Pale Blue Dot (an atheist's view - tiny update)
Created on: September 27th, 2006
Damn that's a lot of comments. I've responded at http://skeptobot.blogspot.com - but that is just a quick rant. I will put a more professional post there later. It also has the picture & quote in full.
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QUOTE: "Also the more I see people
getting upset over the fact that they are indeed small and insignificant
the more it makes me smile because all it does it proves how insecure a
person is about themselves and life in general and are stuck up in their
own little microchosm where they are the center of the universe." GOOD FOR YOU FOR LAUGHING AT OTHER PEOPLE'S INSECURITIES. WHATEVER MAKES YOU FEEL SUPERIOR, MAN.
The thing about religious fanatics is that you will never change their point of view. They will never just stop and say "Oh, you're right, I'm wrong". Never. However, it matters very little in the grand scheme of things. Things like that image can, however, shed some light on just how hilariously self-important human beings really are. 5'd
Wow, Beautiful. I've only seen Whetstone's "why God Exists" YTMND and though i'm not very religious i saw nothing wrong with it. Similarly, i liked this Ytmnd very much as well. It's meant to show that you Can feel the same Awe and Humbleness that religion gives without God, whether he exists or not. We are all very small, and in that small ness we find so many wonderful things.
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I'm an atheist, all the way. I'm giving this a 3 because what you say is true, and all Carl Sagan is trying to say is that we must avoid looking into the cosmos for salvation and use our own abilities to save ourselves. But I'm not giving it any more because you clearly are ripping on the dogmatic minds of religious fanatics. By doing so, you're little better than they are.
To Flank- Yes because all Christians are complete idiots and enjoy being patronized, that damn Newton he was so stupid, just like I don't know I could give a million examples. But seriously don't listen to sagan, moonlitfire pointed out where he fails. Where is your (man)god now? I still agree with his quote though, but the guy seems like an arrogant douche.
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For all the people who feel that they are insignificant, we all do at times, but we don't think of it in context of the universe. But if you constantly go around thinking nothing matters because we're only an infinitesimely small part of the universe, I volunteer to rape your face. If you press charges you're a hypocrite. Because based on your logic, "it doesn't matter," does it?
SO $$ is the god of the atheist because THEY ARE DONATING THEIRS TO YTMND? ROFL YOU DUMBSH*T CHRISTIANS MAKE MUCH SENSE. ESPECIALLY WITH YOUR F*CKING EVANGELICAL CHURCHES WITH 30,000 PEOPLE (JESUS, CEO, MY ASS). SO $$ is the god of the atheist because THEY ARE DONATING THEIRS TO YTMND? ROFL YOU DUMBSH*T CHRISTIANS MAKE MUCH SENSE. ESPECIALLY WITH YOUR F*CKING EVANGELICAL CHURCHES WITH 30,000 PEOPLE (JESUS, CEO, MY ASS).
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Iza- "God did it; We can't understand God." The end. Howbout admitting we dont have
a f*cking clue, and either try to figure it out, or just not give a
sh*t."
These are actually misconceptions. See, we do have a clue, we are trying to figure it out, and we do give a sh*t about the universe. Well, a signifigant majority do anyway. Besides, if you are going to sum up God as being "just there" then you might as well refer to the sun as "just a ball of fire" or the earth as "just a rock". Think!
I'm catholic myself, but I do think this is really quite profound. I take an open view on things like this, because really, we can't ever know the truth, so why fight about it if nobody can win? Also, it seems like you put your own spin on what he is saying, but I guess that's your interpretation. Nonetheless, thank you for posting this.
thanks for showing this image and sharing the carl sagan quote, but i think it would be more appropriate to show the quote without the introduction about whetstone, etc. having just the quote would make your point just as valid without the unnecessary affrontism about people's beliefs and references to other ytmnds.
sfsunited,
Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. Exodus 22:18
By being nice and ignoring whetstone's witnessing, we only allow an irrational belief system to flourish. My head will not stay buried in the ground while this tiny speck is sent to waste.
Astronomy should be in the basic elementary curriculum.
I'll give a four for presentation, but you could act a little less superior about your viewpoint... I mean, isn't that posturing in and of itself. As for the world, it's going to hell, it has been for a while, and pretty much nothing can stop it. As insignificant as this pale blue dot is, it holds enough value for multiple more generations of violence. I do not know if this is right or wrong, if it is inevitable or preventable, or if there is anything I can do personally, I just live my life.
This YTMND obviously is not meant to be slanderous towards God-lovers, nor to prove that being an atheist is the way to be. It is meant to say that we are insignificant. We are here, but we don't know why, which does not mean that we should search for teh answer to that question, but that we should continue to exist here on this planet of ours and stop worrying about all this pointless sh*t.
As an atheist, I'll battle hard to protect anyone's first amendment rights, o matter how much I disagree with them. I like this YTMND because it's a simple rejoinder to the people who've been putting up finger-pointing religious YTMNDs, but it's not a d!ckmove. Atheism = the only belief system where the recruiting is done by ALL THE OTHER belief systems! Wee-hoo! Kudos to you Lave. Is nice.
I decided to watch this YTMND tonight. I appreciate Carl Sagan's quote because it uses the concept of a relative (small) scale to compare the ideals of humans. However, the concept of using scale to diminish the human race's fundimental values is incredibly moot. That's because scale is inherently relative and a point of physicality.
I'm not an atheist, I found this incredibly depressing. What's the point of life for an atheist? I'll vote this 5, because it made me think and clutch onto my beliefs even more. Even if christianity is bullsh*t, it helps us enjoy life and even if we're living a good life to obtain a fake salvation; it's still worth it to me. The way I see it is that it's impossible to PROVE God exists because then our mind would be on level with his, which is not even close.
What's the point of life for an atheist? - I think the mistake your making there is the assumption that life has to have a point in the first place. Can't someone enjoy something without it having some special cause? If you believe that there's no afterlife, wouldn't that make every second of your life even MORE precious? Wouldn't it make EVERY life precious and unique?
While I respect the views of all religions (including atheists), I must say the time has come for both parties, atheist and other groups associated with their own religions, to end this dipute once and for all. This is a beautiful and truly humbling site. I myself am Christian, yet find there is room for both science and religion in my life. One cannot ignore the truth of Carl Sagan's words. Conversely, it is nearly impossible to not yearn for a meaning behind the beauty and immensity of the universe.
Because this site is so enlightening, I don't believe the title or any other material within should involve religous themes at all. If you're an atheist who's sick of the religious propaganda on ytmnd (i'm a christian myself), don't perpetuate the problem. Instead, use this wonderfully unique site to communicate your ideas inderectly. Or better yet, simply allow viewers to see it through their personal point of view, instead of being prodded by implicit undertones. Good work on this.
â—„5'd for the quote. However, our origin is such a loaded question, nothing we know now can really explain it. Agnostic is the only reasonable choice.â–º
Absolutely we only understand a fraction of our universe, and are probably only half-right about what we think we know, but an admission of ignorance is not proof of Providence. It boils down to the burden of proof. You don't have to prove beyond any doubt that Santa and the Loch Ness monster don't exist. PS: Theres an invisible monster behind you!!! ;)
How can something be 1/12th of a pixel? A pixel is a single picture element, it can only be whole. In addition, how does something being a pixel represent its size or magnitude at all? A pixel of an image could represent an object of any size from a pixel representing something large such as the earth as you have shown or something incredibly small such as a single molecule. Everything in life is relative.
"He's not spamming anything. You choose to watch them. Second of all the
size of our planet in comparison to space doesn't prove anything except
that God created a large universe and it only shows his power. So why don't
you stop spamming your rebuttals and just let him post. This doesn't prove
anything about God's existance. God isn't going to be found in a picture.
God isn't bound to our physical world. Using pictures from space shows
nothing. At all." LMAO! You REALLY believe that?
Of course, everyone loves this one because he's Atheist. So it's okay for Atheists to make assumptions and talk about others, but we will all make sure that if any Christian posts a site we all 1 star him, and talk about how much of a horrible person he is and try to ban him. Yay, let's be hypocrites.
"Oh, and just to make it clear. I'm not calling religous people douchebags,
'cos thats the same as calling black people douche bags. I'm calling
religous people like Whetstone douchebags." So he made TWO sites on his views. O.M.G. How HORRIBLE and RELIGOUS. IGNORE HIM IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT. I enjoyed his first YTMND, so that makes me a douchebag. Thanks for judging me.
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Folks like Martin Luther King > Everything else
You don't need science, technology, money, or anything to make the world better. You just need a heart, some courage, and the ability to love. You see all the 3rd world countries, in poverty and despair, yet still going, its people still able to achieve the same level of happiness that anyone could
That's why sites like this will always just be a speck on the interent, much like the Earth you pictured in it, as life goes on without it :)
And what Sagan failed to realize is that the self-importance is what makes us strive for advancement as a species. If we see ourselves as only a randomly formed speck of dust the best we can hope for is less miserable lives. Seeing ourselves as beings put here to prove something to a power greater than ourselves has inspired millions of people to do things (both good and evil) that they would have not had the courage/motivation/imagination to accomplish. The defeatist mentality is inspired by "cosmic awe".
how can someone look at how huge the universe is, supposedly it doesn't end (some scientist which I slightly agree with belive the universe might be round therefore no end or begining but not infinite size..) and really just think it just happened... is it not possible there might actualy be a superior being on another plain of existance who created it all?
message with commments plz
All I gathered from this is "The universe is really big, earth is really small, I think Whetstone is a douche bag". Whereas all three are true, this doesn't offer up any arguments toward his points. All this really offers is a very bleak outlook on life. "Since the universe is huge, God must not exist." 1
For those of you that are just downvoting this because you believe in God..._I_ -_0...I 5 this because he is expressing his views and I agree with them almost entirely. Just because -you- disagree doesn't mean you should bash on -his- beliefs. Not once in this YTMND did he say "I HATE CHRISTIANS!" or anything of the sort. He merely expressed his views in a beautiful way. Please think about that first.
I understand that he never said "I hate christians" but still. God does everything for a reason. If we were to simply find out everything, we couldnt save ourselves from self destruction caused by power. This is Gods' way of saving us and I truly believe this site should have another view to it, not just one side story proclaiming that God cannot save us, but in many ways, he has
And also, I'm a Catholic, and I find the religious sites (as well as the overly pretentiuos and arrogant religious *ssh*l*es) to be ridiculous. We were given the ability to make judgements for a good reason; if people decide to believe in something else, I'm perfectly fine with this as long as I'm allowed to keep my beliefs as well. So please, don't let these god freaks make you think badly of anyone who chooses to believe in something. Atheism is a simple choice, just as any religion is.
It takes more faith to believe in Evolution then it does to believe in God. There is a reason its called the evolution"theory", there is no scientific proof of evolution, yet atheists still cling to it. Think there is evidence? Better go tell that guy that for the past 8 years has been offering 1 million dollars for any one who can proove evolution true. There are more historical documents and evidence that prooves there was a Jesus on earth who was Gods son then there is for anything else.
Bleh. If you were a thinking person, you would realize that this photgraph should reaffirm ones faith in god. That we should exist as the only dot of life amidst the unending void of emptyness, that god in his infinate wisdom and power should grant US, Me and You, life on this speck of water and rock in the middle of nothing... to me, this is the greatest mystery of faith. Have a blessed day.
lave, please tell me if im wrong, but are all the religious people downvoting and all athestis up?
I completly support this site (lol, im also atheist).
Yeah, um, goldrush, WTF were you on about in your comment?!? Psycho.
I don't even have a clue who these whitsomething or carl blokes are, but this YTMND makes a point.
Good job sir!
@sdlvx - you got it nailed down bro. There was a Jesus no doubt, he did not have powers, he was an intelligent man who by cleverness got desperate believers to follow him because they were so increadably eager to have an prophet.
And quit bashing the evolution theory, just because it is an "theory" doesn't mean it's worthless you piece of sh*t. TAKE A LOOK AT THIS: that Earth revolves around the sun is a "theory", WE SIMPLY CANNOT CALL IT TRUTH BECAUSE NOBODY KNOWS THE ULTIMATE TRUTH!! God is a theory too
btw thank God for the water cycle.. dumbasses... close-minded idiots who thinks things just happen do need to look at the bigger picture... open-minded idiots need to look at a slightly smaller picture and consider the fact God could have created those systems... omnipotent + omnipresent beings kinda have a lot of time on their hand to go into details... durrr
f god knows everything, he knows what he will do in the "future" (in any dimension, not necessary the time dimension). He must have known that from the very start of his own existence. Thus god's actions are predestined. God is tied by faith, he has no free will. If god has no free will god is not omnipotent. Another way to put it is that to be able to make plans and decisions one must act over time. If god stands above time he can not do that and has no free will. Indeed, if god stands above all dimension
Your idea of a simplistic worldview is skewed. Atheists may have pictures of space and other scientific accomplishments to bolster their ranks with, but I have a hierarchy stretching back thousands of years and out into the depths of reality to keep my self esteem afloat. The religious do not fear hell, the atheist fear the responsibility of a moral life. I DON”T COME TO YTMND TO HAVE TO TYPE THIS SH*T YOU IDIOT SHUT THE F*CK UP NO ONE CARES ABOUT RELIGION POWERPOINTS ON THE GODDAMN YTMND DAMMIT
I'm a Christian and found this quite refreshing. I'm so used to Atheists bashing my religion and trying to make me feel inferior. Even though I disagree with what you're saying, I appreciate that you're not being an *ss about it like so many other Atheists. I must say though, it sounded like that guy that you quoted was trying to say that there must not be a god because our planet is so tiny is just a terrible point. In fact, it's almost like he's arguing against himself. Let me explain...
He's trying to point out how insignificant we are and how tiny we are compared to the rest of the universe, yet he's treating the human brain like it's the apex of all universal knowledge. Coming to the conclusion that there is no god based on the fact that the Earth is tiny and that humans are the most intelligent beings in the universe (sans the possibility of aliens) is complete nonsense. (1) The physical size of the earth and everything on it is completely irrelevant. (2) ...
...(2) He's saying that we're like nothing compared to the rest of the universe, yet he's smart and intelligent enough to determine that there is no god because a picture shows how small the earth is. I don't want to sound like a "fantic" (bullsh*t term btw), but I just felt that I had to respond to that. Also, Carl Sagan has a skewed view of Christianity -- dare I say narrow-minded (sounds like hypocrisy to me)? Once again, thank you for not being an ass. :)
I dont think you should have focused on religion at all though, btw. This message is more important then any silly religon (or lack there of i.e. athiesm).
Forget focusin on the doctrines and focus on the importance of the quote and message of Sagan himself. He still respected most religion - even if he wasn't religous. (Nor am I - but I dont think we should attack it.)
Made me think, and i worked out the average human only takes up something like 1 25,250,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000th of the universe (after rounding). Then again i've only just started my AS level in maths so dont trust that too much :P
Wow. Pittst3r, I couldn't say it better myself. I also don't agree with these concepts, Lave, but implications propose that you do respect our views as Christians as we SHOULD respect yours as an Atheist. (Some people like to beat people over the head with Bibles per se. Whether some realize or not, THIS is NOT the way Christ told us to spread His word.)
What many Christians don't realize is that if Christianity was not historically true, Ayn Rand / Robert Heinlein style atheism would be the pinnacle of worldviews. It is the best possible adaption to a Godless universe. However, the point of Christianity is that, despite the vastness of the universe God created, we are His first priority - beings that can choose, the pinnacle of His creation, that He cares enough about to promise a new world, one without entropy. Communion is the Free Lunch.
I'm a Christian, and I'm giving you five stars. I really appreciate a realistic perspective on our place in the universe. Some people, and more often churches, entertain the notion that the universe revolves around mankind. They seem to think that surely God wouldn't create life somewhere else, without informing us first. I don't know where they would get an idea like that. Anyway, thanks for the reality check. More people need to think about this.
I never get while everyone is bitching about each other's beliefs. How about this for both christians and atheists. Christians don't go in and automatically downvote atheists, and vice versa. if you don't like what someone has to say, then don't even view their YTMND. Don't downvote, you just hurt your position and continuing this retarded conflict. Treat others they way you want to be treated. besides I want YTMNDs to be entertaining. I didn't find this entertaining, but I did learn something. 3 for Space
This is a very cool ytmnd indeed, but I only warn you and anyone who actually reads this miniscule comment that even discussing the problem of this religious deal will only fuel it. I think we should just let it all go. Save the debates for some other place. I'd gladly get into it too, but ytmnd just doesn't need this. Still, I love the ytmnd you made. Great work!
enjoyed the quote & pic they are very deep, however your approach as an attack (and you did attack) on religious beliefs is just wrong and shows you are no better than the religious people who believe athiests are horrible people, therefor i will 1 this, if you just had the pic & quote then it would have earned a 5 in my book, sorry cant sponsor attacks on cultures
TightenUpTheGraphics- "And on a side note, atheists and agnostics (myself of the latter group) are morally superior to religious nuts, because we act good to others without having to be threatened with torture and hellfire."
This is, in every sense, the most ignorant thing i've read in a long time. To claim that you know the singular motivation for every generous act by an huge group of people (up to >4.2 billion depending on your definition of "religious nut") is incredibly arrogant and ridiculous.
Also, while you said that you're not trying to disprove any Gods, then what are you trying to prove, and what does that have to do with Whetstone? This probably would have gotten a 5 had you not mentioned him, and again, what does this have to do with ANYTHING? I admit, this is interesting. I like it. But I fail to see the point you're trying to make.
You lose, please insert coin and try again.
It would have been better if you circled the dot because my un-trained eye cannot see it, the picture is rather impressive and the quote seems well thought out although it is ultimately rendered redundant by the creator's limited understanding of religious teachings. It's still a decent site though and I'll give it a 4 because it looks like you put a lot of time and thought into it, the song works great too.
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