Theism needs a proper Richard Dawkins to make it unpopular again
Conversation
My memecoin will run on proof-of-atheism
3
2
17
I’m pretty sure this is some sort of cringe-is-cool aesthetic vibe thing, not philosophy.
3
1
19
Atheists are midwit mediocrities who cop to it
Theists are midwit mediocrities who refuse to cop to it
3
17
For extra denial points make vague noises about nootropic stacks and jhanas or whatever.
At least nobody says “I’m spiritual but not religious” anymore. Small mercies.
3
17
And this is why Bayesians make the Big Bucks
Quote Tweet
Replying to @joeld and @vgr
Wait, on second thought it makes sense. The vast majority of your followers are probably default-atheist so the pool of theists to move atheist would be a lot smaller than the pool of people to move in the other direction.
6
23
Doing the math, currently:
a/c =0.57
b/d = 0.44
So there is net signal. Atheists really are losing ground.
7
9
This is a common conceit — that atheism is some sort of naive, sophomore teen rebellion that one reconsiders and abandons with maturity as a part of adulting. That anyone still professing atheism past 25 is to be pitied for failing to grow up 🤣
3
13
This stereotype is in fact correct as a description of the median 19-year-old atheist who has recently read Blind Watchmaker or something by Dennett, but in my experience as you examine older cohorts, the contempt flows the other way, like atheists are frozen at 19.
2
13
For the record, I’ve been atheist since I first thought to even reflect on the question at maybe 8, and was not the sophomore-logic-bomb type even at 19. It’s been pretty consistently a sort of Discordian, Douglas-Adamish absurdist strain. This tends to be the lifelong strain.
Replying to
The logic-bomb type is typically a fragile atheist and likely to “turn” if bitten by a theist on a full-moon because logical denialism is a kind of effort to resist a temptation to belief. The absurdists are a different breed, fundamentally lacking the underlying temptation.
1
1
16
I wouldn’t be surprised if this turned out to be a somewhat genetic predisposition, a bit like alcoholism, especially under modern conditions, where required social performances are not a major factor.
2
9
Anyhow, I think the biggest change I’m seeing in myself as an aging atheist is that I’m much less inclined to empathize with the religious mind. Not getting intolerant necessarily, but definitely holding the religious responsible for the consequences of religiosity.
2
22
This thread is a prequel to me going full Dawkins in 2025 🤬
2
14
Replying to
Hah, similar lifelong strain here, somehow laid atop the foundation of Greek Orthodoxy. And fuck it a little animism for fun.
Embracing the contradiction was something Discordianism really imprinted on me, and the human need for ritual is real. Just not lame ones.
1
Replying to
I've gone from pretty strong theist to weak atheist, but then strong atheist that takes theism very seriously. Kind of in a William James way...





