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Is everyone so depressed now partially because modern science has probably proven there is no god / afterlife?

By that I mean, it must be an inherently comforting thing to think - we inherently know this and want there to be something after death, because it feels right, or more meaningful. There’s a reason basically every civilization ever has some sort of afterlife ethos.

I realize I am basically horseshoeing my way into evangelicalism but still. Maybe life was better if we believed there was something beyond this. [edit - please note that yes, the world is shitty, things are awful and getting worse, and that is exactly my point – we get THIS SHIT, and nothing else? god that’s awful]

masquenox ,

There is no scientific “proof” that gods exist or doesn’t exist. If you think that’s what the scientific method is all about, your understanding of science is unscientific.

palarith ,

I am depressed because we are living in an ecological disaster wrapped in social disorder with a side dish of war.

leftzero ,

No, we’re depressed because of rampant enshittification.

Because the rights our parents and grandparents fought for are being eroded at an accelerating rate in the name of short term profits, religion, and other forms of irrationality.

Because we’ve fucked up the world to the point of it being too damn hot to survive in and we’re not only not doing anything to fix it, but we’re doing everything possible to make it worse.

Because we can no longer have any rational hope for a better future and can only irrationally hope for an ever more unlikely revolution to fix it, and even that probably wouldn’t make it any better in our lifetimes, or even our children’s lifetimes.

Because we can see civilisation collapsing around us, and we know that this time there’s probably no coming back, since we’ve squandered any and all resources a future civilization would require to reach the heights we’ve reached.

Because we murdered the future, and now we, and our children, and our children’s children, have to try and survive in its rotting corpse.

That’s why we’re depressed.

the_toast_is_gone ,

Really? Science disproved God? News to me, could you tell me more?

prole ,

Didn’t disprove, just made clear that the odds are inconceivably low.

dependencyinjection ,

I’m not religious, but I want to add that the chance of us existing right now are inconceivably low so that’s not really an argument against God.

prole ,

You don’t understand statistics. It’s the opposite. The odds of life not existing in a universe this incomprehensibly large are infinitesimally small.

It would be far more notable if 4+billion years of this shit and none of the literally countless planets (in our galaxy alone.) capable of hosting life contained life.

superkret ,

No, science simply doesn’t (and can’t) provide any answers or odds for or against god.
God by definition isn’t subject to the laws of nature, and all science does is observe nature and come up with theories that fit the observation.

prole ,

It’s statistics, not science.

But it’s pretty clear you have a tenuous grasp on both, at best.

superkret ,

OK, what numbers go into those statistics? How do you calculate the odds of god existing? Should be precise, since it’s math.

ieatpwns ,

After I die, I’m dead. who gives a fuck there’s no after life? I certainly won’t I’ll be dead.

LordCrom ,

An afterlife was created by humans natural survival instinct. Before science, I’m 100% sure that it was a coping mechanism to deal with our knowledge of impending death.

Now that we understand more of the universe, most still can’t shake that need.

Rhynoplaz ,

All of the depression I have, has been caused by the people who believe in all that.

Duamerthrax ,

Science hasn’t proven any of that, nor is it interested in it. Those are untestable claims made by religious institutions.

As for why I’M depressed, it’s because all forms of agency that I consider important have been stripped of me. I’m trying to claw my way back, but the system is setup against it.

disposable ,

…all forms of agency that I consider important have been stripped of me.

This.

spittingimage ,
@spittingimage@lemmy.world avatar

Science is a tool for answering questions about the physical world. By definition, it can’t provide complete answers about things outside the physical realm.

andrewta ,

Sorry but nothing has been proven whether or not God or any diety exists . There is so much about this universe that is way beyond our understanding.

HobbitFoot ,

Not really.

There are tons of religious people who are depressed. I just see that, compared to today, there was a giant social stigma to being mentally unwell. People chose to hide being depressed.

I also see a lot of non-neurotypical behaviors being explained away as “being weird”.

bear ,

No. It’s because of lifestyle choices affecting diet, exercise, and sleep. But it does help to believe in something and feel a strong sense of purpose and meaning in life.

DrQuickbeam , (edited )

Short answer: Yes! Partially!

Long answer: Belief is a feature that humans have that can give you confidence both in proven outcomes and in the unknown. It stems from our prefrontal cortex survival capabilities to remember past experiences and simulate future experiences. Aka imagination. We can believe in anything we choose to.

Yes belief is psychologically comforting. Certainly a lot more than worrying about the unknown. It’s even more comforting if the belief is shared by a social group, reinforcing it to each other.

Other aspects of religion make life easier too. Rituals, traditions, stories and social ties.

Those things can help with depression! Depression is a cognitive-affective response to a body that isn’t living the way our bodies were evolved to live. Key factors of that include: Daily socialization, getting the right nutrients, sleeping well, getting enough exercise, getting enough sunlight and having strategies to keep our minds from worrying. Belief can do the last one, as can meditation, or triggering flow states by engaging in activities. Religion can also help with the socializing one.

Hope this helps!

mycodesucks , (edited )
@mycodesucks@lemmy.world avatar

I was raised Catholic, but as time went on and I left it, I think one of the misconceptions people who are still deeply religious have is that atheists or non-religious people are continually thinking about NOT having religion as much as religious people think about their religion, but the fact of the matter is, sometimes MONTHS go by where I don’t have a single thought about religion, the afterlife, God… When you grow up in an organized religion you tend to feel the lack of religion is some kind of continual rejection of it, and it’s hard to imagine people for whom it just isn’t a presence in ANY sense. When you realize the presence of religion is neither necessary or sufficient for any part of life, you can start to see how life satisfaction or lack thereof has nothing to do with belief. There are horribly depressed devout worshipers and annoyingly peppy and positive atheists. It’s an entirely different axis.

Sternhammer ,
@Sternhammer@aussie.zone avatar

This is an insightful observation.
I was raised Catholic as well, stopped going to Mass when I left home in my early 20s, and just never missed it. As a child I think I believed but as an adult religious belief seems completely unnecessary.
My son, who was raised an atheist, is now deeply religious—he’s a Benedictine monk (no, we didn’t see that coming!)—but even when visiting him religion seems like a lot of nonsense to me. (He’s happy and we accept his choice despite not sharing his beliefs.)

dumblederp ,
@dumblederp@aussie.zone avatar

I’m depressed at the wealthy marching the planet off a cliff for profit at the cost of everyone else.

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