Seth MacFarlane Is An Atheist (Not To Be A Dick)

This is a really good discussion between Adam Carolla (another atheist Jew) and the CREATOR of my favourite show on TV, Seth MacFarlane.
I knew MacFarlane wasn't religious, but he actually he states he is an atheist in this interview. Mortality and morality are the topics. Enjoy.

H/T Atheist Media Blog
Carolla seems to be obsessed with death and mortality. With me, it comes and goes in phases. Most of the time I just find myself more and more accepting of the idea of when you are dead, you are dead, that's all folks.

When MacFarlane spoke of morality in nature, I thought for a moment "does he read my blog?" He cites the same thing I do when explaining how religion doesn't cause us to be moral. It is evident in nature. I tend to use chimps as quick examples when debating theists, but his bat example is a good one.

His "not to be a dick" comment just reflects the perception of the rebellious God hating atheist that many theists wrongly accuse us atheists as having. He goes on to explain that being an atheist seems to be the logical default.

So why do I find it great that MacFarlane is on the atheist team? I think it has to do with our innate tribal buttons. I posted about this when dealing with the obsession that a great inventor, an actor, or a sports player is a Jew, that many Jews have. Or how many people tend to support sports teams from their own city even though none to almost none of the players are from the same city.

But it is more than that in this case. Family Guy and American Dad are extremely funny and witty shows. It just feels so good that they come from an atheist perspective after all. Because most atheists know, that our way of rationalizing things collectively is much more pure than the way theists do it. It sort of makes me feel special that Seth is an atheist, because I'm an atheist too.

This brings me to a recent study of the brain. Yes, we are starting to find out that there is a difference in the way the atheist and theist brain works. It seems that religious people do not have the same anxiety levels when they make an error that non religious people have. And they tend to make less mistakes as well which could be attributed to less stress.
The ho hum attitude that theists have after making a error doesn't help when it comes to correcting future errors though.

My conclusion from the study is that if you have a simple task to get done, let a theist do it. But if you are dealing with something complex, let an atheist do it. Sure there will be mistakes, but it won't be for lack of trying.

This brings up a good question. If you were to go in for a major operation, would you want someone who cares about making mistakes (who is apt to make more mistakes) doing it, or someone who cares less about making mistakes doing it? I guess it depends on how complex the operation is.

I do think this study correlates well with evolution and science versus creation. It reflects the ho hum mind numbness that goes with those who deny science and take the simple less stressful route that Godidit and the bible is the only science book you need.

Science is always ongoing, and mistakes have been made, but science is always correcting mistakes and learning from them.

I wonder if there will be a study confirming that some people are more inclined to be atheist because of their brain's nature over nurture. That would make me feel sort of special.