How a Big Mac Explains the Existence of Religion | Andy Thomson
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- Опубликовано: 8 янв 2019
- J. Anderson Thomson uses fast food as an example to illustrate why humans have such a proclivity towards believing in religions. His talk, entitled 'Why We Believe in Gods', comes from his appearance at the 2009 American Atheists conference in Atlanta, Georgia.
✅ See the full talk here: • Why We Believe in Gods...
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Produced by The Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason & Science
I'm hungry now, thanks atheism...
Atheism is an invention of junk food industry: no sin of gluttony and during their conferences they make you hungry.
Eat something healthy.
-Atheist
@@patientestant Don't you downplay the fast food industry like that, they kill more people annually then those incompetent terrorists could ever achieve in a decade.
@@fgregerfeaxcwfeffece oh, I'll play as I please. It is the greatest and least I can do. People wanted food fast, so people gave then delicious food they'd crave, fast. It is unfortunate sugar and fast food have clearly played such a horrible role in people's health.
@@patientestant Do you really want me to explain how this was set up as a joke?
I have had a hypothesis about this for some time. In a decent household, there is a caregiver and disciplinarian (usually the father). When I was a little kid, I thought my dad could beat up (beat) anyone, knew everything, could fix anything, and if did wrong, he would find out and punish me. That is important for a little child to feel secure - true or not. But it does not take too long for us to figure out that maybe dad is just a guy - but for most, the emotional need is still there, and religions offer a "Father" that supposedly really is all those things, and we begin to bond with it. I think that many people never outgrow the need for that perfect father, and thus, cannot abandon religion.
Hence all freudian maxim.
@@BentmonthDjentley6335
Not a bad observation!
A son grows up to be a man, and becomes a father. As a father, he does not have all the answers, but as a rational man, he desires and seeks the truth. Through his studies, the man finds religion incomplete and wanting. Continuing his studies, the man finds science incomplete and wanting. Some men, upon finding religion wanting, abandon it, and cling to science as if it is the truth. Other men, upon finding science wanting, abandon it, and cling to religion as if it is the truth. The rational man abandons neither religion, nor science, and continues to seek the truth.
@@sb-nl6ge
And some smarter people "cling" to nothing. They see that what science DOES present as most likely true fits with the world we observe and accept it as a far better source. A rational man is rational and does not treat irrational fantasies as if they were on par with evidence based ideas, no matter how many people may accept those fantasies.
Do YOU believe that "Star Wars" is a true story, inspired in George Lucas through the Force by Yoda? Can you prove it is not? What if Yoda knew that having his pawn present it as a documentary would cause it to be a joke, but as a fantasy, the ideas in the story would have great impact (as they have) and so allowed Lucas to think it was all his idea?
As a truth seeker, would you not find anyone who believed what I just wrote to be silly? If so, why? What difference is there other than the number of believers? The rational man follows the evidence, and religion has none.
@Ikallicrates
That makes sense. My family, other than suffering from a moderate case of Catholicism were sensible, responsible adults so it took me a little longer to figure out that the religion was full of shit.
Questioning and explanation are the two enemies of religion.
Viva_AM That's what made me a Christian, funny that.
This guy is so good. He went from big macs to dead ancestors in a few sentences
Thankyou for up-loading this...😊..can't get enough..more please
Why We Believe in Gods - Andy Thompson
ruclips.net/video/1iMmvu9eMrg/видео.html
I watched this presentation when I took my first steps into atheism. It vastly helped uncovering why religions exist.
This makes so much sense...love it ❤️......btw exmuslim agnostic here ✨✌️
Congratulations on your freedom
@@jonathanlee6660 thanks bro ❤️
Thanks for upload and please, more videos.
Brilliant analysis! Thank you for sharing this!
I stopped being Christian out of respect for God. 20 years and a Christian education K-12. I saw the errors of church beliefs and stubborn ignorance when faced with real truths we know through science. I never cared for the stories of man found in the Bible. I admired and still admire Jesus as a character, and not once did he back up the beliefs of the modern church. The only two people who I cared about in Christianity was God and Jesus, and I saw neither in the Christian people. I saw a possible God whose existence was hijacked by Christians and used as a tool for their own agendas and needs. Every worship song was about us, not about God, and it filled people with extasy. I saw conservative people constantly using religion to be overbearing intruders on the lives and lifestyles of other people, acting in complete contrast to Jesus' words.
I don't care about Christians, the church, or its community. I don't care about myself or what I am promised to gain in return. I'm a creator myself, and I wanted to be respectful to any God that may exist, Christian or other. I found that the best I can do is adapt the most rational beliefs available. That is the best anyone can do if they want to see a God's creation for what it really is instead of denying it. It's basic respect to not deny a God. Time passed and I kept educating myself, and I found that it's not reasonable at all to believe in a God. I've been happier ever since I stopped being Christian or spiritual. I feel like I know the world and I am content with it. I am free from the tight grasp of religious thought. Free from the negativity which taints ever word they speak. I've developed a habit of abandoning beliefs when a better one becomes available. I still don't care about anything except what is most probable based on the information available to me. I'm a better person because I understand Christianity and because I had a Biblical character named Jesus as a role model when I was young. Jesus, a very liberal, accepting, and helpful servant character. Shame that the rest of the characters in the Bible are garbage.
@MichaelKingsfordGray So is Zeus, but he taught me the trouble that can come from putting your junk where it doesn't belong. ; )
@MichaelKingsfordGrayyou say this, but there is more documented evidence for Jesus as a person than there is Aristotle.
So your disbelief in God comes from imperfect people? I'm sorry those people weren't better.
@MichaelKingsfordGraynot hiding I just never bothered to attach my real name to this email. I surely didn't attach a fake name.
knightsofthelost: Outside of the BuyBull, and even within it, there's very little documentation of a historical Jesus and especially, and most-critically, of his personhood. The Gospels are all over the place with regard to accounts of his alleged birth, how Mary and Joseph were notified of his alleged divine conception, how they were instructed to prepare for his birth, where that birth would take place, exactly when he was born, who the leaders of various nations in the immediate area were at the time of his birth (an important detail to be clear and firm about when it comes to independently verifying and authenticating the historicity of the alleged existence of Jesus relative to the BuyBull's claims re. their reactions to his birth and existence), what Jesus did while he was alive and grew-up, the miracles attributed to him, the circumstances that led to his crucifixion, who he talked to during this process and what he said, when exactly it happened, where it was undertaken, who performed the crucifixion and who witnessed it, what was done to him while he was crucified and who did it, what he said and did while crucified, how much he suffered and how long it took for him to die, how his body was handled post mortem, who witnessed his alleged resurrection, and where, how and when it exactly took place. There's no single, consistent narrative that these disparate accounts share and are congruent with -- they're not just variations on a theme, as some apologists might claim so as to dismiss criticism of these accounts, but are individual stories that are wholly independent from one another and have scant few areas of commonality between them beyond them talking about this mythical figure named "Jesus".
I’m loving how so many of the theist commenters think that this speaker was Richard Dawkins, as they flippantly insult his personal character, by name.
Priceless!
Going by how I remember my childhood (which may be a distortion, due to known psychological mechanisms) I wasn't into teleology of non-living objects. I'm pretty sure (see disclaimer) that if you asked me what rocks were for I'd have thought it an inane question. And then thought that since you asked the question, maybe rocks actually did have a purpose. And then struggled to invent an answer in order to pass the "test."
Has anybody tried asking this without using leading questions? Instead of ""What are rocks for?" asking "Do you think rocks have a purpose?"
bdf2718 I thought the same thing - "what are rocks for?" is totally a leading question. And especially if you are not a rebellious kid who'd blurt out "what a silly question" you'd assume that since an adult is asking that they must have a purpose.
That's where I'm at when it comes to reconciling religion and science. Most religious people I've met believe a god is necessary for the universe to function. It's not, at all. What everyone seems to forget, from this guy to Ken Ham and anywhere in between, is that life exists without really needing to. If all seven billion of us died out, the universe would keep going. Why are gods any different? Why can't they just be there? It's possible to represent things you didn't create, no?
Amazing I was having that conversation!
May be long term mental illness but a lot of this i can't relate to. Eveb as a small child, I never believed in fairy tales.
Yea, they just never add up!!!
"Hyperactive Agency Detection":
"Before we meet, are you SURE you're over 18. And are you working for (or with) the FBI?"
Did I miss how the Big Mac explained religion?
Mainly decoupled planning and hyperactive agency.
@IdleBigots Thanks for that.
@IdleBigots That was extremely well put. Thanks.
Yes, just like McFood Religion also hijacks our inborn instincts and takes it to bad places. Not cholesterol, but ... idk stoning and which drowning.
Because it's far too heavenly to have been invented by man.
I joke, off course, the Big Mac is good but it's so small compared to a Burger King XL Bacon Double Cheese that the taste is tainted by a wiff of disappointment. Legend tells that KFC in South Korea does a burger with both chicken and beef, perhaps that is the true proof of the divine.
This was a very interesting and thought provoking talk. Much more fascinating then anything you’ll hear at a church on Sunday morning. Science and the pursuit of knowledge is really the only thing that makes humans special compared to all our animal cousins (art and music too but I include them in the pursuit of knowledge).
Everyone should watch the full lecture. The link is in the description.
The lecture is fascinating, but keep in mind that evolutionary psychology is a bit light on evidence. Do not use this lecture as supporting evidence for claims except to counter "Any alternate explanation is impossible, therefore..." arguments from theists (they seem to love those).
Atheist prefer arguments like "we dont know yet"
great talk. thanks
That fear of lost attachment is warranted. The losses do happen, and all because you are honest.
Wow - this is perfection. BRAVO!!!! Bravo, J. Anderson Thomson!
An alternate definition for "Decoupled Cognition":
Realizing you're better off being single.
The only conversation i was thinking of involved the phrase "do you want to upsize that?"
In other words, religion is to adults what imaginary friends are to children.
We on the progressive, secular left should do a better job of meeting some of the natural human needs for attachment and fellowship. Creating non-supernatural community institutions that respond to these needs would make transition to a rational, science based world view much easier for many. I think lots of non-religious folks, especially as they enter their senior years, just give in to pull of religion because it sucks to be alone and lonely, and churches are literally everywhere.
>Progressive left
>rational science based world view
Mfw
That was the most succinct, quick, terse explanation of why Big Macs are so desirable that I could've ever possibly imagined.
@Zenon - I have to go to bed it is late. But I will be back tomorrow to finish our discussion. Good nite Twinkle toes.
I tip my fedora to you Richard Dawkins, in this moment I am truly euphoric
Stop with atheist fedora bullshit. Fedoras got nothing to do with atheism.
Andy Thomson is a brilliant mind!
You understand human behaviour perfectly. 🙏
That bit about the bone growth in one of our ancestors just amazed me. To think there were species that complex that long ago is kinda shocking
1:01 - 1:08 lol wow thanks for the eplaination. i wasnt sure what decouple cognition meant.
Dude i need to get a big mac now thanks.
ugh this is beautiful
I do not think that we were "designed."
yes that is the truth, but most people cannot understand this truth, if you believe in religion you believe a god created you whatever that means, if you believe in the science religion you believe the natural evolutionary desire life force created you, the truth is far simpler than that, we are simply here, there is nothing more you can say becuase to say anything but I am is simply nonreality this is the highest teachings of all religions, the highest goal in science too ~ complete realization of the nature of all things
I like my "KISS analogy." Why do people say KISS, or Iron Maiden "Rule"? Because they've never seen anything better. Same thing with religion; they've never seen better writing, or better philosophy anyways. I mean there's scientists and mathematicians who think there's nothing wrong with religion and god.
The Narrator's voice near the end of the video reminds me of Scully from Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
I have found faith to be more difficult to learn. I do need some faith though. This world and the future is too scary without faith or hope.
I like that use of the word disruptive in the Karl Gilberson quote; Eric Drexler started this whole disruptive buzzword thing, and now it's everywhere in the scientific community.
Attachment is why there are so many closet atheists such as myself. I still want to be able to communicate with my religious family even though they have separate beliefs which makes them seem like a world apart. I don't like harmful beliefs like religion but still like the people who hold those beliefs.
Interesting...
This video strengthened my belief in a creator. The idea that we are brought to this world with a default setting, that make us susceptible to believing in what exists outside our bodies, leads me to the question of who did this default setting that evidently has the ability to evolve.
Islam says that we’re all born believers.
Evolution did it
Cool story, buddy. We didn't expect anyting more from a moron
I can't wait to see how the ignorant ones will misrepresent this comparison in order to prop up their primitive superstitions. _Anything_ is better than "I'll pray for you". At this point I'll gladly take "lol atheists think religion comes from hamburgers" over it any day.
@MichaelKingsfordGray Ramen brother. All the toppings be upon yours.
What's so offensive about someone hoping the best for you before bed?
@Numbzie It's not a question of 'offensive', moron. If you don't understand what people are talking about, either try to find out or fuck off back to whatever bridge you live under,.
Note well how a lot of people want to simply stay anonymous on the internet. Just because they don't put their real identity out doesn't mean it invalidates their opinion. Maybe you should think about how you see other people and maybe not try to insult people.
My personal take on the "I'll pray for you"- (I don't want to post a seperate comment) - is that simply for religious people, it means a lot to them. It's like hoping for someone to have luck. It's the best wishes they can give someone. I myself am not religious, although I like to chat with religious people respectfully. I usually thank for someone who says that to me, it has a very strong meaning. Everyone can see that differently but just because you don't belong to said religion doesn't mean it invalidates the actual meaning if the saying.
What a bitter thread
Lol I had a couple Big Macs and a Coke last night, and I’m doing just fine with my mind body and soul.
Oh man, I’ve been saying this for years!
I haven't bought MacDonalds since 2009 (I was in high-school at the time, there was a Macdonalds nearby and it just wasn't good enough to be a norm treat). I've had pretty much all it's equivalents, hungry jacks, nandos, kfc, chip shops and so on. However I went on keto and now there is no difference between the brands. So I have to make pretty much all my own food now as 90-95% of everything you buy basically all of fast food relies on carbs. It means I'm using a lot more spices and eating dairy, some vegetables, dairy and more meat than I previously ate. I made a nice low carb butter korma for dinner from scratch with cauliflower rice. It was delicious but I miss fast food/frozen food/pre-packaged food/potato/fruit.
They should do a study of people who believe in a theistic God and how they are towards their parents. I wonder if more atheists are better at understanding that a belief is logically not sound and there is no evidence of it because they have a lesser bond of dependency on their parents or family.
Places like South America, Africa, and Middle east are the heavier religious places in the world and they all have the same very strong family ties. More atheistic countries have a more individualistic approach towards life.
Can I order a Big Mass with a Lodge order of Friars and a Medium Cloak?
I agree with almost everything Dawkins and similar ''new atheists'' say, their critic of religion is based on facts and rationality. But this doesn't mean that there is no God, just that our organized religions are bad or very bad ways of organising our private experience, our sense of meaning & spirituality and our society. Religion is a primitive aspect of humanity that's been long overdue for a replacement.
rares mircea That's quite true. This says nothing about the existence of god only the human psychology that might lead people to think there is one. Still, widespread belief is often offered as proof of god's existence and this explains that.
If there is a god he can save everyone a lot of time by just showing himself like he supposedly did in the past. There was no requirement back then for people to guess the right god so not providing proof can't be vital to the plan.
There is plenty criticized about the god hypothesis, you've just not exposed yourself to any of it.
@@ActionGamerAaron I don't see myself as religious, i don't pray and there's absolutely no ritual to my life, but i'm pretty convinced that there's no way for a human to establish the existence or non-existence of divinity. For any particular god though, like that of christianity or islam, for which we have some defined characteristics, we can indeed see incoherences.
J. Andersen appears to have been reading the same books as me...
i really wish this had something to do with the title
It does if you listen carefully, though the connection could be made more obvious. The Big Mac meal is a hijack of ancient built in survival systems - our strong desire to seeking out of sweet, fat, salt etc. Religion is a hijacking of other ancient instinctive survival systems - our hyper-detection of agency etc
@@imemine7 thank you for being succinct. I thought that's what it was.. And that's not as exciting as the title made it sound. Kinda strong click bait game. I'll have to rewatch with that in mind to see if I can connect with his examples. I have read books on religiosity so I'm very interested honestly
It's a good speech and presentation, but I wish that the person who uploaded this video had thought of a better title that wasn't so click-baity.
You are a religitard fool.
Flying Dog: To whom is your comment directed?
This delineates all the natural laws that makes it easy to believe in the non-existent natural-law-maker.
Welcome to Earth;
home of the minimally intuitive.
I made the misteak (stet) of eating McD's yesterday. The Taco Bell was already closed... at least it has a bit of spice and some veggies and a bow to guacamole. :)
It was NASTY!!
Figures tRump to like the shit.
Can't bear big macs, but man oh man I love the noble discipline of religion - what a treasurehouse. Beliefs have very little to do with religion for me, or for almost all of my religious contacts around the world.
The point of this presentation is how it’s very easy to see how more advanced primates (maybe even previous to humans) make these assumptions to arrive at the supernatural. We have no clue as to who or what tribe or group of primate invented or thought of the first supernatural thing or idea. Could go back millions of years. So did men (or some close ancestor) create gods and supernatural thought? Seems slightly more probable than the other way around😇. With intelligence comes creativity and some of the creative thoughts are silly ones... for reference, how many made up fictional books or stories exist? Too many to count. To have vast knowledge of human psychology and to think religion or god(s) are divine is just plain silly. And that’s where some very smart psychologists make the wrong turn. They WANT to believe in an afterlife more than having rational thoughts. It’s very hard to change what someone has concluded and therefore believes even if it were irrational. EG: Jordan Peterson 😂 He’s my favorite example because he’s very smart to the point of convincing himself that his thoughts have some superiority than 99% of other intelligent peoples. Everyone thinks they’re right about their conclusions otherwise they’d be different...but god I love so much of what JP says and stands for so without a doubt I’m sure we’d be great friends..
Given that the speaker talks about Big Macs for three seconds at the start before running off on a tangent and never returning, this video could probably do with a better title.
Fries soaked in meat juice? They're cooked in vegetable/canola/peanut oil.
this explanation ommits the hierarchical structure of religion: there's a group that claims to speak for a higher power, and then there's all the rest. the group in the middle are the preisthood. the higher power supposedly accounts for the unexplained: where did the universe begin, what's there after death, etc. the preisthood is there to regulate society according to the principles that the higher power operates on, including the group called scientists, which now has the most advanced understanding of the universe. humanity linguistically refers to "science" almost as a living entity rather than as a human endeavor. sadly we are not yet free of the need for religions.
Full lecture here :) -
ruclips.net/video/9T2umUoY00A/видео.html&list=PL152786663C7FD82F
Well in my case being Italian-American and losing my mother at a young age means the attachment thing - I don't care about it. Plus I'm an atheist and that caused relatively little consternation in my family.
I would like to mention that some theists claim prayer is for relationship purposes and not just asking.
That actually makes prayer an even more delusional concept.
I think of God as a corridor of power that describes the behaviour of a succession of kings for the purposes of emulation by individuals as far down the power hierarchy as can be accomplished given the time and place.
Darwin's accomplishment is God-tier, but being only human, must not his parents be little better than animals?
Sounds like the sort of thing the church already knew, but hid to protect the peasants from being marginalized as subhuman.
Overall, great investigation & research. It is fully possible that God is the creation of a four year old. Great work!
this looks a lot like memetics, yet i was expecting a lot of economy, since you mentioned the big mac.
idk how to respond to this... ok?
The connection to the title is weak, but I think he's pointing out that just as there are some inherent physical desires? cravings? (sugar, fat, salt), there are psychological ones too. Those are fed by a different type of McDonalds: religion. And both are equally pernicious.
The existence of the intro is a condemnation of the Title. That’s fine. Not cool. It’s just fine.
When he says by now someone has imagined a conversation with someone else about this, I hadn't it. He then says you could conduct a conversation with another person, I tried, and couldn't without losing attention. What about other people here? Was he right, was he wrong? I'm curious.
anony mous oh it can fade in and out. it doesn't have to be a complete conversation, just scraps. When I am dealing with a problem I find myself imagining explaining it to my other half. Putting it into words like that as though explaining it to someone helps me sort it out in my mind.
The belief of mind existence without body goes far beyond children. Modern atheist culture is the only culture in the entire human history, which actually trys to grow out of this basic trait of the human mind. So far this task seems to be extremely difficult or even impossible to achieve.
Charles Darwin learned of Reverend Robert Taylor's works on sungods. He saw him get jailed for a period, and like Frederick Gauss, he generally chose to not engage believers.
from the Robert Taylor's wiki, "Reverend Robert Taylor (18 August 1784 - September 1844), was an early 19th-century Radical, a clergyman turned freethinker. His "Infidel home missionary tour" was an incident in Charles Darwin's education, leaving Darwin with a memory of "the Devil's Chaplain" as a warning of the dangers of dissent from Church of England doctrine."
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Taylor_(Radical)
Churches coax people in with free food Macdonald's coax people in with fried food.
Damn you are dumb.
Why is that need for something outside of the body, the default setting of our mind. Do you think our evolutionary apelike ancestors felt that way. Something changed in the evolutionary timeline to make us think that way. And Why. I'm atheist, so not trolling. Just a question.
Dr Gerald Schroeder PhD MIT physicist of Manhattan project has an explanation.
Judaism has a very different view on creation.
The human brain will invent an invisible playmate, parent, friend, or authority
if the need arises.
The story of God or Jesus is the invisible playmate, parent, friend and moral authority that fulfills the need
and will not go away until that need is no longer there.
Does burger king work too ?
Jebus would've loved a big Mac and fries.. 🍔🍟
What does this talk have to do with the authenticity of the Book of Mormon?
Mid-roll ads? No thanks!
Liked & subbed within watching the first minute
Published February 03, 2019
Last Update 9 hrs ago
Couple and teen arrested in death of boy, 7, after punishing him over Bible verses
Not easy to digest all that. Interesting though.
#govegan
It's the most enlightened path to walk.
Actually one should visit any religious place with tourism purpose as religions have nothing to do with the God as they project god as product and keep on fighting that their product is genuine and of superior quality and in the process of one upmanship millions of innocent Human being lost their only one God given live.this madness still goes on with full throttle. Xxm
This needs some funny coloured animation
That was fascinating!
It sounds kind of mean when you say it like that, but the psychological facts tell us: religious behaviour is childish.
If we will never mistake a burglar for a shadow, why do you think burglars evolved to wear black, and then latter switched to dark blue because they found that shadows are not often as dark as black?
..."Why do you think burglars evolved to wear black?"
you mean, chose, right?
A Double Quarter pounder and Cold Beers = (Me)Happy Atheist!!
Great speech and rhetorical presentation but click-baity title which is only relevant to the first few minutes of this video.
Can I get a side of fries with my large Atheism?
It's easy to have faith that God is out there somewhere.
It's not as easy to believe that there is no God anywhere.
It's even more difficult to know that we are God.
At first, I wasn't sure who's side this guy is on... He must be used to talking to a more advanced group.
'a conversation with PRESIDENT Obama'... sigh... I miss Obama... (or for that matter, I miss just having a president that spoke English...)
I watched this because I am pretty hungry. Oh well, I will go get a big Mac.
I had a conversation with Obama during this video.
Big Macs in the Whyte hause
Greta video.
Seems a bit loose weave, there needs to be more to tie it all together. I mean yeah hyperactive agency and decoupled cognition totally go most of the way.
Now I feel the urge to take off my shoes and bow when I enter McDonalds and pray to the Big Mac with double cheese?
i know this must be true, because big macs are heaven!
I'd really like to hug this guy for at least 5 seconds, including back-rubs and "Thank you" whispers. :3 * purrs *
... What?
@@Superphilipp with his consent, of course …nothing homy-gaymy, i just like what he said, very much.
sounds grod
you sound gay, like soldier-76
Oof
I’m halfway through the video and I still have no idea what this guy is trying to say.
If you think using Reason, you'll eat a salad and get some exercise. If you think using emotion, you will eat the Big Mac meal and play video games on the couch.
As a child I was always scared of "Santa" (family friend or uncle in a santa suit), most likely because I didn't believe in Santa, and if you don't believe… then who the HECC is under that creepy mask!? - That is how I feel about gods as well. D: