Atheists vs. Christians on the Foundation of Belief — Who Makes More Sense?

Imagine a world where we stop inquiring into the wonders of life: how life came to be, how societies developed, how our ancestors survived, or where we got our moral intuitions from.

This world would arguably be unlivable or, at least, quite unsatisfactory. We would not have long conversations into the night about exciting questions we disagree on with our close friends. For some reason, we find it satisfying to understand the world we find ourselves in.

Because of the rapid prevalence of social media in society, many social commentators are starting to think that our reasoning capabilities are deteriorating. Social media promises conversation when, in reality, most of what it ends up manifesting is echo chambers and shouting matches. Many are losing hope for careful thinking.

Leading intellectuals across the political spectrum from Jonathan Haidt, Bobby Duffy, Joseph Heath, Keith Stanovich, Daniel Kahneman, and others, say that strict objectivity is a lost cause. That view is not shared by everyone, however.

So, in this post, I am continuing in the series I have started titled “Atheists vs. Christians”; you can read the first post here on the meaning of life and second post here on the basis for morality.

In this post, we’re assessing belief and the foundation to it: our capacity to defend our views through rational argument.