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>You think that doing good only because you are being watched Never said "only because" of being watched. Being watched is an added measure. > Atheists do goo

>You think that doing good only because you are being watched Never said "only because" of being watched. Being watched is an added measure. > Atheists do good because it's the right thing to do Many atheists, from personal experience, most don't really care to do good when no one's watching. Not saying it applies to all atheists, but for many. It's simply not rational. Why do good? For "karma"? So, the atheist has replaced "God" for "karma"?

jhgb 5y ago
Human psyche is not rational. Reason takes work that most are not willing to invest in most of the time, regarding most things. Not even scientists, whose job is to be rational about things, live their lives fully rationally, or even "50+% rationally". Yes, it's not rational to feel good when doing good things for someone. Yet, most people do feel good when doing good things for someone. It's called empathy. And while that feeling is not rational, it is very handy. I don't see how you could have humanity as we know it without it. Whatever the reason for its existence, I'm glad that it exists. Who knows, maybe that's just the anthropic principle in action here? Maybe without it, you really wouldn't have humanity to wonder about it.
hota_mazi 5y ago
We do good because it feels good to do good, but also because evolution allowed us to develop empathy. We feel a natural need to help other people because we hope that other people would help us if we needed it to. "Today, you. Tomorrow me". We hold the door to strangers, help them carry stuff, or pick them up they have a flat tire, and none of that requires the existence of a vengeful god who will send us into a lake of eternal fire if we don't comply to his wishes. We help each other because we are a social species. We do it because most people on this planet are good people who want to be happy and who want people around them to be happy. Religion and gods are unnecessary for any of this.
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jhgb 5y ago

Human psyche is not rational. Reason takes work that most are not willing to invest in most of the time, regarding most things. Not even scientists, whose job is to be rational about things, live their lives fully rationally, or even "50+% rationally". Yes, it's not rational to feel good when doing good things for someone. Yet, most people do feel good when doing good things for someone. It's called empathy. And while that feeling is not rational, it is very handy. I don't see how you could have humanity as we know it without it. Whatever the reason for its existence, I'm glad that it exists. Who knows, maybe that's just the anthropic principle in action here? Maybe without it, you really wouldn't have humanity to wonder about it.

hota_mazi 5y ago

We do good because it feels good to do good, but also because evolution allowed us to develop empathy. We feel a natural need to help other people because we hope that other people would help us if we needed it to. "Today, you. Tomorrow me". We hold the door to strangers, help them carry stuff, or pick them up they have a flat tire, and none of that requires the existence of a vengeful god who will send us into a lake of eternal fire if we don't comply to his wishes. We help each other because we are a social species. We do it because most people on this planet are good people who want to be happy and who want people around them to be happy. Religion and gods are unnecessary for any of this.

deleted 5y ago
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