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Your question reminded me of this quote from David Foster Wallace's This is Water: Because here’s something else that’s weird but true: in the day-to-day trenc

Your question reminded me of this quote from David Foster Wallace's This is Water: Because here’s something else that’s weird but true: in the day-to-day trenches of adult life, there is actually no such thing as atheism. There is no such thing as not worshipping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship. And the compelling reason for maybe choosing some sort of god or spiritual-type thing to worship–be it JC or Allah, be it YHWH or the Wiccan Mother Goddess, or the Four Noble Truths, or some inviolable set of ethical principles–is that pretty much anything else you worship will eat you alive. If you worship money and things, if they are where you tap real meaning in life, then you will never have enough, never feel you have enough. It’s the truth. Worship your body and beauty and sexual allure and you will always feel ugly. And when time and age start showing, you will die a million deaths before they finally grieve you. On one level, we all know this stuff already. It’s been codified as myths, proverbs, clichés, epigrams, parables; the skeleton of every great story. The whole trick is keeping the truth up front in daily consciousness.

lukevdp 6y ago
> There is no such thing as not worshipping Yes there is
ADayOnEarth 6y ago
This is bs. I don't worship anything. Where do I draw the "real meaning in life"? I don't think there is "a meaning in life", strictly speaking. I came to be because of laws of nature and biology, and keep living for a while, and then cease to exist. I do think everyone can decide for themselves their personal "meaning of life". I would like humans to colonize other planets, and eventually other star systems. I think I have contributed to that goal by writing software that is used by a lot of people for information processing. I also like to be happy and enjoy life. Having a family, friends, and doing things I like with them helps achieve those goals. Making an espresso is almost like a ritual, but I am not worshipping the bean, or electricty, water or the heat and pressure that makes it all work. All the steps are required to get coffee at the end, which I enjoy drinking. I am not worshipping the gods of wine and food when I drink and eat. I am not sending prayers to other car drivers when I am driving, or walking across the street. I am not praying for imaginary beings to keep my loved ones safe, or ask for divine help when they are sick. I admire people who have worked hard to achieve great things, but I do not worship them. I do not know everything, and some things which I think I know are probably wrong. And yet there is still no need for religion.
msla 6y ago
Meaningless words unless you define the religion out of religion, which is hugely disrespectful to both the religious and the irreligious: You can take any philosophy and insist it's a religion, but in doing so you destroy the special place religion holds in the minds of the faithful, and you call atheists charlatans and fools for no legitimate reason.
friendlybus 6y ago
>Worship your body and beauty and sexual allure and you will always feel ugly. This kind of logic doesn't transfer well to other beliefs. God is omni-present, omni-powerful and all-knowing. Transferring the same logic, we assume people worshipping God always feel distant, powerless and knowing nothing.

lukevdp 6y ago

> There is no such thing as not worshipping Yes there is

ADayOnEarth 6y ago

This is bs. I don't worship anything. Where do I draw the "real meaning in life"? I don't think there is "a meaning in life", strictly speaking. I came to be because of laws of nature and biology, and keep living for a while, and then cease to exist. I do think everyone can decide for themselves their personal "meaning of life". I would like humans to colonize other planets, and eventually other star systems. I think I have contributed to that goal by writing software that is used by a lot of people for information processing. I also like to be happy and enjoy life. Having a family, friends, and doing things I like with them helps achieve those goals. Making an espresso is almost like a ritual, but I am not worshipping the bean, or electricty, water or the heat and pressure that makes it all work. All the steps are required to get coffee at the end, which I enjoy drinking. I am not worshipping the gods of wine and food when I drink and eat. I am not sending prayers to other car drivers when I am driving, or walking across the street. I am not praying for imaginary beings to keep my loved ones safe, or ask for divine help when they are sick. I admire people who have worked hard to achieve great things, but I do not worship them. I do not know everything, and some things which I think I know are probably wrong. And yet there is still no need for religion.

msla 6y ago

Meaningless words unless you define the religion out of religion, which is hugely disrespectful to both the religious and the irreligious: You can take any philosophy and insist it's a religion, but in doing so you destroy the special place religion holds in the minds of the faithful, and you call atheists charlatans and fools for no legitimate reason.

friendlybus 6y ago

>Worship your body and beauty and sexual allure and you will always feel ugly. This kind of logic doesn't transfer well to other beliefs. God is omni-present, omni-powerful and all-knowing. Transferring the same logic, we assume people worshipping God always feel distant, powerless and knowing nothing.