I have a question for atheists, this is a genuine question, not looking to argue or anything like that. Just want to pick some of your brains and see your mindset on it. So, if god or a creator doesn't exist, and it doesn't dictate the way our life will go, how do you guys (atheists) cope with the tragedies and chaos of life?
More agnostic atheist here, but acceptance is mainly what happens - as to life being a mix of many things - and the more one studies both human life and non-human life then the more it becomes clear as to this. And as to how human life is so often reflected in other species.
I assume if you're atheists, you're well aware that this natural world is a dog eat dog world, it is filled with chaos, violence, and mercilessness. You could be walking and drop dead, you could be exercising to better yourself (you need to exercise so that you can be healthy, defend yourself, defend your country, etc) and you can drop dead, any little mistake can cost you your life, literally the smallest margin of mistakes, and lights out. So how do you brave these facts and continue living, somewhat normally?
As mentioned, life is often a mix of various things, and for some it can mainly be on the negative side, but for most this is unlikely. The dog-eat-dog notion is really a fallacy, and mostly only applies to non-humans - predators and predated. We humans have built civilisations to make life more profitable (in the sense of being worthwhile, for the majority) although, being human, we still have our tendencies towards crime, violence, and warfare. But, often what occurs is blown out of proportion by the media. Every killing often tends to be projected onto a group or country or belief system, when such is often simply the behaviour of an individual. The fact that overall crime has diminished over the last several decades tends to show this. Developing a rational system of thinking rather than letting one's emotions take over is one way to help over all the negative aspects in life, and having some courage to face bad things - admitting that life is often this way - tends to get me through.
I ask this because I developed panic disorder since a young child. I can't say why for certain, but I believe it has something to do with negative people when I was a kid putting me down and telling me there is no god or purpose and only the abyss and I remember since a child that always put intense fear into me and I still suffer to this day from debilitating panic attacks, I've had to be sedated on antidepressants for years now and have almost died multiple times from panic attacks when I attempted to get off and years later the panic attacks come back with a vengeance. So I guess my question is, how do you be brave and live life like a champ, if you have no crutch to stand on knowing that you could die in your sleep and there would be nothing to save you, or you could be enjoying a workout then next minute you're dead and later in the day you're cut open on a metal slab? Or that you can lose your minds and just start panicking and then you die? What gives you the courage to continue living? Do you just trust that you are a product of natural selection and it's not in your genes to panic? Do you just trust in your own body to keep itself upright and living no matter the stress? Thanks in return for your answers that hopefully help me and save my life for I have not been doing too well lately.
There are plenty of things that can be enjoyable in life, and these often provide enough to get over the disappointments or bad episodes, and of course having friends usually helps. I've had many friends over my life, with parts when they were absent so they are not essential, and possibly the main thing that has enabled me to still be here (I could have ended it all in times past) is my fortitude - developed from having courage and perseverance. These perhaps coming from many of the risky outdoor activities I did in my youth - caving, rock-climbing, mountaineering, sailing, and cycling, for example. All these require a lot of work or effort, involve risks/dangers (and assessing these properly), and given that I am still here, I appeared to have been successful at them - some better than others.
As to what might happen after death - I don't believe there is anything, hence my acceptance of such (just being an end to existence and which I might not prefer at the time), and perhaps taking risks in life might have helped here. I know I could be wrong, but if I have anything to worry about (Destined for Hell, for example) then it is just the way my life has turned out, and where much of the time I couldn't have done much differently - given we are human and all tend to have flaws.
From what I know about humans, and the rest of existence, life seems quite possible without the existence of some God, hence why I am not religious, and especially so when I see so much division and conflict between many religious beliefs - apart from the other negative effects of some of these in my view.
