.html

For the second post, please click here:
http://bigheadatheist.blogspot.co.il/2014/05/the-main-reasons-im-atheist-2-religions.html


3. EVERYTHING has a physical explanation (a.k.a. Why I'm a Materialist)

Even as a non-religious person, I often asked myself whether it's possible that supernatural phenomenons actually exist or not. The concept of the supernatural has a rather nice appeal to it.
It offers a new dimension to look at things. It suggests new and exciting worlds beyond the physical world we take for granted. The possibilities are literally endless.

For a long while, even until recently, there were many aspects of life that I could not find a physical explanation for them. Some things that as far as I knew just didn't seem to sit right with physics, astronomy, biology, chemistry and whatnot.

I'm going to list some common phenomenons that many people do not know how they become possible, or how they work, or how they could possibly comply with the physical world that we know (that also includes me until a few years ago):

1. Smell
2. Sound
3. Sight

All of the things in the list above are something that you can only define subjectively. I mean, how can you explain sight to a blind person? How can you explain sound to a deaf person? How can you explain smell to a person who can't smell? Explaining them objectively is difficult (if not impossible). They are the result of our mind interpreting something subjectively. But are these things something that even exists outside our subjective experience?

Also, what about the next list?

1. Electricity
2. Magnetism
3. Gravity
4. Color & Light

Those are some seemingly mysterious phenomenons, aren't they? How can you explain them? I mean, just thinking about it makes your head hurt.

And finally, what do you think about the next list?:

1. Memories
2. Consciousness
3. Soul
4. Time

Wow.. Now that's some profound stuff there, isn't it? I mean, how can you explain these things? Do these things even exist? Or are they an illusion that we stamped a name upon? Big questions there indeed.

I pondered about these things quite a lot myself. And I wasn't ready to completely abandon the possibility of the supernatural until I could find a physical and provable explanation for these mysterious phenomenons.

Eventually though... I did.
One by one, I learned about the physical explanations for each and every one of the listed phenomenons.
Some of them caused me to facepalm myself and say "How could I be so stupid not to realize it myself??"
Others damn near blew my mind away and/or shocked the bejeezus out of me.
Piece by piece, the supernatural world shattered away, and revealed a physical world that was not only even more wondrous than my imagination, but it was amazingly real.

Now, it's good that we have something as useful as the internet. Information is amazingly accessible. I grew up in a generation that did not always have this kind of luxury.
But now that we do, why not put it to good use?

1. The Sense of Smell (molecular receptors in our noses)
2. How Sound Works (pushing air in various wavelengths of vibrations)
3. How The Human Eye Works (light receptors in your eye)
4. What is Electricity (electrons moving in one direction)
5. What is Magnetism (the lining-up of electron movements in adjacent atoms)
6. What is Gravity & Mass (large concetrations of matter attract each other - possibly related to magnetism but could be a separate force in itself)
7. What is Light & Color (photons created in nuclear fusion - i.e. the sun - "filtered through" physical atoms which absorb some of the photons in certain wavelengths - as energy - and reflect the rest)
8. What is Time (a subjective experience of the effects of space, matter, movement, and the speed of light & sound)
9. How Human Memory Works (by combining the functions of many brain sections)

Soul and Consciousness are more complex questions. There are various theories but neuroscientists are still working on this. It's a work in progress.

All evidence so far, however, points that whatever soul and consciousness are, they're created in and managed by the brain. Evidently by multiple regions of the brain simultaneously.

The following link provides some interesting information: Human Consciousness.
And the following link leads to an interesting new find in neuroscience: Scientists accidentally discover human 'off switch'.

My personal theory is that consciousness is the culminating result of the aggregation of multiple cognitive abilities (such as the 5 senses, memory, pattern recognition etc.).

A nice analogy is the flocking emergent behavior in animals (as small as bacteria, and as big as fish and birds). On its own, each subject has a certain behavior. But when in a large group, its behavior changes to suit the collective behavior of the flock, thus a new behavior is emerged.

In other words: Consciousness is an emergent behavior from the 'flocking' of multiple cognitive abilities.

As for "souls"... Well, it was never really proven to exist anyway. There's absolutely no physical evidence to support it (and how could it? after all, it's non-physical by definition).

Recently I've heard about some 20-year-old hypothesis involving quantum science (called "Orchestrated Objective Reduction"). But it has been criticized heavily on every turn, so until it gains significant support and evidence, I wouldn't count too much on it.
On the other hand, check out the Split Brain Experiments if you want to see some evidence that refutes the whole spirit/soul/mind-body duality thing (warning: mindfuck alert!).

All in all, I guess the "soul" idea a nice notion that can comfort some people when dealing with death.

But my personal theory is that the concept of souls is nothing but wishful thinking and some imagination.

People die. Deal with it. In the very least, let this notion encourage you to make the most out of the life you know you have, and make it as best as possible for yourself and other people.

So, in conclusion:

As experience taught me, many things that were considered mystical and/or supernatural, eventually always were discovered to have a physical and natural explanation.

As for the phenomenons for which no concrete physical evidence was found yet...

Let's just say I have faith trust in science that eventually such evidence will be found :)

The Main Reasons I'm an Atheist: 2. Religions are Unreliable

There are numerous reasons to why I'm an atheist.
In the next blog posts I'll be listing the main ones.

For the first post, please click here:
http://bigheadatheist.blogspot.co.il/2014/05/the-main-reasons-im-atheist-1-world-is.html


2. Religions are Unreliable

An important question every religious person must ask themselves is this:
"How can I know that my religion is the correct one?"

Given the literally thousands of different religions out there, which also very often contradict each other, this is indeed a very difficult question.
Each of these religions has 'holy scriptures' just like yours.
The followers of each religion have 'divine experiences' just like yours.
Each has an internally consistent doctrine just like yours.
And yet... Followers of one religion are considered heretics of another.
The followers destined for the heaven of one religion, are destined for the hell of another.
This situation is completely ridiculous!

If religions were indeed divinely inspired by a single god or a single group of gods, then obviously there would be consistency between them. Not only that, but you'd expect the same religion to show up independently in different parts of the world.
Did this ever happen? No. Not ever. Not even once.

But if religions are indeed man-made, then you'd expect each religion to suit the character of the culture within which it was created. You would expect religions to be different from one another and often contradictory. You would expect new religions to pop up all over the place all the time.
Does this ever happen? YES. ALL THE TIME. EVEN TODAY.

The Jewish religion is characterized by the Mesopotamian culture from whence it came.
The Christian religion is characterized by both the Jewish-Mesopotamian culture from which it evolved, as well as the Greek Mithraistic culture where it was developed.
The Muslim religion is characterized by the desert-dwelling Arabian Peninsula culture.
Every Pagan religion is also characterized by the culture and environment where it was created.

Lets look at more recent examples:
Scientology? Characterized by science-fiction tales, as fitting for the science fiction author who created it.
Mormonism? Characterized by the North-American culture in which Josef Smith grew up.
Both of which, by the way, are documented con-men.

In India, there's a new self-proclaimed Hindu messiah just about every month.

Despite all this ridiculous amount of contradicting evidence, a huge number of people still fall for it.
Is it so hard to believe that ancient people were just as gullible as they are today?
In fact, given the documented ridiculous beliefs people used to hold, wouldn't it make sense that ancient people were even more gullible and dumber than we are today?

So...
How CAN you know that your religion is the correct one?
Obviously, you can't. Most religions rely on unfalsifiable and infallible claims which you cannot verify or disprove.
The few claims which are falsifiable... Have already been falsified - repeatedly.
The more logical conclusion is therefore - ALL religions are false.
Including yours.

The following YouTube series demonstrates just how psychologically fallible the human mind is.
It shows what kind of psychological vulnerabilities are being exploited by just about every single religion out there.

I highly recommend you watch all of it:
Psychology of Belief

The Main Reasons I'm an Atheist: 1. The World is Full of Evil and Suffering

There are numerous reasons I'm an atheist.
In the next blog posts I'll be listing the main ones.

1. The World is Full of Evil and Suffering

Before:
Maybe I'm just a too sympathetic guy, but I can't bring myself to reconcile with the fact there's so much suffering around the world, and at the same time there's some all-powerful dude out there who is doing nothing to fix it.
It started with me being rather selfish as a child (I see it now), and being rather dumbfounded that I'm doing my best to be a "good boy", and yet the "bad guys" are the ones who get popular, get all the girls, and all in all seem successful... while I'm being picked on by thugs for no reason, and can't get any girl to like me.
In a world where good people are supposed to be rewarded and bad people are supposed to be punished, this state of affairs did not make sense to me.

In time, as I grew up, I was exposed to more and more suffering around the world. There are no words to express just how much evil exists in the world... And the most ironic part? The worst possible atrocities are committed in the name of... you guessed it: Religion.

After:
Once I came to accept the fact that there's no God, and there's no divine reward/punishment system in place, I came to the following conclusion:
Humans are aggressive and selfish animals. They are social animals, but at the same time, the concept of the strong survives is still biologically important. It's natural selection. It's simple math:
Take two groups of people: One is aggressive, the other is docile.
Put them in the same location. What would happen?
Since the first group is aggressive, it'll behave aggressively towards the second group.
Since the second group is docile, it will not respond aggressively to the first group.
The first group will eventually exterminate the second group.
Thus the aggressive group flourishes, while the docile group perishes; the 'aggressive genes' move on, while the 'docile genes' go extinct.

Here's another scenario:
Take two groups of people which are identical in terms of aggressiveness.
Put each of them in a different ecosystem: One is in a lush and fertile environment. The other in a harsh desert environment.
The first group can breed and sustain itself rather easily because resources and food are plentiful and easy to access.
The second group has a limited amount of available resources and food. If the group keeps breeding, soon enough they'll exhaust the resources of the environment. They'll have two options:
Either emigrate to a different ecosystem.
Or fight over the resources among themselves.
Those that stay and fight will in time develop instinctive aggressive traits, because that's how they'll survive. They'll be more protective of their bloodline because trust will be difficult to come by (it's easier to trust your own family to not kill you over a well of water for example).
And thus, in time, the first group becomes more docile, while the second group becomes aggressive and over-protective.

There are other examples of scenarios that can explain why would humans become aggressive and selfish. But I don't think there's a point of listing all of them here. If you just put your head to it and/or do some research, it's rather easy to think about such scenarios.

So in conclusion, there are biological, environmental, and genetic explanations to why there's evil and suffering in the world.

Put a divine entity into the mix and suddenly it won't make sense:
An all-powerful being could equalize the environments and give a fair chance to all groups. In a perfect world, there's no need to fight over resources. If you were an all-powerful being, you could think of countless ways to make things better.

But take the divine entity out of the equation, and everything falls into place: The world has evil and suffering because that's how humans survive in a limited-resources environment - on the expense of others. It makes so much more sense, and most importantly - these scenarios are SCIENTIFICALLY DEMONSTRABLE. There were numerous scientific experiments which were done on mice and apes, where exactly this outcome has happened.
Watch the world news at any point in time, and you'll see the same outcome in humans.

Introduction: How I got to where I am

I was born to a non-practicing Jewish family.
My parents were always secular. They never bothered themselves with religion too much other than the occasional holiday with the families. They were more concerned with gaining education,  being able to provide for their children as best they could, both in terms of living conditions as well as education. You can say they're of the pragmatic generation.

The Early Years (kindergarten, school)
I grew up in Israel. That means that since kindergarten, I was surrounded by Jewish indoctrination from every direction. What this means is that bible studies were mandatory, Jewish holidays were mandatory and recognized by the state, and the Shabbat as well.
Despite all that and more, it wasn't as bad as it could have been.
For example: Bible studies were taught on-par with "theoretical" subjects such as literature and history (unlike "practical" subjects such as Math, Geography and English). And other than being familiar with the bible stories like you would with historical stories, actually believing in these stories was not a requirement.

What this means is that I grew up believing in God. Even if he was not the main (or even secondary) focus in my life, he was an ever-present "side note".
The God I grew up to believe in was a kind and just God. Such that would reward good people and punish bad people. Such who would want the best for his creation (otherwise, why would you want to worship him?).
And yet... Everything that happened around me screamed at me that the opposite was happening.
I was doing my best to be a good person... I studied hard. I was kind to people. I was respectful and polite... But none of it helped me in becoming popular. None of it stopped other kids from being hurtful towards me for no good reason. None of it helped me with the girls. I was doing my best to be a good person... but where was my expected reward? Other kids who were clearly bad people got popular, got all the girls, and didn't get picked on. Nothing made sense.

I prayed to God and I was upset. Nothing was as I was told it would be.
The despair was deep. I even considered suicide numerous times... was very close to it a couple times.
But never had the courage to actually do it.

The Middle Years (Junior High, High School)
Around this time I slowly came to the realization that if I did not take matters into my own hands, nothing would be set right for me (just because I was a "good boy").
I was aware of my own abilities. I generally knew what I was good at and what I was lacking.
I started to try and make things right by actively influencing my own life:
I started learning martial arts so I'd be able to defend myself from thugs.
I started choosing my friends in such a way so it'd be beneficial for me.
I became a tail for lions instead of a lion for a bunch of tails.
More specifically, I cultivated friendships with kids who were successful, so that I would learn from them how to improve myself.
And I abandoned friendships with kids who only kept me down, and were not beneficial to me.
Slowly but surely, things started looking up for me. Not as much as I wanted, but the improvement was clearly apparent to me. I finally had reasons to be optimistic about my life.
All of this because I counted on myself. NOT on a God.

Major Stepping-Stone #1: Pick-up Artists Course
My life got twisted upside-down one day when I got a junkmail from one "David De'Angelo". This is how the pick-up artist world was opened up to me, and EVERYTHING CHANGED.
Using what I learned from this field, I came to the realization that all the good and bad things I experienced in my earlier years had a BIOLOGICAL EXPLANATION. This learning experience was mind-blowing to me. Suddenly all these things that were a mystery to me, such as why girls would be attracted to assholes, it all made sense. It had a biological, genetic and ancestral explanation. It's in our genes! Girls are attracted to alpha males because they are the ones who are able to provide for them, care for them, and protect their offspring. Humans are just like any other animal: The Strong Flourish, The Weak Perish. It's beyond our control - it's in our subconscious mind - it's in our biological instincts.
And most importantly - I could learn how to control it!

After a while of self-teaching this to myself, I eventually took a practical course with a group which operated in Israel. This was the actual major stepping stone because I could learn directly from people who actually knew how to do it, and they knew how to teach me do it.
And it worked. "Amazed" and "Shocked" don't even come close to the feelings I had when I saw how I could manipulate nature - the Human nature no less. And all of this why?
Because of biology, chemistry, genetics, and evolution.

Major Stepping-Stone #2: The Lee Rigby Murder
Excerpt from Wikipedia:
On the afternoon of 22 May 2013, a British Army soldier, Drummer (Fusilier) Lee Rigby of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, was attacked and killed by Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale near the Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich, southeast London.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]} Rigby was off duty and walking along Wellington Street when he was attacked.^[7] Two men ran him down with a car, then used knives and a cleaver to stab and hack him to death.^[8] The men dragged Rigby's body into the road and remained at the scene until police arrived.

And here is where it gets actually interesting:
Between the time of the murder itself, and when the police arrived, the two men actually went out and stopped passers-by on the street to explain to them why they did it. The reason? Because the Qur'an commands them to do so.

Until that day, I never really thought about why Islam is causing so much problems around the world. I mean, the effects were clearly apparent. But while some people claimed that it was because of the religion itself, other people went out of their way to protect the religion, and say that violent acts have nothing to do with Islam and that it's being "misrepresented".
In light of Adebolajo and Adebowale actually stopping passers-by and explaining to them exactly why the Qur'an commanded them to do it, I was thinking: "If these people actually go and tell others 'here, this and that verse explains why I should murder people', then how come so many people still deny that violence has anything to do with Islam?"
So not too long after that, I did something that I never even considered doing before...
I have read the Qur'an.
It was one lovely day of touring in Jerusalem that I entered the first book store that I saw, picked up the first Qur'an copy that I laid my eyes on, opened up the book on a completely random page, and laid my eyes upon the following words:
Seize them and slay them wherever ye find them
Needless to say, I was completely shocked. I mean, what was the chance that the first verse I'd read was this kind of verse? This did not satisfy me. I closed the book, and opened it up again in a random page.
After some incoherent babblings and preaching, I reached the following verse:
Those before them had already plotted, but Allah came at their building from the foundations, so the roof fell upon them from above them, and the punishment came to them from where they did not perceive.
Then on the Day of Resurrection He will disgrace them and say, "Where are My 'partners' for whom you used to oppose [the believers]?" Those who were given knowledge will say, "Indeed disgrace, this Day, and evil are upon the disbelievers"

So here I stumbled upon something that not only eerily predicts the 9/11 attack, but it's another verse which calls for hate.

At this moment I decided that I have seen enough. I closed the book and returned it to its place.
The following days I started researching Islam on the internet, and that's when I found websites such as:

www.answering-islam.org

www.thereligionofpeace.com

www.islam-watch.org

And everything I read I verified using websites such as:
www.quran.com

www.alim.org

and so on.

This is how I got to where I am today.

A hater of not only Islam specifically, but all religions in general.

I saw just how dangerous religions can be.

And so I decided to do whatever I can to fight this plague.
I occasionally share posts with the hashtag #whatstheharm on G+, to show the dangers of religion.

Major Stepping-Stone #3: A Manual for Creating Atheists

Another important step in my "atheistic journey" was when I read Peter Boghossian's book titled "A Manual for Creating Atheists".

This book explained how faith itself is the real culprit when dealing with religion and religious people.

Faith - which is the belief in something despite the lack of evidence - is the basis of every single religion.

It doesn't matter whether you're a Christian, a Muslim, a Jew, a Hindu, a Zoroastrian, or a Wiccan. Everything you believe in owes itself to faith - the belief in something despite the lack of evidence.

The book also provides various tools of how to deal with faith and how to undermine the beliefs of religious people. It helped me tremendously with understanding religious people and how to debate with them effectively.

In my next blog posts, I'll be breaking down my theological non-beliefs, and elaborating on various counter-arguments, and my own personal theological hypotheses.