Atheists and proof cont….

[Kdtym10]

A carry on from the previous thread

@Kdtym10 the thing is, we all have internal knowledge that underpins our beliefs and guides our actions. For you and others, that knowledge is divine. For those of us without belief, it isn't. Neither approach is superior to the other, neither us right or wrong. There isn't a single correct way of doing life and belief, and it would be so good if we could all just accept that and get on with being human.

And where have I said my knowledge is superior to another’s? Where have I said I’m right, you’re wrong?

Where does that internal knowledge come from?

Im quite happy getting on with my human/divine state. Are you?

Yes, but you’re consistently asking atheists where, where, where did your opinion come from. So why is it ok for you to say it comes from your own internal knowledge, but it’s not ok for an atheist to say that, and they are supposed to explain how they came to that opinion?

Exactly this - why do I have to explain my own internal knowledge just because it doesn't include the divine? Why can't it just be acceptance of the joys and wonders of the world we live in without any need to analyse it to death? Is the serene acceptance of my life as just that with no divine and no hereafter a 'limited world view'?

Life isn’t amazing for everyone all the time. When it’s not, some of us find strength and comfort in the love of God and the hope of heaven.

I’m looking forward to a new and much more amazing life, with no bad parts.

I’ve said on my other posts what is personal to me which has given me an amazing life. I don’t believe in any god and cant see how a faith could make my life better.

@Skye99 we all have to find comfort where we can. If faith works for you, more power to you. I doubt there's anyone who gets a life without any bad times - 2016 through 2019 were spectacularly awful for me and my family. We're all still atheists though, and life now is all the sweeter for knowing what we've survived.

I’ve answered this several times already. But to recap. I am not saying an atheists inner knowledge is invalid. What I have asked if an atheist doesn’t believe in the divine but believes they have knowledge within where has this knowledge come from? External sources or something else? No one has really answered this

But I’m asking where does this “inner knowledge” come from in your view?

What does "but believes they have knowledge within" mean for you in this context?

If I have knowledge, it is not a belief. Knowledge and understanding comes from external sources, in the way that humans have acquired real world knowledge since we were able to rationally experiment and record our results. If the only source of an idea is my own imagination or the imaginations of others then it isn't knowledge, it's an unevidenced belief.

Of course it’s knowledge. I’ve been asked why it’s not ok for an atheist to say it comes from their internal knowledge- therefore it appears at least some atheists feel they have internal knowledge. I’ve asked where they think this comes from

Of course it's not.

Why is it not?

Why is it?

What do you define as knowledge, or as belief? We’re all obviously talking at cross purposes here.

I take what I see in the world around me, and what I read and watch and hear about the world around me, and what I think in my head, and for me that all meets up together and becomes my knowledge. It’s created by my brain, by my neurons. I don’t believe in the divine therefore I am happy to understand that the human brain, which is an amazing thing, creates its own knowledge.

It strikes me that where were all arguing from two sides of the fence is that you believe that internal knowledge, or imagination, has to come from the divine, from something other than your own brain telling you something. Is this right? Is this what you don’t understand about what atheists are saying?

I’m looking forward to a new and much more amazing life, with no bad parts.

Where is the evidence of such a life? I'm genuinely very curious?!

I'm guessing the 'internal knowledge' atheists are talking about is their instinct. Partly inherited and partly from their subconscious as a result of their experiences.

For a Christian we would talk also about knowledge coming from God. From our religious experiences. Which accumulate in the subconscious like instinct as something is brought to remembrance at an opportune time but also can sometimes seem more immediate than that IME with religious experience which is more spontaneous and personally interactive for example when something occurs outside of oneself which answers a prayer.

No one likes a grammar nazi.

The poster was correcting their own mistake, I hardly think thats being a "grammar nazi" which is a terrible phrase

Well exactly!

Thank you for actually answering the question I’ve asked several times. So an atheist would consider all internal knowledge to be generated solely by physical means rather than anything non-physical. So it’s just a firing of neurons etc? Is this also what you think imagination is?

Yes, it’s all just neurons and electricity.

Agree with this. The working of the human brain is still a massive unknown. We can see some of what it does when we run a fMRI, but even then we don't know what most of it actually means, or how it is experienced by the individual. My brain, including my imagination, is all the mystery I need in my life.

Well I think we can all
agree that scientists have no idea how imagination works. I guess we all have different ideas how it does

But even the most experienced neuroscientists have no idea how things like imagination work. So how do we know it’s all just neurons and electricity?