We are in a world where individualism is at its large power and thus we have a huge gap among individuals. Our being individualized as individuals affects our existence and interaction as a group. We are affiliated to different political ideologies and philosophies about society and life. This affiliation when mixed with the cultures that one wants to identify with cause the atheist spectrum and widen it. They make us want to be separate rather than united. At also the cause of our being an atheist is a big part. For example one of my friends who is born as an atheist values insane ideas like homophobia since for him it is part of his culture. When seeing the fact that environment and the value we give to ideologies is really powerful in shaping how we want the future of atheism and secular structure to be. That's what comes to my mind and I hope to know What comes to your mind when you think of this.
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Are you asking how we think atheist will reconcile ideological difference?
Yes
Yes, I believe it is certainly true that we(atheists) also tend to look for and cling to certain ideologies and/or traditions that replace the function of religion in socialization, and that some of us do not always pick the best alternatives. Cultrualism, nationalism, and even traditionalism are all harmful if not approached with a certain amount of flexibility and moderation. Thinking homophobia is good because it is cultural or traditional is insipid, it is the opposite of skeptical or reasoned, and should not be viewed any different than religious doctrines that are hateful or bigoted. There is a distinct lack of communion among many atheists, which other philosophies like humanism attempt to remedy, but one should not be so eager for community that they practice the same kind of lobotomy of their cognitive faculties that keep the religious tied to their failed storybooks.
Ideologically, atheism is not the only aspect impacted upon by our ever-advancing world. The following describes much of what I've seen in the world of the so-called Milleniums (born after 1980).
Techno-purges of the human touch -
1. Hand written art forms - No one writes at the personal level anymore. When people wrote letters, notes, holiday sentiments in greeting cards, etc, they expressed how they felt and were much more tuned into themselves and their world. When pen on paper was passed into antiquity by keyboards, that aspect of our lives went with it. Keyboards did not become the new method of personal expression. In fact, it was cold and labeled as such. Handwritten forms of communication could say many things about a person that the type-written word could never duplicate. It was as much a personal insight into another person as much as it was an art form. Both are gone now; losses to technology.
2. Face-to-face contact - This is largely fading into the past. Text messaging, rather than face-time conversations and discussion, have imparted a huge impersonal aspect to our sense of social community. We are colder towards each other for it. A person's non-verbal communication in a discussion is now gone. It often said more than the mere words exchanged between people. The visual aspect of the emotional responses that are an essential part of inter-personal communication is dying a slow death; another loss to technology.
2. Music Arts - It's become a digital emporium of button pushers, knob turners and sound digitizers versus personal expression through real instruments. One can argue that sound-for-sound, the notes could be the same whether emitted by a Piezo speaker or a real instrument. That much is true. But, the quality of sound of a real instrument played with nuanced finesse of a talented individual cannot be emulated by digitized sound. Quick switch to singers, they are now pulled off the sidewalk and vocally engineered in the studio. Real vocal talent is now a thing of the past because engineers are hourly employees where talented singers cost big bucks. Music has been reduced to a balance sheet form of entertainment; another loss to cold, impersonal technology.
3. Visual Arts - Computer Generated Imagery (CGI). Enough said. Real actors, like real musical talent, cost billions where a CGI engineer is an hourly-wage dork strategically scattering pixels on a screen. Yea for us....? Yet another art form suffering from technology.
4. Work Force Behavioral Anomalies - As an employer I've had a very difficult time convincing employees their cell phones are not birth rite devices to use, as they would on their personal time, while they're on my payroll during normal working hours. I even fired my own son because of abusing such a privilege. I finally banned them and revised my employee policy handbook to adopt the ban. If someone needs to make an outside call, they will need permission. Also, incoming calls to them have been banned unless they're emergency-related only. I had to bring back the policies of yester-year because technology erased common sense about employee privileges. Yet another technology imparted difficulty.
5. Relationships - Two people walking hand in hand, assuming romance is the reason, while they busy themselves with their phones with their free hands; totally disconnected from each other. Same for a family at a restaurant; each member is on a phone or gaming device and totally disconnected from each other as a family unit. Thank technology, once again, for one more example of an attack on our all-important inter-relationships and need to bond.
6. Etcetera ...
Technology has done more to drive divisiveness between people, at the individual level, than anything else we can attempt to blame it on. Once ingrained at the personal, individual level, what can be expected at the social level from these people? Nothing at all and that's the problem. Atheism can take a portion of the blame, and should, but it alone will eventually rule the day and people will still be people. Technology has done more to undermine the human need for sentiment, emotion and compassion at every turn than any other aspect of human daily life. The problem with it is it's insidiously separating us from traits needed that form the basis of our familial, social, community and cultural needs.
"Technology has done more to undermine the human need for sentiment, emotion and compassion at every turn than any other aspect of human daily life. "
I couldn't disagree more. These things are not gone. They just look different.
You are a digital immigrant, as am I. Digital natives have the same sorts of needs and fulfill them as frequently as we do. They do it in different ways, so different, that to many immigrants they may not appear to exist. Oh, but they do. They may even do it better.
"Technology has done more to drive divisiveness between people, at the individual level, than anything.else we can attempt to blame it on."
I agree with you, to a point. Yes it divides it, but if you look at it, it also brings us together.
Years ago we couldn't have this conversation, because we would probably not even know the the other exists. Because of technology we together on this site.
Yes was all live in our own little bubble, most people don't see what's happening right in front of them. There have their eyes on that screen that's in their face all the time. That's the down fall of all this technology. We don't notice our neighbors.
But there is an up side also. Without this technology we as atheist wouldn't be able to come to this site, and meet like minded people.
So for this i have to say, thanks for technology.
"Technology has done more to drive divisiveness between people than anything else we can attempt to blame it on... Technology has done more to undermine the human need for sentiment, emotion and compassion at every turn than any other aspect of human daily life."
And yet here we are, united through technology.
Are we though, united I mean, even if we only really agree for certain on one thing?
It is an issue of concern if our disagreement overthrows our agreements
Well, intelligent people tend to be highly individualistic and non-conformist. If one conforms, they don't question much...
So keeping Atheists together in consensus on things other than non-belief is like herding cats, since most Atheists tend to be fairly reasonable, smart, logical people!
Agreed. There's a price and it's actually free. Life is about paying attention but people seem to treat it as they would a door charge. The ones who discover otherwise are the ones who are easy with their inquisitive nature and tend to be better informed. It is the goal of those who would rule people to control their knowledge by culling out the intelligentsia and then telling them what they want to hear. It works every time. This is one of history's lessons people forget so easily (or selectively), especially the bloodied religious part of it.