Lunch Break Theater: The Origins of Morality
Of all the “celeb” atheists I have met, Dr. Andy Thomson is one of the best. We have only met a handful of times, and he has always been very polite and pleasant. He and I spoke briefly at the recent AAI conference, and I’m sure he is unaware of how much he actually helped me.
For a long time, I have had a minor concern that there might have been something wrong with me in the past. As most of you know, in my former life I was a minister. Not only that, I was one of those preachers who thought he could hear from God. I haven’t pondered it much at all in the past few years. But on occasion, my thoughts have ranged from, it’s no big deal (because it was my subconscious), to maybe I used to suffer from some type of psychosis.
In a nutshell, Andy calmed my worries and helped me understand a little more about how the subconscious works. Though our talk didn’t conclude with an official evaluation, I’m pretty confident that I’m not too crazy (but the jury is still out about how full of shit I am).
Enjoy the below video of Andy’s AAI Convention speech:
From YouTube:
Dr. Andy Thomson gives a talk on morality at the Atheist Alliance International 2009 Conference in Burbank, California. Dr. Thomson uses Francis Collins’ claim that morality is proof of God as a jumping-off point to discuss what we know about how morality works and where it came from.
The conference was co-sponosored by The Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science, which brought in several well-known scientists to give talks.
Download Quicktime (720p HD):
http://c0116791.cdn.cloudfiles.racksp…Filmed & Edited by
JOSH TIMONENThe Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science
http://richarddawkinsfoundation.orgAtheist Alliance International
http://atheistalliance.org
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There are lots of people who take experiences and shape them to fit their subjective belief and never bother to evaluate them rationally. That's why you get so many people who "hear God" or such nonsense. They take a perfectly valid internal monologue and turn it into a conversation with themselves, calling one half of the discussion "God".
I wouldn't worry about it. I remember those same feelings way back when. It helps when you recognize them for what they are, not for what faith insisted they be.