I have been thinking about the term "atheist" as a descriptor of who I am and have decided that although it still applies (i.e someone who rejects the idea of gods) it does not go far enough.

There have been so many questions that come up about everything from astrology to Bigfoot, from UFO's to the chupacabra, from angels to... well a whole long list of subjects that are not directly connected to the concept of godhood yet seem to be connected to why I am an atheist to begin with.

I am not an atheist because I lost faith... I am an atheist because there is absolutely no evidence of gods. That's it, simple as that. Thing is, when that same principle is applied to other topics, I get similar results. When you base the idea of reality on what can be proven, you must have a methodology to separate fact from fiction. For me that basis is the scientific method. Although it was created to test new hypotheses, with slight adjustments it can also be used to test existing ones. When put to these tests most "beliefs" whether based in religion or not simply fall apart.

We are talking about a wide range of what is at the foundation quite simply bullshit. They can have their root in religion (unicorns, ghosts, angels, etc.) or ancient myth (astrology, etc.) or local legend (leprechauns, The Loch Ness Monster, etc.) or popular culture (UFO's, chupacabra, etc.) but they all have one thing in common, they cannot stand up to the same test that boils down to "if you cannot prove it, it is bullshit" and made me an atheist in the first place.

So, what better word exists that would define my outlook, worldview and even politics all at the same time...?

The search was on...

I tried all the old standbys; agnostic, humanist, freethinker, and more, but they seemed too limiting and focused on just certain areas. I wanted a catchall. A word that would encompass everything. Physicists are consumed with the search for the theory of everything... I was consumed with "the one word theory of ME".

While in the middle of a discussion with other atheists about whether or not it was technically possible for an atheist to believe in ghosts, it hit me; I am a REAL-ist.

Just to make sure that word was accurate, I looked through every dictionary I could find:

"a philosopher who believes that universals are real and exist independently of anyone thinking of them"

"a person who is aware of and accepts the physical universe, events, etc., as they are"

"concern for fact or reality and rejection of the impractical and visionary"

"a doctrine that universals exist outside the mind; specifically : the conception that an abstract term names an independent and unitary reality"

"a theory that objects of sense perception or cognition exist independently of the mind"

"a person who tends to view or represent things as they really are"

"a person who's personal and political views transcend the petty right-wing left-wing mentality and understands how things really work in the world"

"a person who believes in facts to determine truth"

"someone who accepts events and situations as they really are and deals with them in a practical way"

"the attitude or practice of accepting a situation as it is and being prepared to deal with it accordingly"

"the quality or fact of representing a person, thing, or situation accurately or in a way that is true to life"

And then I did a double-check as to definitions in philosophy (see links below)

There it was... and had been all the time! A single word that described all the religious, philosophical, political, social, familial, professional and personal aspects of what makes me who I am and who I have always been. Dawkins had told children that reality was "magic"... and you know what? It is.

From today forward I call myself by one single term; I am a REALIST!

 

 

Related links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophical_realism

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/realism/

http://www.philosophybasics.com/branch_realism.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Magic_of_Reality

 

 

Originally published as a Facebook Note