Nas: Now stop for a second. Millions of you are religious and believe in God. I believe in God too. I’m not an atheist. But there has to be something we can learn from atheists even if we disagree with them. What can we learn from them? Well, I think I found the answer. The answer is simple. Curiosity and courage. Atheists think that you should be curious – in other words, you should think for yourself. Question everything. Investigate and seek knowledge. It’s easy to believe what others want you to believe. It’s hard to say I don’t know what to believe. But I’m going to be curious and find my own answers. Darwin sailed for five years searching for answers. He studied thousands of animals and wrote many books because he was curious.
Yuval: The first thing you can be inspired from atheism is just to be curious. That you ask a big question. You look for answers and if somebody tells you no, this is the answer and you are not allowed to question this answer, then you go on, and investigate it.
Nas: Today, because of curious scientists, we can measure the exact speed of light. We can measure the exact distance to the moon. We can sequence the human genome. We can build cars that drive like us and AI that can think like us. You can be curious and still believe in God. Even Darwin himself was not fully atheist. But he did not rely on faith, tradition and authority. He relied on science, evidence, curiosity.
Yuval: Atheism is the most spiritual path there is because it encourages people to ask any question that seeks important to them and to follow that question wherever it leads. You don’t have to accept anything just because somebody said so.
Nas: Atheists also have courage. Darwin was attacked by many religions and so was Galileo. In the 16th century religion believed the sun moved around the earth. But Galileo discovered that earth actually moved around the sun. He was punished for this and sent to jail for the rest of his life. But you know, Galileo had the courage to not change his mind. Eventually, he was right. Now we all know that the earth moves around the sun thanks to Galileo.
Yuval: It takes courage to follow these big questions. It takes courage because a lot of people will try to intimidate you if you refuse to accept their answer. But, at an even deeper level, it takes courage to face the world and say I’m not sure like where did we come from, what and why are we here in the universe. I’m not sure. And what happens when we die? I don’t know.
Nas: It takes courage to stand up to what you believe in even when everyone says you’re wrong. Even when you’re sent to jail.
Yuval: Atheism is not against spirituality. It’s against the rigidity of religion. There is nothing wrong in following a particular religion and atheists don’t want to forbid religion. If religion helps you, and following that religion helps you in different ways without harming anybody, that’s great.
Nas: After studying atheism for one month, I got inspired. I got inspired to become more curious about the world. I got inspired to find my own answers. I got inspired to have the courage to stand up to what I believe in even if everyone around me disagrees. Just like Darwin. I was inspired by this small bird to seek the truth but nothing but the truth. That’s it about atheism. See you next month for a video about Judaism.
Nas Daily joined WEF’s advisor Yuval Noah Harari to promote atheism through Darwin and his theory of evolution (2)
Nas: Now stop for a second. Millions of you are religious and believe in God. I believe in God too. I’m not an atheist. But there has to be something we can learn from atheists even if we disagree with them. What can we learn from them? Well, I think I found the answer. The answer is simple. Curiosity and courage. Atheists think that you should be curious – in other words, you should think for yourself. Question everything. Investigate and seek knowledge. It’s easy to believe what others want you to believe. It’s hard to say I don’t know what to believe. But I’m going to be curious and find my own answers. Darwin sailed for five years searching for answers. He studied thousands of animals and wrote many books because he was curious.
Yuval: The first thing you can be inspired from atheism is just to be curious. That you ask a big question. You look for answers and if somebody tells you no, this is the answer and you are not allowed to question this answer, then you go on, and investigate it.
Nas: Today, because of curious scientists, we can measure the exact speed of light. We can measure the exact distance to the moon. We can sequence the human genome. We can build cars that drive like us and AI that can think like us. You can be curious and still believe in God. Even Darwin himself was not fully atheist. But he did not rely on faith, tradition and authority. He relied on science, evidence, curiosity.
Yuval: Atheism is the most spiritual path there is because it encourages people to ask any question that seeks important to them and to follow that question wherever it leads. You don’t have to accept anything just because somebody said so.
Nas: Atheists also have courage. Darwin was attacked by many religions and so was Galileo. In the 16th century religion believed the sun moved around the earth. But Galileo discovered that earth actually moved around the sun. He was punished for this and sent to jail for the rest of his life. But you know, Galileo had the courage to not change his mind. Eventually, he was right. Now we all know that the earth moves around the sun thanks to Galileo.
Yuval: It takes courage to follow these big questions. It takes courage because a lot of people will try to intimidate you if you refuse to accept their answer. But, at an even deeper level, it takes courage to face the world and say I’m not sure like where did we come from, what and why are we here in the universe. I’m not sure. And what happens when we die? I don’t know.
Nas: It takes courage to stand up to what you believe in even when everyone says you’re wrong. Even when you’re sent to jail.
Yuval: Atheism is not against spirituality. It’s against the rigidity of religion. There is nothing wrong in following a particular religion and atheists don’t want to forbid religion. If religion helps you, and following that religion helps you in different ways without harming anybody, that’s great.
Nas: After studying atheism for one month, I got inspired. I got inspired to become more curious about the world. I got inspired to find my own answers. I got inspired to have the courage to stand up to what I believe in even if everyone around me disagrees. Just like Darwin. I was inspired by this small bird to seek the truth but nothing but the truth. That’s it about atheism. See you next month for a video about Judaism.