Skeptic Project

Hello, and welcome to CS.com! If you're reading this you're probably under 25, white, upper middle class, and from an advanced first world country. I thought I'd put a handy little guide up on the board to help you deal with some of the people you're likely to encounter here. You may want to read these points, because they might clear up some misconceptions that often occur.

1. Congratulations for wanting to make the world a better place. We appreciate it. We really do.

2. Our appreciation for wanting to change the world does not trump every other concern. Nor does it immunize all of your ideas for changing the world from legitimate criticism.

3. Not all ideas for changing the world are created equal. Some are very good. Some are complete shyte. There's a difference.

4. There are more people out there who want to change the world than you realize. In fact, I would say the vast majority of people on the planet would like it if the world was a better place and there was less inequality, poverty, violence etc. Therefore, related to #2, the fact that you want to change the world really isn't THAT special.

5. Most of the people who want to change the world are older than you are and have more life experience. That doesn't mean their ideas are automatically better than yours. But undoubtedly some of them--you could even go so far as to say most of them--are better than yours.

6. Almost every idea to change the world has already been tried. The vast majority of them have failed. A very select few of these ideas really have improved things. Example: the Red Cross. That's an idea to change the world that worked brilliantly. There aren't many of those.

7. Unless you are really, really, really, really, REALLY REALLY REALLY smart, special or unique, any idea that you have to change the world has already been thought of. In fact, it's already been thought of, tried and failed. People have been trying to change the world for thousands of years. What, you think you're the first person to come up with [fill in the blank with whatever your idea is]?

8. Some ideas to change the world are so bad that they make the world a worse, rather than a better, place. Example: Nazism. The people who supported it were just like you. They honestly thought it would make the world a better place. They tried hard to make it work. Unfortunately, they succeeded. They made the world a much worse place than it had been before.

9. People who have successfully changed the world for the better worked very, very, very hard at it and it took them a very long time. Example: Gandhi. He changed the world for the better. It took him 50 years. He failed more often than he succeeded.

10. Believe it or not, the best way to change the world is through the existing system. That means, the institutions of government, economy and social order that already exist in your advanced first-world country. It's like trying to put a man on Mars. Your chances of success are much better if you launch your rocket from Earth orbit rather than the surface of the Earth, because by launching in orbit you don't have to achieve escape velocity before you make any progress. Working within the system doesn't mean the system is perfect. It doesn't mean it can't or shouldn't be changed. But the system is there for a reason, and you might as well make use of its advantages even if it isn't perfect.

11. People who disagree with your ideas to change the world aren't arguing with you because they don't like the fact that you want to change the world. That's not the point. They're also not arguing with you because they're duped, apathetic, complacent, or too locked in to their current system to conceive of doing anything else. That's not the point either. They're arguing with you because they believe YOUR ideas to change the world are bad ones, and they will make the world a worse, rather than a better, place.

12. The ideas that you have to change the world right now will probably bear zero resemblance to the ideas that you will have to change the world when you're 40. In fact, when you're 40, you will look back on the ideas that you have now and say, "Damn, those were some pretty stupid ideas." This doesn't mean that at 40 you still won't want to change the world. You probably will. It does mean that you will have a better idea of how to do it.

13. Most of the people in the world couldn't care less about your ideas to change the world. Remember that part about being upper middle class and from an advanced first-world country? That's why most people don't care, because most people in the world live in mud huts, tar-paper shacks and hovels, and they're more worried about feeding their kids than about your ideas to redesign society. That doesn't mean that these people don't share your goal of changing the world. In fact I can guarantee that they desperately want to make the world a place where it's not quite so hard to feed their kids and they can move out of their mud hut or tar-paper shack. But right now, feeding their kids is a bigger priority. You should try to keep this in mind.

14. Every person in history who really DID change the world for the better--Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Albert Schweitzer, Franklin Roosevelt, etc.--understood these points. In fact, that's why they were good at changing the world, because, despite all the cards stacked against them, they still accomplished something. Maybe you'll become one of these sorts of people. I hope you do. But just be sure that you understand what changing the world really means and that how you get there from here is probably different in real life than you think it is.

That's all.

Hey Nanos changed the world with his solar powered bike horn.

Muertos, Mother Teresa was no saint and Gandhi was a racist. I'm guessing that you don't like bloody revolution, even if it is for the greater good? (says with cheeky grin on his face).

Also, do you have any suggestions on how I can convince my simple minded, non-jewish zionist, social conservative friend that there is no god and because there is no god that he could not have given promised land to his chosen people?

@Inside Job: Ask him why he believes in God and then ask him if that reason is rational.

"I like Gandhi and Mother Teresa"

Why? Neither's pop culture myth reflects the reality of either.

It's "Atheist" you fucktard.

:3

Story time! Most "agnostics" I meet at my age are really atheists who are under the faulty reasoning that holding an "agnostic" position is best because it's seen to be the middle ground.

It was a great post, I think #11 should have been #1, because that's basically what most TZM members think if you argue with them at all.

By the way Muertos, what are YOU doing to make things better, huh?!

^Not all but I got one bite didn't I?

"I like Gandhi and Mother Teresa"

Why? Neither's pop culture myth reflects the reality of either.

Gandhi was a major factor in the advancement of Indian independence. Whether you agree that the Indian people benefited more from being independent than remaining British subjects isn't the point--I cited him as an example of someone who changed the world, and I don't think there is much of an argument that he did not. Personally I believe his commitment to nonviolent mass action is extremely important.

I'm also not impressed by the Hitchens-style criticisms of Mother Teresa, and I disagree with your characterization that she never helped anybody anywhere. Again, opinions on her character and motives surely differ, but she did change the world.

You're ruining this epic topic with small talk; for shame!

That wouldn't necessarily do it. The reasons why I believe in God are very personal and subjective, and I freely admit they are not rational. I wouldn't attempt to construct a rational argument for the existence of God because there isn't one. That doesn't mean I shouldn't believe, as I think there are, in rare circumstances, justifiable reasons for holding beliefs that can't be explained rationally (though obviously you must be very careful what you do in the name of those beliefs).

I'm not sure I would accept any justification that is not rational..

Muhammed?

I don't buy into the notion that just because pop culture has deemed someone a saint that they're immune from skeptical inquiry.

Mother Teresa is no exception. There is nothing saintly about letting sick people suffer because of some garbage religious belief.

I think Muhammad is real and is not a god but is a profit. He's a profit that created the islam religion. Which eventually created such groups with radically ideologies indirectly. Actually just speaking out loud here isn't the islam religion a "global movement", and their main agenda is to spread islam globally because of course they think their doing good, much like the Zeitgeist movement...

Billll, wouldnt be the first and doubt it will be the last...