If an atheist believes in nothing then what is reality.

Whatever objectively exists which we perceive subjectively, through the filter of our senses and whatever information we can gather through implements meant to examine it (however imperfectly).

If reality is what is each individual person believes than what is true?

Reality has nothing to do with what you believe. You can believe that you’re able to fly, but you won’t sprout wings.

Everyone has their own set of truths so what is true?

Everyone has their own set of ideas, not truths. Truth is objectively true.

what is reality? We can’t say that it is what ever we want it to be, that would not be reality because everyone has there own set of truths and opinions.

When you say you have your own “truth,” you’re almost certainly referring to the concept of finding “deep truths” in literature, in art, in music, and so on. This isn’t actually finding truth – it’s finding inspiration. That people perceive reality differently does not mean that reality is different to everyone.

Posted: December 10th 2010

See all questions answered by Mike the Infidel

If it doesn’t go away when you stop believing in it, that’s Reality. Example: if you jump out of an airplane, and both your parachutes fail, what you believe about the situation is irrelevant. No amount of faith, prayer, imagination or other forms of self-delusion will make the slightest bit of difference: gravity is real.

That doesn’t mean that we can’t change our reality as people. Look at a question addressed elsewhere: why doesn’t “God” heal amputees? Well, human beings currently don’t have the capacity to replace lost limbs, but we might be able to give it to them in the future. We don’t naturally regrow teeth either; but in a couple of years, you’ll be able to go to a dentist who will implant a “seed” that will grow in to a new adult tooth. Are we changing reality? Our reality, yes, but the potential was always there in objective reality.

To answer your first question last: atheists don’t believe in “nothing”. We don’t believe in your god(s), and we don’t believe your god(s) are the only thing(s) standing between us and “nothing”. As already pointed out, the question sounds like Solipsism.

Posted: December 6th 2010

See all questions answered by brian thomson

What you are asking is really a philosophical question, not a religious one. It’s been discussed over and over for thousands of years, and I’m not sure that we’re really much farther than the answers that existed in the time of the great Greek philosophers. I welcome you to delve into the rich history of such questions.

If you are asking me how I define reality, it’s a different question. Reality is the set of things where if I pulled 10 random people out of a group and asked them whether a specific thing existed, they would look at me strangely.

For example, if I pull somebody into the room I’m in right now and say, “does my keyboard exist?”, she will answer, “yes”, and then leave the room shaking her head.

Now it’s possible that I myself am just a simulation running on some computer beyond my comprehension, but that leads train of thought towards solipsism which I think is a silly position. Acting as if reality exists hasn’t gotten me into trouble so far, and it’s unlikely to in the future.

It would be interesting to ask the mice about it, if they aren’t too busy on the design of Earth Mark II…

Posted: December 6th 2010

See all questions answered by Eric_PK

Your subjective feeling that god exists is real. My subjective feeling that my husband exists is real. However, my husband clearly exists while your god does not (that is why your faith is required) while all I have to is point him out to others. Hence the existence of my husband is true and a fact, while the existence of your god is not true and not a fact even though your subjective feeling that god exists is real.

If you insist that your subjective feeling is sufficient for you to state that your god exists and its existence is true, then you are essentially pretending as you have no evidence to hold that belief. Your belief is real, but not true nor factual. My dream the other night where I ate a feast was real, but I did not really eat or drink while dreaming, and your mere subjective feeling does not make your god real or true or conjure it into existence.

Posted: November 30th 2010

See all questions answered by logicel

An atheist is not someone who believes in nothing. An atheist is someone who has considered the arguments put forward by religious believers, and is not persuaded by them.

This atheist believes in all sorts of things. Just not things for which there is no evidence.

And evidence is the key here. If we were truly dependent on our feelings and opinions in order to discern reality, as you suggest we are, then we would indeed find it hard to come to any reliable conclusions. But happily that is far from being the case. We have tried and tested methods of empirical investigation, which involve testing our results vigorously to ensure that we are not being driven by our feelings and opinions in arriving at our conclusions.

It is because the claims of religion are either not testable by these methods or repeatedly fail to be upheld by them – because, in other words, they are nothing more than unverifiable feelings and opinions – that atheists reject them.

Posted: November 30th 2010

See all questions answered by Paula Kirby

If an atheist believes in nothing then…

Not so fast. Atheists do not “believe in nothing”, whatever that’s supposed to mean. As a general rule, atheists are neither nihilists (which is what most people mean when they use that phrase) nor are we the radical skeptics you seem to think we are.

...what is reality?

Philip Dick once said that reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn’t go away. In other words, there is a universe out there whether you believe in it or not.

What does God have to do with it? Whether you think God is real or not, you have to presuppose that there is a difference, i.e. you presuppose the existence of a meaningful reality.

Posted: November 29th 2010

See all questions answered by George Locke