You Atheists That Beleive In Karma

I'm an atheist and I believe in karma. There doesn't have to be a higher entity controlling karma, it just is.

 

The more negative decisions you make, the more likely that negative things will happen to you.

Laws of probability at work, no driving force behind it other than statistics.

You might stab 10 hobos and be fine but then that eleventh one you might slip and cut your finger.

The chances of you cutting your finger were greatly elevated by the fact that you used your knife so many times on those hobos.

At least that's how I see kharma.

I gotta go put a bandage on my finger now...

 

I have to get these stab wounds taken care of; first, though, as an atheistic hobo, I must say I find any type of mysticism, religion, or spirituality to be nothing other than a cruel hoax played on us by our own minds.

 

If you don't believe there is a god then theres nothing to give you any karma

 

Not at all, a better example would be having negative interpersonal relationships will increase the likelihood that you will get fucked over by someone.

If I am a miserable prick to everyone I meet then the chances of people doing bad things to me are increased.

If I rob people the chances I will get my ass beat/robbed/arrested increase.

I see karma as the probability of negative consequences arising from bad decisions.

People who think of karma as an intelligent force that is waiting to come and get ya after you make a bad decision are foolish.

 

I believe in a Karmic like system and qualify myself as a non-theist. But I do not think of it in any spiritual or supernatural sense. Just what comes around, goes around. You treat people like shit and you are bound to get on the other end of it at some point.

 

While I'm not disagreeing that this could be true for Karma, this isn't exactly a true statement about probability. The chance of you cutting your finger in the process of killing each hobo is exactly the same every time. Lets call this value P(Cutting finger | killing a hobo). All probability says (the law of large numbers, specifically) is that given enough slain hobos, the percentage of time you cut your finger will approach this value.

 

Well for each time you do it the probability of it happening that time may remain the same, but if you continue doing it then the probability that it will happen just once out of however many times you do it increases right?

So each time I flip a coin the probability is 50/50, but if I flip a coin 10 times the probability that I will get heads up at least once out of the whole succession of flips is higher than that, correct?

Something about permutations....I don't remember math very well.

 

Karma is a concept, not a god.

 

karma in this culture is a bastardized tiny bit of buddhism that has been taken out of context.

its a nice idea, but you need the rest of the teachings from buddhism in order for it really make sense, because buddhism is more about a way of living your life than a religion.

 

Agreed. It seems that in the Western world, people seem to tie up the idea of karma with sin and judgment all meted out by some divine being or force. Some branches of Hinduism look at karma this way but overall they do not, nor does Buddhism. Karma translates as 'deed' or 'act.' It refers to the principle of cause and effect. As has been said, you reap what you sow. Your actions will determine how others will treat you. Your actions now will determine how your future plays out. The actual 'fruit' or 'result' of one's actions is actually called vipaka.

 

That's correct. The probability of getting at least one heads is equal to 1 - P(No heads in 10 flips) = 1 - .5^10 = 1023/1024. I was just disagreeing with the statement on the chances of getting cut on the eleventh time (or in this case, getting heads on the 11th flip after 10 tails) being greatly elevated. The chance of getting cut or getting heads is always exactly the same. The "gotcha" is that it is very unlikely to get those 10 tails in a row in the first place, but the fact that you got them makes it no less likely to get the next.

--On the topic of the post: Does this mean that karma is just people's response to my actions? i.e. I do something "bad" towards someone, and this leads them to either do something "bad" in return, or to tell someone else about my action and then they treat me "badly" (consciously or subconsciously)? Or are you saying that there's some deeper mystical thing going on?

 

As an atheist, who believes in Karma i think it has to do with the laws of energy.
Energy can not be created, it will just change forms. And it is easier for energy to to be lost than to be gained. VVV
Negative= 7x bad
Positive= 3x good.

 

When I said "it just is" I meant that it isn't controlled by any divine being or anything, it's just something that happens, it's part of the workings of the universe.

 

Hey whoever it was who posted this thread you might not read this but I'm an atheist who wishes karma was a real strong force in the universe and ttys to live as if it was but the truth is in my life I see so many negative choices go unpunished and so many good choices go punished its just too hard to believe for me. Ps. I'm fucking drunk

 

I was about to say this exact thing, but you did it first..though I personally prefer the Jainistic view of karma. +Rep for actually knowing what karma is.

 

Reread my post. And the several before it that led to it. If you're looking for a real strong force to punish poor choices, I suggest Catholicism.

I know next to nothing about Jainism but I'll look into it. The little I know about the concept of karma fascinates me. And it is a bit of a pet-peeve of mine. Westerners already have a couple supreme forces to mete out justice...God and Santa Claus. Why turn karma into another?