"The freedom and the joy of realizing there's not somebody watching every little thing you do, and taking notes, and trying to figure out wither or not you're a bad person, that you, simply by being honest, and thoughtful, and sincere, and compassionate, are a good person. And it doesn't matter that somebody else is keeping score." -Matt Dillahunty Well said Matt, well said.
Where the hell do they get this music from? I always fall in love with "score" music from movies,shows, video games etc. Idk what it is about that type of music.
how in the WORLD does someone dislike this video? Dead on accurate response to a question such as "how can an atheist have morals?" Cant wait for part 3!!!
This freedom and what can be phrased happiness is definitely something I've experienced through the hard journey to Atheism. I have seen the world in a new light, and it's much better as its based on truth alone. I feel like I'm finally getting to know the real world I live in, and there is something powerful in knowing that I am stardust. Knowing that we are all connected to the same supernova.
I must admit the saddest part of accepting reality at first is the reality of how short this one life is and nothing comes after it. But eventually you come to the realization that that makes this one life matter all the more and you should make the most of it!
It seems to me that "religious happiness" is often based on thinking along the lines of, "Ignorance is bliss" or "I can let God handle my problems." "Atheistic happiness," in my experience, is more a byproduct of accepting reality as it presents itself to us and acknowledging our own agency and capacity to make the world a better place.
Nice vid. I've never been a theist but the happiness I feel as an atheist is a kind of clarity I think. I deal with reality on reality's terms. Sometimes that is daunting, but at least if I have a problem I know how to go about solving it.
My experience supports Matt's thoughts reasonably well. I suspect I'm happier because I'm older and wiser, more certain of myself, and atheism came along with that because it was part of the process of growing up.
Man, I got to share some Martinis with him a few months ago and I attend ACA events regularly. He's a fantastic human being, and so are his AE colleagues.
I guess the difference between religiosity and irreligiosity is in the willingness to conform to a standard at the expense of your own views versus presenting your own views at the expense of harmony.
@bekhele Happiness is indeed subjective. And to him his happiness is higher and better as compared tot he 30 years he spent as a Christian. He is completely justified saying that. As for what he did* say about the happiness of others, he said at the beginning that his explanation was not only from conversations and experience with others and their happiness, but also explicitly explained to the differences he and they felt between the versions.
I like this Matt guy. When he started talking about someone "watching you to determine if you're a good person," my first thought was, "You mean Santa's not real?" XD
@MrAdvancedAtheist I only saw akylae101's last comment and this one, but I do want to point out that "euqality" and "ease" are not even close to being synonymous. I hope I haven't misunderstood your discussion...
I notice that his version of happiness sounds a lot like what I hear theists say all the time -- granted, Dillahunty explains this much better than any theist I've met, but it still sounds like it could be a very similar experience. Feelings of freedom, connectivity, personal responsibility and self-meaning resonate strongly through both perspectives, even though they are so often contradictory to each other.
Exactly how I feel, i have to answer to myself, not some god or another I have to second guess. I am happy because of the meaning that gives to my life. So well put, great vid.
causality: everything has consequences, and so do actions, which arise because of causal natural, psychological and social laws. Values and virtues can be derived from causal principles (physical and mental needs).Causality is universal. All are subject to causality, and causality is observed objectively.Contextuality expresses the fact that an action does not exist in a vacuum. When we examine an action, we cannot ignore that the action takes place in a given context.The context informs the
@ianfergusonian You say we no longer believe in demon possession, but at my old religion everyone still believes it. My teacher regularly told me stories of her encounters with demon possession. I heard a speaker once say "There's still demon possession today, we just call it epilepsy now. We don't call it what it is." That really helped me become an atheist to see that people of my religion actually thought that.
@MrDarkPadawan I suspect that the small number of dislikes are actually often errors. Given that the person may never come back to tell us, it's not clear how to test that.
@CompletelyLovely By not being a drone to ideas, to be a skeptic and to be the person YOU choose to be, rather than the puppet of someone else' imagination.... Therefore YOU are AWESOME
I'm a Christian, and I'm not a fan of Matt, however, it's nice to see him just talk straight, and not have his usual smug grin on while he goes toe to toe with some of the not so bright callers to his show. Having said that, for a guy that claims to have been in school to become a minister, he clearly completely misrepresents Christianity. God isn't keeping score to see if you are good or not. No amount of good deeds can merit salvation on the Christian world view.
I'm confused by Matt's statement here about being a good person. If atheism is true, what is the standard we use to determine what is a good person, and why does it matter? More precisely, is the standard something we collectively invent or is it objective? Also, what determines why or if it matters? (since Matt says it doesn't matter that there's "no one keeping score").
I think having difficulties in life is more understandable as an atheist. As a christian, a person must constantly feel let down, I know I did as a child. Atheism freed me in a very real sense, I grew up and took responsibility for my own life. Shit happens to everyone, we have to deal with it. I got tired of "god knows best", "you are suffering for a reason", etc., etc., Bullshit. I AM happier because I can control my own life.
You're misunderstanding the argument. As someone who believes in objective morality grounded in God, I am perfectly comfortable saying that all those things you mentioned above are wrong today, and they were wrong then. It didn't matter if the bulk of people thought they were right, they were wrong. Now, the discovering of moral principles can be an ongoing process, but morality itself in unchanging on a Christian world view.
Have a bit of a hard time following Dillahunty's logic in this video. I get the part about our actions affecting others, but what does he mean by 'we will be held responsible for our actions?' By whom? At what time?
Objective morality has nothing to do with what I hold to be immoral or not. It's worth noting that neither of the above moral challenges are incumbent on Christians to observe, but even it they were, it does nothing to illustrate your point. I also do not worship a book. In fact, for someone who has actually read the book with an interest in understanding it, they'll find these objections easy to deal with from within a Christian or Jewish world view.
@porterwake It's quite possible that what he says here isn't shared with ANY other atheist, you know. He's telling his own story, his own opinion. Seeing atheists don't have a doctrine or anything else that can be seen to absolutely define 'an atheist', it's more then just logical that viewpoints between 'them' (me included) differ. Tbh, I don't agree with him on all points either. I do appreciate his opinion tho
The hardest part, for me, is no longer having the community of people around. There's a church on every corner. Hell, if you go down most county roads, you'll find a church. Not so much for the non-believer/atheist. We are few and far between. At least, here in central Missouri, we are. We had all these friends, and now they're gone. I guess I'm a threat or something. I dunno.
Well said Matt. I know you have clarified on your show that atheist are not simply hedonistic people who want to be free to 'sin' without fear of retribution, but for some reason, religious people just don't want to believe this. It's like they see people jumping off the boat, swimming to the nearby shores of reason, leaving them to do the rowing. They are really pissed about that. LOL.
@AndreaZ64 LOL i use to feel the same way too. But Matt once gave an analogy: "I was raised by my parents who promised me that they have deposited a billion dollars in my bank account. When I grew up I realized that the bank account did not exist. I felt angry and betrayed. But then, I realized the billion dollars didn't exist in the first place! So why was I upset at something non existant? I didn't lose anything to begin with." (paraphrased, of course)
My question for Matt is (and I don't mean offense by this), knowing now that this is your one and only life, wouldn't it be logical to stay at a healthy weight? I say that because he's been overweight for the entire duration of Atheist Experience and has type 2 diabetes.. you only have 70-90 years Max on this earth, so shouldn't wellness be a top priority for atheists? Christians don't have a reason to care beyond vanity, since they're convinced life is just a stepping stone to something better.
You need to consider the things which are consistent and the things which are inconsistent with science, then backup all of them and see how many you get either way.
I'm trying to get at what your view is, and when I said I find no grounding in atheism for objective morality, yet that objective morality clearly exists, you said you agreed that objective morality exists. You're saying that slavery is never right, which is an objective statement on the nature of morality. However, what is the basis for that statement? The only basis you keep sighting is an appeal to human flourishing, but that is not objective, as what makes humans flourish is in flux.
I figured as much, but it's obvious his position is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the atheistic position. Once upon a time, mine was also. Everyone is always worth a try.
@KEPoles I wasn't insulting him..and what I said is not bullshit nor is it bragging, weight loss is easy and permanent if you get even a moderate grasp on nutrition and incorporate exercise into your life. As I said before I meant no offense by it, but as a fan i'm concerned for his well being. There's so few well-known atheists, it would be nice if the few voices we have took better care of themselves. Do I even need to point to what happened to Hitchens?
Thank you very very much, sir. That was very well put. You could not have said it any better. Priceless ~
I've been listening to Matt for many years now and this is one of the most profound things I've ever herd from him.
"The freedom and the joy of realizing there's not somebody watching every little thing you do, and taking notes, and trying to figure out wither or not you're a bad person, that you, simply by being honest, and thoughtful, and sincere, and compassionate, are a good person. And it doesn't matter that somebody else is keeping score." -Matt Dillahunty
Well said Matt, well said.
These are great interviews, just wish they weren't so short. Fascinating to hear their stories.
I'm really enjoying these parts of the interview with Matt Dillahunty....these kinds of videos are the ones I hope for when I log into youtube.
Where the hell do they get this music from? I always fall in love with "score" music from movies,shows, video games etc. Idk what it is about that type of music.
Amen and Amen! Being honest with myself has given me a childlike awe of the world.
Way to go Matt! Thanks so much for the upload and work on this, Seth!
This is so true I am in tears at how beautiful he puts it.
Thanks for putting these together. It must take alot of work!
Matt never fails to inspire me.
I would love as many videos with him as possible.
I could not have said it better. Matt Dillahunty, you're a blessing on this world.
I LOVE THESE KEEP POSTING MORE LIKE THIS
how in the WORLD does someone dislike this video? Dead on accurate response to a question such as "how can an atheist have morals?" Cant wait for part 3!!!
thank you for sharing this Matt
This freedom and what can be phrased happiness is definitely something I've experienced through the hard journey to Atheism. I have seen the world in a new light, and it's much better as its based on truth alone. I feel like I'm finally getting to know the real world I live in, and there is something powerful in knowing that I am stardust. Knowing that we are all connected to the same supernova.
Very well shot, like the style....really nice work!
These videos are really well made :0 Love all your stuff!
I love this man, he instantly got my respect when i heard him debate. Great person.
Great stuff, keep 'em coming.
This ia amazing. Truly what it feels like. Thank you Matt.
Matt Dillahunty: 100% right again. He sums it up poetically, which is why he's such an inspiration.
The only thing in life that's better than being free, is being a free thinker ~
wow. Great piece. Loved it.
I must admit the saddest part of accepting reality at first is the reality of how short this one life is and nothing comes after it. But eventually you come to the realization that that makes this one life matter all the more and you should make the most of it!
Who oculd downvote this, one of the most honest vids i've seen.
It seems to me that "religious happiness" is often based on thinking along the lines of, "Ignorance is bliss" or "I can let God handle my problems." "Atheistic happiness," in my experience, is more a byproduct of accepting reality as it presents itself to us and acknowledging our own agency and capacity to make the world a better place.
awesome interview
Excellent vid.
So nice I watched it twice.
What's the music in the background? :)
Also I enjoyed the video as usual:D
Why is rating comments disabled? There are so many awesome comments here that I totally agree with!
BTW nice and inspiring vid, keep 'em coming.
Matt Dillahunty and the rest of the Atheist community have all saved my life. Just want to say thanks. :)
Nice vid. I've never been a theist but the happiness I feel as an atheist is a kind of clarity I think. I deal with reality on reality's terms. Sometimes that is daunting, but at least if I have a problem I know how to go about solving it.
I wish people would stop arguing on a board and just enjoy the beauty of this piece.
I love this man.
This was very uplifting
My experience supports Matt's thoughts reasonably well. I suspect I'm happier because I'm older and wiser, more certain of myself, and atheism came along with that because it was part of the process of growing up.
"Im Matt Dillahunty, and I approve this message"
BEST.
VIDEO.
EVER.
Beautiful.
Man, I got to share some Martinis with him a few months ago and I attend ACA events regularly. He's a fantastic human being, and so are his AE colleagues.
MOAR!
I guess the difference between religiosity and irreligiosity is in the willingness to conform to a standard at the expense of your own views versus presenting your own views at the expense of harmony.
Brilliant, thank you :)
@bekhele
Happiness is indeed subjective. And to him his happiness is higher and better as compared tot he 30 years he spent as a Christian. He is completely justified saying that.
As for what he did* say about the happiness of others, he said at the beginning that his explanation was not only from conversations and experience with others and their happiness, but also explicitly explained to the differences he and they felt between the versions.
He's a great ambassador for reality.
I like this Matt guy. When he started talking about someone "watching you to determine if you're a good person," my first thought was, "You mean Santa's not real?" XD
Each time he speaks he keeps climbing to the post of my favourite atheist.
im really impressed to this guy!
Great video from Matt. Quick question tho, does anybody know the piano tune that accompanies this video :), i would love to have it
AWESOME!!
i like matt. honest and no bs
@MrAdvancedAtheist I only saw akylae101's last comment and this one, but I do want to point out that "euqality" and "ease" are not even close to being synonymous. I hope I haven't misunderstood your discussion...
I notice that his version of happiness sounds a lot like what I hear theists say all the time -- granted, Dillahunty explains this much better than any theist I've met, but it still sounds like it could be a very similar experience. Feelings of freedom, connectivity, personal responsibility and self-meaning resonate strongly through both perspectives, even though they are so often contradictory to each other.
Exactly how I feel, i have to answer to myself, not some god or another I have to second guess. I am happy because of the meaning that gives to my life. So well put, great vid.
causality: everything has consequences, and so do actions, which arise because of causal natural, psychological and social laws. Values and virtues can be derived from causal principles (physical and mental needs).Causality is universal. All are subject to causality, and causality is observed objectively.Contextuality expresses the fact that an action does not exist in a vacuum. When we examine an action, we cannot ignore that the action takes place in a given context.The context informs the
@ianfergusonian You say we no longer believe in demon possession, but at my old religion everyone still believes it. My teacher regularly told me stories of her encounters with demon possession. I heard a speaker once say "There's still demon possession today, we just call it epilepsy now. We don't call it what it is." That really helped me become an atheist to see that people of my religion actually thought that.
Epic man.
Well said!
Matt Wins
Powerful.
:') Touching, Matt. Touching.
Happiness is what you make of it or make for your self
@MrDarkPadawan I suspect that the small number of dislikes are actually often errors. Given that the person may never come back to tell us, it's not clear how to test that.
In all fairness to the people who put a lot of hard work in to making Matt's show happen... damn, this looks so much better than his show.
@CompletelyLovely By not being a drone to ideas, to be a skeptic and to be the person YOU choose to be, rather than the puppet of someone else' imagination.... Therefore YOU are AWESOME
Matt needs a national TV show. NBC appears to have lotsa program space..:)
I hope we get the full interview as well, as in the case of AronRa?
Your comment got labelled as spam. How interesting. I find it to be a very valid point, myself.
Happiness is knowing I have the truth and dont need to be delusional about what God to choose
I'm a Christian, and I'm not a fan of Matt, however, it's nice to see him just talk straight, and not have his usual smug grin on while he goes toe to toe with some of the not so bright callers to his show. Having said that, for a guy that claims to have been in school to become a minister, he clearly completely misrepresents Christianity. God isn't keeping score to see if you are good or not. No amount of good deeds can merit salvation on the Christian world view.
Depends on the actions doesn't it? He's speaking generally.
I'm confused by Matt's statement here about being a good person. If atheism is true, what is the standard we use to determine what is a good person, and why does it matter? More precisely, is the standard something we collectively invent or is it objective? Also, what determines why or if it matters? (since Matt says it doesn't matter that there's "no one keeping score").
The search for knowledge is a harder path, a simple life is easier but not as rewarding.
I think having difficulties in life is more understandable as an atheist. As a christian, a person must constantly feel let down, I know I did as a child. Atheism freed me in a very real sense, I grew up and took responsibility for my own life. Shit happens to everyone, we have to deal with it. I got tired of "god knows best", "you are suffering for a reason", etc., etc., Bullshit. I AM happier because I can control my own life.
Thank you this made me feel not so bad about being an atheist. :)
Yes, and yes. I concurred.
Ironic isn't it, in that the Bible says, "The truth will set you free.", when it is the real truth that is truly freer.
You're misunderstanding the argument. As someone who believes in objective morality grounded in God, I am perfectly comfortable saying that all those things you mentioned above are wrong today, and they were wrong then. It didn't matter if the bulk of people thought they were right, they were wrong. Now, the discovering of moral principles can be an ongoing process, but morality itself in unchanging on a Christian world view.
Have a bit of a hard time following Dillahunty's logic in this video. I get the part about our actions affecting others, but what does he mean by 'we will be held responsible for our actions?' By whom? At what time?
Who did the music for these? It's very nice.
Once christianity went out of my life, my self esteem skyrocketed! I've been atheist for 30 years and I'm at peace with my rationality.
I sent a PM with my response. No need to clutter the video. I look forward to your counter argument.
Awesome awesome awesome!
Objective morality has nothing to do with what I hold to be immoral or not.
It's worth noting that neither of the above moral challenges are incumbent on Christians to observe, but even it they were, it does nothing to illustrate your point.
I also do not worship a book. In fact, for someone who has actually read the book with an interest in understanding it, they'll find these objections easy to deal with from within a Christian or Jewish world view.
@porterwake It's quite possible that what he says here isn't shared with ANY other atheist, you know. He's telling his own story, his own opinion. Seeing atheists don't have a doctrine or anything else that can be seen to absolutely define 'an atheist', it's more then just logical that viewpoints between 'them' (me included) differ.
Tbh, I don't agree with him on all points either. I do appreciate his opinion tho
The hardest part, for me, is no longer having the community of people around. There's a church on every corner. Hell, if you go down most county roads, you'll find a church. Not so much for the non-believer/atheist. We are few and far between. At least, here in central Missouri, we are. We had all these friends, and now they're gone. I guess I'm a threat or something. I dunno.
Well said Matt. I know you have clarified on your show that atheist are not simply hedonistic people who want to be free to 'sin' without fear of retribution, but for some reason, religious people just don't want to believe this.
It's like they see people jumping off the boat, swimming to the nearby shores of reason, leaving them to do the rowing. They are really pissed about that. LOL.
@AndreaZ64 LOL i use to feel the same way too.
But Matt once gave an analogy: "I was raised by my parents who promised me that they have deposited a billion dollars in my bank account. When I grew up I realized that the bank account did not exist. I felt angry and betrayed. But then, I realized the billion dollars didn't exist in the first place! So why was I upset at something non existant? I didn't lose anything to begin with." (paraphrased, of course)
My question for Matt is (and I don't mean offense by this), knowing now that this is your one and only life, wouldn't it be logical to stay at a healthy weight? I say that because he's been overweight for the entire duration of Atheist Experience and has type 2 diabetes.. you only have 70-90 years Max on this earth, so shouldn't wellness be a top priority for atheists? Christians don't have a reason to care beyond vanity, since they're convinced life is just a stepping stone to something better.
@miket1m Please start listing these 300 proofs- we are all dying to hear them!
19 dislikes, seriously? What reason is there to dislike this video?
You need to consider the things which are consistent and the things which are inconsistent with science, then backup all of them and see how many you get either way.
Bring on the debate little boy. I'm armed and ready.
I'm trying to get at what your view is, and when I said I find no grounding in atheism for objective morality, yet that objective morality clearly exists, you said you agreed that objective morality exists. You're saying that slavery is never right, which is an objective statement on the nature of morality. However, what is the basis for that statement? The only basis you keep sighting is an appeal to human flourishing, but that is not objective, as what makes humans flourish is in flux.
I figured as much, but it's obvious his position is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the atheistic position. Once upon a time, mine was also. Everyone is always worth a try.
@KEPoles I wasn't insulting him..and what I said is not bullshit nor is it bragging, weight loss is easy and permanent if you get even a moderate grasp on nutrition and incorporate exercise into your life. As I said before I meant no offense by it, but as a fan i'm concerned for his well being. There's so few well-known atheists, it would be nice if the few voices we have took better care of themselves. Do I even need to point to what happened to Hitchens?
It is when it's justified.
That was beautiful. And I think that's how a lot of atheists actually feel about their atheism.