Question from Niki:
Please supply us with general info on your person, like place of living, age, gender, formal education etc. And if there are more people than ‘SmartLX’.
It would be fair to know who I ask and who answers my questions, just as when I read a book or an article, I can see the name of the author, and when I google the name I will know more about the person, thus I can distrust, and in my case trust, the answer more, if I know just who is answering them. I am not asking about the IQ of the person, but I would love that too. Mine is not too high, but high enough for me to know my boundaries. Goethe’s, I believe, was 210 or even more, while Mozart’s was ‘merely’ 165. I believe mine is 110-120 and I am ashamed of its lowness, cos I love intelligence and knowledge, especially in natural sciences, classical music, psychology, sociology, neurology and psychiatry. And flowers, children, cats and MOZART. lol
Answer by SmartLX:
I don’t see how all of the requested information is neccessarily relevant but I’m not really concealing any of it either, so: I’m 36, male and in Queensland, Australia, and it’s just me on ATA right now. I have an undergraduate degree in mathematics and computer science, and another in theatre. I work in IT and HR.
My IQ has been measured variously between 148 and 166 by different tests some time ago, and that’s high but I’m very aware that IQ tests only measure a very narrow set of abilities, so I don’t put much stock in it and neither should you. The strengths of your intelligence may be in areas the tests don’t cover. Besides, 110-120 is still above average, because by definition the average is 100.
If anyone else is curious about me beyond my atheism for any reason, feel free to ask other questions in the comments. I reserve the right not to answer any given question, but I’m open to answering plenty.
3 thoughts on “About “The Atheist””
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(This was a response from Niki received as a question, trust me.)
THANK YOU for your prompt and detailed answer to all of my questions in my post.
You wrote that you cannot see how my questions relate to you being ‘the’ atheist who answers questions the way he does, this is significant, cos I believe your answers are highly informed, detailed and professional, showing great knowledge in the field. And good character. You don’t get caught up in the nets of stupidities of the religious folk and their provocations.
So, I will tell you how each of my questions in the post relate, in my opinion, to your high competence in answering atheistic questions.
As for the state you live in, Australia is kinda British younger sister, I have visited it many years ago and I lived in London for one year when I was very young, when I worked as a translator and interpreter for the Australian Embassy in Belgrade of Serbia, at that time Yugoslavia. So, as such, I have Australia in my high esteem, even better than Britain. Note that I believe that there is nothing great about Britain, and if there is, then it has a lot to do with its imperialism that supplied money for whatever money is used, like education and generally progress; but on the back of countries the riches were stolen from. Also mark that ‘lord’ Elgin, having the silly title for his money, as all ‘aristocracy’ has, which should be called plutocracy, cos they got the titles for being rich, not excellent, as the word ‘aristos’ means in Greek, well, he bought the Parthenon monuments from Turks, who were not legitimate owners of them, the fact Elgin was very much aware of. In short, I consider Australia as on of the best countries in the world, together with Canada, Scandinavian countries, The Netherlands and Denmark. So, you living in such an excellent country, had more opportunity to get higher education and to become an atheist in the first place, since you were not born one, unlike myself who have never believed in the crap. Born atheist. Great. But you had to fight your way out of the ugly labyrinth called religion. All of them.
As for your age, I am glad you have achieved so much at such a young age, cos time matters in ripening and maturing of the mind. It does, I know it from my own experience, not in atheism, but there too, I have become more radical, sort of, and I tell them, in their face, the truth of religion and themselves, as soon as one of them dares mentions in front of me and to me, ‘god’, as a resolved issue, as a matter of fact. I simply answer, BUT THERE IS NO GOD, and leave then astound at my cheek to say such a ‘blasphemy’. One wanted to beat me. Most shun off of me, as if I were contagious. hahaha
Now, your gender, being a man, that is. It plays a role, cos, if you haven’t noticed, we all, on the planet, still live in bloody patriarchy, more or less, more in Islam and less in America, but still ugly enough for female humans everywhere. (Islam is not human). I have found myself, tooo, being influenced by it, the way I am ashamed of, like thinking or rather feeling, that women are not capable of doing well this and that, as well as men, while the only difference there is, is in height, weight, muscle mass, strength, speed and courage, daring, of men, all due to their bigger and stronger bodies. So, being a man you had been given good start for your personality to develop on the base of your genes, something almost all women lack. Some, who have been brought up by loving, free thinking fathers, can get near your chances as a man, for such a bringing up, as a male, not female. ‘She had climbed the trees together with the boys, but when she turned 16 she suddenly become ‘clumsy’ for such a male activity’. hahaha
As for your formal education, it also has to do with, not only your genes, but your gender, as males are given more chances to educate themselves, as being males, and especially, to educate themselves in positive sciences, like math, physics, chemistry, STEM.
Your IQ matters, of course, I hope you admit this. But, I have met illiterate, but atheists, people, obviously intelligent and advanced in some personality traits that make them THINK FOR THEMSELVES, in spite of not having good education, but, they listen what atheists tell them when they ask questions, like about the ‘who created all this around us’. But, what I find most folks to fail to understand and accept, is that they lack the necessary iq and relevant education, to be able to think about such concepts as is that, if, as in their opinion, god is boundless in time, both future and past, so can be matter too. Of course, this applies to me to, thou I have some iq,not nearly enough, and some little formal education, from grammar school, in physics, chemistry and biology, yet, I, just as the religious folks, cannot fathom the concept of eternity of time and endless space, but, unlike them, I take the opinions of scientist for granted, for the time being, cos they keep on searching… I remember, in the UNI, the first lesson I learned in Law school, was about SCIENTIFIC METHOD, thanks to communism, the only three things I am grateful to this regime, scientific method, atheism and relative absence of patriarchy. In Greece I learned to apply Socrates’ method, along withe scientific method, when thinking about issues that have to do with reason. Not emotion.
One thing, though, you did not answer, for the simple reason I did not ask, that is, how you become an atheistic, and where and when you learned all this stuff you know. And, your sources, internet, I presume.
But, I suppose, reading. As for why you read so much and why that and not some other stuff, I guess it’s the same as for everybody who reads a lot from a lot, having a curious mind, from genes and the parental way of bringing up a child. And, the latter has a lot to do with the country you were born and and brought up in.
Anyway, thanks again for being here for us, with reason and curiosity.
Thanks for all that Niki. I’ll answer the two remaining questions.
I stopped practicing religion at a young age when theology (theodicy in particular) profoundly confused me, and my family was fine with that. I next considered it seriously almost 15 years later just as “New Atheism” was gaining a media profile, and not only had I not retained my earlier beliefs but the emotional attachment to the trappings of religion had faded entirely. I calmly realised, rather than decided, that I was an atheist. I then went looking for the best arguments for the existence of gods in case I was missing something obvious. The search showed me that I really wasn’t, and it also led me to this site for the first time.
Most of the specific knowledge I apply to the questions on here was picked up as a result of the questions on here. My research for the purpose has been very enlightening. Other than that I was always interested in science, my studies of mathematics and programming are useful for discussions of probability and logic, and my theatrical pursuits have forced me to learn to consider others’ ways of thinking, in case I need to play a character like them.
Niki, glad to see you are skeptical about where information comes from. I never assume anything is correct just because someone says so. I often verify things that people say or write, either because it doesn’t make initial sense to me or because I don’t know enough about the topic to determine the veracity of the claim.
I hope you are like that in all areas of your life too. I was (and still am), and that’s basically how I became an atheist.