Emmy Bartlett, Brief bio and Quiz, Section 9

My name is Emmy Bartlett and I am currently in my third semester at MTSU. I grew up in Michigan and Ohio (Tennessee was a BIG change!) and I landed here when my parents relocated. I am an undeclared major--my mind keeps changing and I keep finding new things I might like to explore. 

I’ve always thought that philosophy is the attempt to make sense of the surrounding world and to find reason in chaos. I was drawn to this class because I have always had my doubts about the way the world works and my place in it. Do I have a purpose? Does anything actually matter? I struggle with this and I think other people do to. It also seems that my struggles and my existential questions might change a little depending on what is going on in my life, but fundamentally, my questions are the same.

On the scale of doubt quiz:

I took this quiz and discovered that I am an atheist (I already knew this) but I have what the book calls a “pious relationship to the universe.” I think that is a good way to sum up my feelings. Question three asked is there is “an identifiable force coursing through the universe, holding it together.” My first instinct was no, in fact, there is not. But after I thought about it for a moment I realized that my true feeling is that yes, in some way there is. I do no believe that it is a higher power, but actually humanity and a general consistent urge to move forward, live well, find happiness and love, and to survive on a basic level. I believe it unites us all. 

Does anyone see the point I am making? Does it make sense to anyone? If you agree with me on any level, consider question nine: “Do you believe that any part of a human being survives death, elsewhere or here on earth?” My answer to this question is similar to my answer to the last: I believe that when someone dies, they do in effect live on on earth. They don’t live in another realm or with a god or as angels, but I believe that they live in their legacy, the people they have left behind, and the impact they have made on the world. I think that is all anyone can hope for. 

Discussion question: are my views compatible with the views of a more extreme atheist or a religious person? If not, why not? Isn’t everything really kind of connected in a way that makes no answer correct and no answer incorrect?