A few relatively unusual things that come to mind:
People often make claims that even atheists have “God-shaped holes” that they need to fill. I have never felt this way, and I have no visceral understanding of what others mean when they say that they do feel such a thing. This also applies to related concepts, e.g. a search for “universal meaning,” a religion-inspiring feeling that “there must be something greater out there,” etc.
I’m somewhere in the middle of the introversion-extroversion scale. I enjoy socializing, but I still need time to myself in order to recharge mentally. Extroverts tend to see me as “one of them” at first, and then they become confused when I don’t always want to go out and party.
I never went through the (seemingly typical) stage in childhood where one has a general dislike of/aversion to the other gender. I was friends with both boys and girls, more or less equally, since preschool if not earlier. (I myself am a straight male, to contextualize this for those curious.)
There was an interesting survey several years ago on Cosmic Variance about our mental images of time. I’ll quote my response:
My main physical conceptions of time are in terms of years or weeks. Both involve spirals, although oriented differently.
For years, I think of them as a clockwise spiral going upwards, such that any two years make a complete circle when seen from “above.” For example, if I picture this year and then next year, it’s a circle where the bottom is January 2009, the left middle is Summer 2009, the top is Winter 2009-2010, the right middle is Summer 2010, etc. There’s definite seasonal imagery connected to this view. To try to demonstrate this, a diagram is -(:)-, where the -’s are summers and the .’s are winters. I often picture myself as being “on” a certain part of the spiral/circle, e.g. right now I’m coming up to the “top” of the 2009-2010 circle.
For weeks, I think of them as a spiral going to the right, so that if you look at it from the side, “days” are in the front and “nights” are in the back. I picture a week like this: |S|M|T|W|R|F|S| (often without the days labeled, but I put that there for clarity), where each day goes off to night and then loops around behind to connect to the next day in the morning.
I imagine any other timescale as just a long line going left to right.
There seems to be quite a range of mental images of time among people.
People often make claims that even atheists have “God-shaped holes” that they need to fill. I have never felt this way, and I have no visceral understanding of what others mean when they say that they do feel such a thing
From the other side of the spectrum: I pray to a god I know doesn’t exist, just because I feel a compulsion. Many atheists do not understand what the need to worship feels like. It’s not about being scared of life and wanting a sky-daddy to comfort you. It’s not about trying to outsource critical thinking. For some people, worshiping a god is just something you’ve got to do. Like taking a stretch after being cramped in an airplane.
Why: doing it feels good; not doing it feels bad. If I haven’t prayed for a while, either I get listless, nervous, and irritable, or I haven’t had the urge because I’m badly depressed.
What, from the outside: Being either alone or with other worshipers. Possibly using a focus (religious music, a picture, a rosary). Making a fixed set of gestures. Saying, whispering, or rattling off in my head prayers (usually a psalm, a mantra, or something outright silly like the alphabet). Sometimes, doing louder things like shouting, kneeling, jumping, dancing.
What, from the inside: As I pray, I start feeling relaxed (it feels deep, but actually doesn’t last). Then, if I’m lucky, I’ll start feeling a specific emotion—awe, reverence, loyalty, gratitude, things like that. I also sometimes feel it when looking at very beautiful things. I might also get strong feelings of joy, hence the shouting and dancing (psalm 117 is made of fun and party hats). Sometimes after praying for a long time I get visual illusions and auditory hallucinations, but that’s just me.
A few relatively unusual things that come to mind:
People often make claims that even atheists have “God-shaped holes” that they need to fill. I have never felt this way, and I have no visceral understanding of what others mean when they say that they do feel such a thing. This also applies to related concepts, e.g. a search for “universal meaning,” a religion-inspiring feeling that “there must be something greater out there,” etc.
I’m somewhere in the middle of the introversion-extroversion scale. I enjoy socializing, but I still need time to myself in order to recharge mentally. Extroverts tend to see me as “one of them” at first, and then they become confused when I don’t always want to go out and party.
I never went through the (seemingly typical) stage in childhood where one has a general dislike of/aversion to the other gender. I was friends with both boys and girls, more or less equally, since preschool if not earlier. (I myself am a straight male, to contextualize this for those curious.)
There was an interesting survey several years ago on Cosmic Variance about our mental images of time. I’ll quote my response:
There seems to be quite a range of mental images of time among people.
From the other side of the spectrum: I pray to a god I know doesn’t exist, just because I feel a compulsion. Many atheists do not understand what the need to worship feels like. It’s not about being scared of life and wanting a sky-daddy to comfort you. It’s not about trying to outsource critical thinking. For some people, worshiping a god is just something you’ve got to do. Like taking a stretch after being cramped in an airplane.
Were you raised in a religious family?
Data point: I do the same thing, and I wasn’t.
Can you elucidate why, and indeed what it is you’re actually doing when you pray/worship?
Why: doing it feels good; not doing it feels bad. If I haven’t prayed for a while, either I get listless, nervous, and irritable, or I haven’t had the urge because I’m badly depressed.
What, from the outside: Being either alone or with other worshipers. Possibly using a focus (religious music, a picture, a rosary). Making a fixed set of gestures. Saying, whispering, or rattling off in my head prayers (usually a psalm, a mantra, or something outright silly like the alphabet). Sometimes, doing louder things like shouting, kneeling, jumping, dancing.
What, from the inside: As I pray, I start feeling relaxed (it feels deep, but actually doesn’t last). Then, if I’m lucky, I’ll start feeling a specific emotion—awe, reverence, loyalty, gratitude, things like that. I also sometimes feel it when looking at very beautiful things. I might also get strong feelings of joy, hence the shouting and dancing (psalm 117 is made of fun and party hats). Sometimes after praying for a long time I get visual illusions and auditory hallucinations, but that’s just me.
I was. After reading Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids though, I suspect my god-shaped hole has more to do with genetics than how I was raised.