Full Length Talk by Daniel Dennett - 'How To Tell You're An Atheist'

R.I.P. Daniel Dennett. I’m sure you’re not in heaven or hell, but you live on in our hearts and minds.

I love Daniel Dennett, he is the Santa Claus for adults, instead of bringing materialistic gifts he brings the gift of thinking for yourself opposed to what you were indoctrinated to believe.

My children were raised atheists and in Québec's school system, it works well. Both of my parents were atheists but it was still a problem in my days in the 1960's. Thank yoju sir.

“I even agree that the concept of “god” helps people lead better lives...I just think that there are better ways to help people lead better lives.” Absolutely!

As a former pastor, I just applied for The Clergy Project! Sincerely hope I get in.

I realized that I'm an atheist when I was ten and got a new teacher for religious education. She made very clear that religion was something else than brothers grimm, a fact i hadn't realized before. In the very moment I understood that I was supposed to believe that to be true, I realized that I didn't. And I understood what a non-believer was. It was me. And I heard all of the offenses, understood what a missionary does.

This year instead of a letter to santa, I´m going to write a letter to Daniel Dennett (Not very far anyway) and instead of asking for anything, I´ll just thank him for sharing his ideas ;)

Great post! I just realized I was an atheist last December. It's very liberating to know that there is no divine destiny..there is only you and the people in which you are surrounded by. Free your mind.

Doctor Dennett has died. Whatever answers are to be had...he now knows. Pleasant Journey Daniel.

❤️ At 5 yrs old religion was presented to me. I thought heaven sounded the same as hell. Both eternities I was going to be surrounded by people. I resented that God sent humans to hell that did not accepted him. Lived a life of fear in religion. I always saw God as a dictator totalitarian. Always watching, judging and ready to punish, but somehow I had to convince myself that he is all love and gave me free will. Later on I learned that this is called cognitive dissonance, which is very prevalent in the corrupt government and monarchies throughout history. Today I am happy not to be under religion. Most people will never have the courage or will to be better, responsible and free.

I was brought up evangelical and it became increasingly hard to believe, even as a child. It’s a horror movie. I couldn’t imagine teaching my kids about Satan, demons, and hell being real and eternal torment as a possibility. Thanks mom!!! As an atheist, I am completely at peace, do not suffer existential doubt, and am content with my mortality.

Great video! I'm glad I watched. Thanks for the upload.

OMG This guy expresses everything I feel and I like how chill he is! :) He's awesome.

I believe in goodness, hope, truth, and beauty. But I don't believe in god.

What an awesome speech!! Daniel Dennett is a true badass!

Great talk!

@Hasnain Mohammed I find it interesting that you seem to believe that it is IMPOSSIBLE that these "links" in the chain originated by random chance. I actually just had a chat with a Muslim fellow the other day about why I'm an atheist, and he used a very similar argument to yours. He said something along these lines: "How can the infinite complexity and cohesion of our universe originate from something as simple as an explosion? Do you think that if I blew up a junk yard I could get ANYTHING near the complexity of our universe? How could an explosion create something as beautiful as a tree, or a lion?" Well, this is very near what Dr. Dennett referred to as a "deepity". At first you think, "wow! I guess you're right, explosions don't create complex things like the universe!" But of COURSE you cannot get the complexity of the universe from a junk yard. There simply aren't the same conditions or materials necessary. However, that wasn't my response to him. THIS is what I said: "Fair enough argument. But now I want you to picture this: there is NOTHING in the universe but a pile of trash in a junk yard. EVERYTHING is black space and nothingness except this pile. Now, the pile explodes, hurling twisted scraps of metal and debris all across the universe. To us, these twisted chunks of metal would be rather ugly and insignificant. But now, imagine if those scraps were the ONLY thing you had ever known. What beauty you'd likely find in them! You'd say, 'look at these magnificent twists and curves! How beautiful! What could POSSIBLY have created this? It must have some significance! It's clearly sent from the divine!' (or something along those lines, if you were around during the time of the writing of the Old Testament). But, obviously, these are random objects created by random chance. Granted, they're not as complex as a tree, but then neither is the material available in a junk yard. Basically, rather than rely on superstitions and unsupported conclusions, why don't we try explaining these things in a way that makes logical sense? Why must we attribute trees' and lions' beauty to a divine creator? Isn't it more likely that what we have in this universe WAS created by random chance, but since it's the only reality we know, we perceive it as divine and intelligently designed?" I hope that at least helps you think more critically about your claims.

I don't like the term "atheist" for the simple reason that it says more about what you are NOT (a theist) than what you ARE.

Thank you, Daniel Dennett for your richly reasoned ideas.

Happy New Year guys !! Good video