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Do you have to be a rationalist to be agnostic/ atheist? Is there space for magical thinking?

dh19612002 4 June 17
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26 comments

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13

Yes there's space for magical thinking and awe..the universe awes me, the magic of life awes me..just because I understand and accept the chemical/physics of it doesn't lessen the magic of it..

@Donotbelieve thanks Gf💓

4

There is always space for magical thinking. Gods have got nothing to do with it.

4

Of course not. Atheism (or agnosticism) can also be a product of chance, indoctrination, stupidity, etc. That's why we see some stories of atheists converting to a religion. When you don't have good reasons to support your atheism you could easily just believe in something else.

Dietl Level 7 June 17, 2019
3

I see no conflict with being agnostic/atheist and believing in magic.

3

I think that a lot of people come to agnotic/atheist beliefs through rational thinking, but not all.

2

Not sure what you are putting in the magical thinking category but I don't know if rationalism and magic are always totally different things. Rational - hmmm I mean - what is logic to you may not be logic to me. Or even my scientific testing may prove different results than yours. I can't put everything into all these neat little boxes that stay stacked in the closet of my mind. Open the boxes and mix up those contents - play with it a little and then decide what you have to put back in the box and what gets to stay out.
I think we need to stay open to all types of thinking - just don't drink the Kool Aide. I have decided that I define my own rationality which may not be the same as any one elses.

Do you remember Henry?

@IamNobody I do remember Henry. He was my friend when I was a brunette

@AmelieMatisse What a pleasant surprise !! Welcome back !! You just made my day 😊😊

@IamNobody thank you Henry. I'm glad to see a lot of my buddies are still here

1

I know someone who believes in fairies but she isn't a theist. Personally, I think if you have usable brain, one might as well use it critically.

1

You don’t have to be anything but my atheism comes from my rationalism not from some bad experience with religion or a if there was a god how could he let this happen moment. I feel the same way about ghosts, magic, astrology etc they just don’t make sense and seem to come from humans need to explain things before science. My hope is that all this crap will fade as the world becomes more educated but I don’t expect to see it in my life time unfortunately.

1

it depends on whether you play with magical thinking because it's fun or whether you would have a heart attack from the guilt if you stepped on a sidewalk crack. i enjoy magical thinking. i don't believe it, but it's fun.

g

1

Just because you are rational about one thing doesn't mean you must be rational about everything else. It simply does not follow, and believing it would or must is, ironically, magical thinking.

1

Some depends

bobwjr Level 10 June 17, 2019
1

Sure there is. Like I am magically thinking some of the broads here are going to put out for me someday but I got to admit so far it's not looking all that promising. Leave me to my delusions please. 😝

Maybe if you actually respected women and didn't call them "broads? you might do better - for me that was a huge turn off

@JudiArmbruster
And that's how I winnow the crowd down from potential to promising because I would never waste a second on any woman that got offended by the word broad.

1

Depends what you mean by magical thinking. Thinking imaginatively is one thing, but believing things for which there is no evidence is another thing.

1

As long as you can differentiate between magical thoughts and a belief in god, there is no harm in magical or wishful thinking. Knowing that your thoughts are only a pleasant form of wishful thinking is where rationality comes in. So yes you can believe in magical thinking and still be an atheist.

1

A person who exercises faith in miracles or magic is a prime target for religious scams.

1

Atheist - no god(s). This term says nothing about anything outside the number of gods you believe in.
Agnostic - without knowledge. I could be pedantic and say you need to define what one is agnostic about before commenting, but it's obvious it is in relation to the state of existence of god(s). The statement, at face value, says you are unsure if god(s) exist. You can be an agnostic theist or an agnostic atheist. Because you are "without knowledge," it is reasonable to assume that one could be an agnostic of anything and still believe in magical thinking.

0

Great question! People always seem to exhibit lapses into magical thinking. Every fall for 30 years I've believed the Lions will win the Superbowl. Magical / insane????

0

There is always place for magical thinking,after all we all daydream now and again, and lovely it is too.

0

I once had magical thinking. If any of this works it is because of your mindset towards it in advance. It has no evidence nor logic.

0

There are times playing music that magic definitely happens. Something will happen in a song and we will all look at each other like, how the hell did that happen. It is a great feeling. It is magical.

0

Humans are nothing if not inconsistent and irrational, so sure.

0

Only if one has a muddled mind.

0

Unfortunately, there definitely is space for magic thinking... any agnostic/atheist that subscribes to New Age thinking or buys into things like zodiacs or other superstitious pseudoscience is already doing it. Not to mention all of the spiritual non-believers out there. :/

Why unfortunately?

@Geoffrey51 because it is pseudoscientific nonsense imo and can sometimes lead to Darwin Awards :/

0

'Magic' is: "Watch me pull a bunny rabbit out of this hat!"
'Majik' is: "Watch me cure this patient with skull rattles, and incantations!"
Can an Agnostic be a magician? Sure!
Can an Agnostic be a Majikian? Well, they could. But that wouldn't be very Agnostic of them!

0

I wonder...

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