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The reddit admins were sent an excerpt of chapter one of Penn Jillette's new book for r/atheism to preview.

cover | chapter excerpt | discuss

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all 15 comments

[–]linearcore 5 points6 points ago

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Works all the way up until you realize that people can be sociopaths or bear other mental diseases.

[–]GodGinger 2 points3 points ago

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But.. my voice is kinda scary and a little mean.. i can shush him most of the time but he's persistent.

Sometimes he tells me to do things.

Sometimes i do them.

I havent got caught... yet...

But im terrified what if he tells me to do something i cant get away with?

What if i cant say no?

I really wanna steal my brothers cheeseburger but he wont put it down!

[–]anytinganyting 1 point2 points ago

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I believe this is from a brilliant children's book called Falling Up, though I could be wrong.

[–]anytinganyting 1 point2 points ago

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By Shel Silverstein...

[–][deleted] ago

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[deleted]

[–]JimDixon 1 point2 points ago

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An interesting idea that deserves to be explored further.

However, I think it's important to say that I don't think my "unorganized consciousness" is omniscient or infallible.

[–]eddier1200 0 points1 point ago

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Wow.. amazing.

[–]buttercup_mauler 0 points1 point ago

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I need to remember to not tell this to my psychiatrist.

[–]VincetheMadMan 0 points1 point ago

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My inner voice is a troll. Tells me to kill my friends at random. J have told them and they say that's normal. Am I insane? Well I know I'm insane but am I insane insane?

[–]Iomena 0 points1 point ago

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This is actually known as one of the soundest arguments for god's existence. Hopefully that doesnt sour anybody's opinion of it - it really is good - but yeah.

[–]eddier1200 2 points3 points ago

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MMM no.

[–]Deracination 0 points1 point ago

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....well put.

[–][deleted] 2 points3 points ago

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I think it's a great message, but I honestly can't see how it's a sound argument for God's existence in the least. The message is simply that you should follow your conscience above all else. How does that support theism?

[–]Iomena 0 points1 point ago

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Replying super late so I doubt anyone will see this. But....

The idea is that the human conscience cant be explained. Obviously that doesnt prove any god exists (let alone a specific god), but its a gap in knowledge. And, a moral compass to follow (or choose not to follow) is a pretty reasonable thing for a creator to create.

The human conscience isnt taught (although a healthy upbringing usually reinforces it), and it isnt logically deduced (although logic often reinforces it). Its unlikely that its instinctive because it can be somewhat counterproductive to other instincts. Being a nice person is actually not the best way to pass on your genes (especially pre-civilization), and may not even be the best way to individually survive. Why would we have counterproductive instincts?

Does anybody have a reasonable explanation for why we all have a conscience, or a decent argument that we dont all have a conscience?

[–]wahwahwildcat 0 points1 point ago

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"But who imbue's you with that conscience? Obviously nothing man made. Therefore it must be the Creator, although we can't tell you how, or why, or when its going to happen."

or it would be some other BS argument from ignorance like that.

[–]MastermindX 1 point2 points ago

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Well, the voice inside of me keeps saying religion is bullshit. There goes your argument.