Paradox of atheism

Author: Fallaneze

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#1
Fallaneze
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If God doesn't exist, holding true beliefs over fictitious ones boils down to a completely subjective preference since neither "true beliefs" nor "fictitious beliefs" are intrinsically more important than the other.

If God doesn't exist, and you're a rational person, you should hold whatever beliefs achieve your goals. If your goal is to maximise your own wellbeing (which is a rational thing to do) then you should hold fictitious beliefs when they give you more well-being than true ones.

#2
secularmerlin
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@Fallaneze
Science has a better track record than any other method yet discovered by humans of discovering objective truth and improving human quality of life. If the goal is promoting human wellbeing or separating fact from fiction then a strict adherence to the scientific method is the only rational course of action.

#3
drafterman
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@Fallaneze
If God doesn't exist, holding true beliefs over fictitious ones boils down to a completely subjective preference since neither "true beliefs" nor "fictitious beliefs" are intrinsically more important than the other.
Beliefs are not entirely chosen based upon conscious choice. You make it seem as if we go to the belief store and stroll down the aisle, picking and choosing. I'd say a vast majority of our beliefs are determined through subconscious naturalistic processes, rather than any sort of conscious weigh algorithm implied here.

If God doesn't exist, and you're a rational person, you should hold whatever beliefs achieve your goals. If your goal is to maximise your own wellbeing (which is a rational thing to do) then you should hold fictitious beliefs when they give you more well-being than true ones.
You haven't established that maximizing my own wellbeing is a rational thing to do. But the rest certainly holds.

However, I was promised a paradox and you didn't deliver. Were you lying or do you just not know what paradoxes are?
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#4
Fallaneze
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@drafterman
I don't know about that. We act on our instincts but instincts don't count as subconscious beliefs. Our instincts may lay the ground work for us to begin a chain of thought from, but a belief is something that you accept to be true. It's a mental process, not a subconscious process. 

It seems true that maximizing your own wellbeing is a rational thing to do. Why wouldn't it be? 

The paradox is that an atheist can be more rational for holding a fictitious belief in God as long as it achieves their desires better than atheism does. 






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@Fallaneze
How have you determined that beliefs are not formed subconciously?
#6
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@Fallaneze
I don't know about that. We act on our instincts but instincts don't count as subconscious beliefs. Our instincts may lay the ground work for us to begin a chain of thought from, but a belief is something that you accept to be true. It's a mental process, not a subconscious process. 
It most certainly is. While you can articulate them consciously, and even be consciously aware of some of them forming, almost all of them are formed subconsciously. 

It seems true that maximizing your own wellbeing is a rational thing to do. Why wouldn't it be? 
So you've gambled on the chance that something that is self-evident to you is also self-evident to your reader. Sorry, you lost. If you want me to accept this premise, you'll have to justify it.

The paradox is that an atheist can be more rational for holding a fictitious belief in God as long as it achieves their desires better than atheism does. 
That's not a paradox. That's an atheist converting to theism. You entitled this thread "the paradox of atheism" which implies some sort of logical contradiction inherent in an atheistic worldview. You've failed to demonstrate one.
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#7
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You are free to believe that maximizing your wellbeing isn't a rational thing to do. 

A paradox just needs to be seemingly absurd.

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@Fallaneze
It’s only absurd if maximizing your wellbeing requires a belief in god. Does it?