Michael Nugent

January 26, 2009

Discussing the idea of a god

Filed under: Atheism,Philosophy — Michael Nugent @ 12:12 pm

Pantheon of Gods - image by Grizzli (cc)

What do we mean by the word God? Ask a random hundred Americans. About sixty will believe in a personal god, 25 will believe in an impersonal force, seven won’t know which, and eight won’t believe in either.

Then ask a random hundred Europeans, and it gets even more ambiguous.

Only about forty will believe in a personal god, up to 33 will believe in a spirit or life force, fifteen won’t know which, and twelve will believe there is neither.

These figures are based on research by the Pew Forum and World Values Surveys. But the exact figures are not important. My point is that we cannot assume that the phrase “I believe in God” means anything like the same thing to each person who says it.

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January 16, 2009

Atheist Ireland first radio interview

Filed under: Atheism,Secularism — Michael Nugent @ 10:37 pm

Soon after Atheist Ireland was founded, I was a guest of Simon Maher on the Dublin radio station Phantom 105.2 FM, where we discussed atheism in Ireland, in the context of the UK atheist bus adverts, and the formation of Atheist Ireland.

Here’s a recording of the interview, and a complete transcript.

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January 11, 2009

Cultural Map of the World

Filed under: Happiness,Science — Michael Nugent @ 12:38 am

World Values Map of the World by Inglehart and WelzelReligion and wealth are the two main factors that influence cultural values around the world. The influence of religion can be measured on a scale from traditional values to secular-rational values, and the influence of wealth can be measured on a scale from survival values to self-expression values.

Traditional values are highest in Africa and Latin America, and secular-rational values are highest in Japan and Protestant Europe. Survival values are highest in Africa and ex-communist countries, and self-expression values are highest in Protestant Europe and English-speaking countries.

That’s according to the World Values Surveys, which is the largest ever cross-national survey of social change. It was conducted from 1990 to 2005, in over eighty countries spanning all six inhabited continents, by a network of social scientists at leading universities around the world.

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