Do most atheists embrace their animal past?

brian thomson www

I don’t know if I “embrace” my animal past, any more than I “embrace” Evolution or the Big Bang Theory. These are all rather abstract when it comes to my daily life: while they’re as close to “truth” as I expect to get, they don’t tell me much about how to behave today.

I understand that life can be “nasty, brutish, and short”, as it is for so much of the animal world, but we work to make it less so on all counts. So, in one sense (acknowledged by Darwin et al) we have evolved to defy our past, as described by theories of Natural Selection. That doesn’t make those theories any less true, but it does limit just how much “animal” we have in us, or would want to have. I’m not too concerned, personally. 8)

Eric_PK

I think I’m a somewhat evolved animal.

logicel

Animal past? You mean animal present don’t you?

Humans are fully animal. It is hilarious that certain religious believers have a problem with being an animal. A large part of many religious beliefs is to skirt that very issue, emphasizing that god created us specially to be set apart from all animals, by giving us an immaterial, that is, an non-animal part, the soul.

Is the soul suppose to negate the body (we obviously have animal bodies)? Does the body negate the soul? I mean, religious believers, why don’t you just take a cleaver and slice your self into two parts already! It is such a preposterous approach regarding humans who are fully animals. We do not need an artificial concept like the soul to separate us from other animals. We will not become like them if we admit that we do not have souls.

Therefore, I am in agreement with you, that prayers don’t work for animals. We need to think on our feet, sometimes move very fast, others times stand still, listen carefully, speak expressively – among other responses – in order to flourish. We need to accept that we are fully material and our wonderful emergent properties like the mind and the emotions emanate from our physicality. And yes, evolutionary psychology explains some of our behavior (unlike theology!) So much mental energy (and the brain requires lots of calories and protein) is wasted by futzing around with the concept of souls. One aspect that humans share with all other living creatures is that we do not have souls. However, animal species differ significantly from each other.

I don’t romanticize being an animal by focusing on any particular aspect of being one, like being super close to nature because animals are close to nature or by not wearing clothes because non-human animals don’t (with the exception of Fifi the poodle in Paris). I am not that kind of animal—I am an highly socialized animal with a great tool set, both technologically wise and mind/emotions wise.

SmartLX

On a superficial level, most atheists do accept their animal heritage. The only real reasons why people reject evolution are religious ones.

Personally, I’m reminded of the fact that I’m an animal all the time, by my own behaviour and that of others, and by the strange workings of my own body.

As for the general atheist population, I don’t really know. I’d like to think they do.