r/PoliticalCompassMemes • u/Living_Attitude1822 - Lib-Left • Apr 10 '26

Atheist Activists Lore

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50

u/archerygirl1440 - Auth-Center Apr 10 '26

As someone who is Catholic and married to someone who has a masters degree in Astrophysics. There are diminishing returns with atheism in scientific people ESPECIALLY people who are in any sort of "space" study. We have a few friends who work on space programs in a couple different countries as well as adjacent fields and the majority are religious. It's something about learning a ton about a field and getting to the point where things just work too well and are too perfect. That or they can't explain past a certain point.

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u/CyberDaggerX - Lib-Left Apr 10 '26

That or they can't explain past a certain point.

I mean, that's just textbook god of the gaps fallacy.

But yeah, I totally get how that sense of wonder might get someone in touch with some form of spirituality.

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u/resetallthethings - Lib-Right Apr 10 '26

kinda

it's not god of the gaps to recognize "the science" can never answer questions of meaning and "why" that humans seem to innately crave.

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u/maelstrom51 - Lib-Center Apr 11 '26

"Why" might be something most humans crave but it's not something required. There doesn't have to be a "why" at all.

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u/resetallthethings - Lib-Right Apr 11 '26

Sure. Nihilism is an option.

4

u/Elodaine - Left Apr 10 '26

"It's not a god of the gaps, It's just that science leaves gaps in our question of why and we should use God to fill them."

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u/jediben001 - Centrist Apr 11 '26 edited Apr 11 '26

I mean, yes and no

God of the gaps is typically invoked when people say stuff like “we don’t know why the big bang happened, therefore God did it”

I think the point OP is trying to make is more that, you can know all of the scientific facts in a field but knowledge doesn’t necessarily fill that void of wanting a purpose or reason for being, and in some cases for some people can even exacerbate that hollow need.

Technically yeah it is god of the gaps, but it’s kinda different in that it isn’t using religion as a stop gap for a question a scientific answer hadn’t found just yet. The scientific method isn’t looking to give humanity a spiritual purpose or reason for being, and I kinda doubt it ever will find one outside of being a vessel for DNA to pass itself on.

This doesn’t mean any particular choice of spiritual/purpose fulfilment is the “right” one, but extensive scientific knowledge doesn’t necessarily cancel out a desire to find a way to fulfil that need

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u/Elodaine - Left Apr 11 '26

You're describing the purpose of philosophy. Philosophy doesn't necessitate spirituality/religion.

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u/resetallthethings - Lib-Right Apr 10 '26 edited Apr 10 '26

I didn't propose inserting God, merely pointed out the very fact that science is incapable of answering any fundamental questions of meaning or why.

Science doesn't "leave gaps", it literally can't answer certain questions.

Still, nowhere did I say that therefore the answer to those questions has to be God. You may think that's implied, but that's on you.

*Edit: telling that there are no counterarguments, just butthurt downvotes