Agnostic.com

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The impression I gather is that this site is predominantly comprised of "mature" members. (I am so "mature" that, were I a cheese, I would be labeled "grand reserve"!)
I have noticed very few members in their twenties, and an extremely low incidence of those still in their teens.
My assumption from this is that, for most people, it takes time for agnosticism to set in, and override the "brainwashing" of childhood.
Also interesting is the inverse ratio between religious fanaticism and higher education.

Petter 9 Apr 30
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15 comments

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New site, relatively, which isn't the young people thing. But more, I think if you were raised with religious beliefs & structure, then you need a certain amount of both scientific education (not science only, but credible scientific methodology) and freedom from the presence of your upbringing. Basically, you need to grow up. Correspondingly, much research shows mid-20s being the age when more folks move out on their own vs late teens/early 20s a generation ago, and earlier if we go further back. So, it makes more sense for people to explore and transition their perspectives later in life. It is really closely interrelated with maturity, culture, environment, self-worth... Not occurring in a vacuum is my point. Sharing something you feel may alienate a loved one takes consideration and evaluation.

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As a well aged cheddar "(I am so "mature" that, were I a cheese, I would be labeled "grand reserve"!)" gave me a chuckle.
Thanks.

My pleasure, sir.

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Are we "mature" or overly ripe? I like to think I will never reach the pinnacle of matureness as I keep evolving (mentally but devolving physically).

"Grand reserve" vintage. Unfortunately, that means that in order to maintain best condition, must be kept away from excessive heat, excessive cold, agitation and light.

@LetzGetReal Does brandy qualify as sound nutrition? 🙂
...and does sex qualify as excercise? 🙂 🙂

@LetzGetReal It grew like a weed in my homeland, Kenya. There are many varieties of Hemp, and it makes excellent rope, which is resistant to the corrosive effect of sea-water. (That's not on the list)
However, smoking high tetrahydrocannabinol varieties of hemp excessively CAN lead to a reduction in mental function. Stick to eating the nutritious ones!

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apart from the fact that at the time when i was in my 20s, even 30s still, internet didn't exist yet, i was also too bloody busy living my real-time life to even watch the news on telly or read the papers, let alone "sacrifice" hours every day keeping in touch with the virtual world. i wasn't even a big reader until i was past 50 - too much to live 🙂

Ata girl! I watch very little telly, and get most of my news from web sites like BBC and Al Jazeera. (never FOX!)
I find the "virtual" world is a good place in which to understand other cultures.
Hence, very little Farcebook, except for rapid communication with some people inhabiting my immediate world. For the same reason, WhatsApp can be useful.

@Petter, i've never owned a telly set, & these days am not even interested in so-called world news any more. what's going on politically in front of my doorstep keeps me breathless enough as it is. & as for other cultures, i don't find a lot about the few true remaining ones, unless watching some docu in the style of Attenborough.

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We all know God is all Supernatural powerful and keeps secret societies.

God borrowed 3 times the water on earth from other planets. Then separated the fresh water from the salt water later, or that would normally kill everything. God then shape shifted dinosaurs like the Brontosaurus that normally takes up 1/3 the size of the arc. Put heaters and oxygen mask on all the animals when they hit over the heights of Mt Everest.Turn carnivore into vegetarian. Fix the destroyed soil to plant their seed as the animals waited. Shot all the big dinosaurs for food. See it's all possible with God's magic book. Although I perfer the Cat and the Hat story. Or ignore them for most part and they might floot away.

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I think the younger people are more likely using hookup apps like Tindr.

Or Grindr??!!

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These seem like pretty fair informal observations.

As an Older Person, I find the minimal amount of teenage / twentysomething angst and immaturity to be a feature rather than a bug.

I agree with @Cheri that many younger people find unbelief more of a "given" and don't have trouble socializing around other things. I think atheism and areligion more generally become kind of irrelevant when one's subculture doesn't find these ideas novel and challenging and people just treat each others as fellow humans and respect differences. Millennials, on balance, seem to have this somewhat figured out. My millenial stepdaughter is very social, has a wide range of friends, and they don't seem to discuss or engage with each other over religious beliefs. If you have them or not, fine, it's your business.

But I grew up in a world where such freedom of choice / nonconformity were taboo and my generation (Boomers) is basically still mired in those old taboos.

The younger folks who ARE here seem a bit more militant / damaged by a past in some more strident form of theism. As a European, you may not realize how rampant Christian fundamentalism is here. It's pretty awful actually. Particularly in the so-called Bible Belt (mostly the Deep South).

The extreme degree of Christian fundamentalism in some parts of the USA is becoming more and more apparent to me the more time I spend on this site. It is the exact counterpart of the extremism in Muslim countries ruled by Imams.
It is indeed heartening to see younger people, who are more exposed to social media and therefore the viewpoints of others, are indeed more relaxed on people's beliefs. I suppose that is why countries such as Pakistan and Iran seek to censor such sites - and now Turkey, which until recently was a truly secular although nominally Muslim country, is seeking to fetter social media as well.

@Petter I was in Turkey with my family on holiday a couple months after the Taskim Square dust-up and it felt safe there; even though we saw some protests elsewhere they didn't seem very different from protests here in the States. However, things have deteriorated since and I wouldn't take my family there now. There are more terrorist attacks AND more open and strident authoritarianism.

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I think the reason is that younger people are more open to atheism/agnosticm, and have a much easier time finding other nonbelievers to associate with. Older folks are still pretty bound to belief in god and rely on social media to find others who don't believe. Any way, that has been my experience.

Cheri Level 5 Apr 30, 2018
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I think the reason is that younger people are more open to atheism/agnosticm, and have a much easier time finding other nonbelievers to associate with. Older folks are still pretty bound to belief in god and rely on social media to find others who don't believe. Any way, that has been my experience.

Cheri Level 5 Apr 30, 2018
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My late partner was from a Moslem country (Iran). Her mother promoted her to question everything and she did. She said as soon as she could reason she couldn't understand why religion had such a hold on people. When the revolution hit in 77' she then realized how strong a hold it did have.
I think a lot of this question is more about the parents than the kids. Her 2 oldest kids became S. Baptists and she realized not having a religion in the household was not enough. One had to also foster Critical Thinking.

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I don't know if it helps your research but I am 70y.o. I have never had a god, nor ever wanted one; nor had any of my relations (probably due to ww2), yes and I have 3 degrees and was a Lecturer in Counselling.

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I think part of it is that this site doesn't appeal as much to younger people. Why exactly that is, I don't know. This is a broad generalization, and just a thought, but maybe they're expecting a quick and easy dating site, and this requires more time and thought.

Very true, With age comes patience - or is it resignation?

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Of course but hopefully, a sight like this can change that.

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Oh, I thought you meant mature emotionally.....

marga Level 7 Apr 30, 2018

I was just an old git being "polite". 🙂

1

It takes time to figure things out after an entire childhood of brainwashing. So true.

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