Where do we go from here?

Having been raised with an understanding of Darwin I have not had to escape the shackles of such a profound false belief as some. Dawkins and Hitchens are right to spread the word and as converts perhaps can be overzealous in their approach. Our history and values were built on a belief in a supreme being and it will take time to disentangle ourselves from a belief system that has roots in superstition. We know that the soul, as we percieve it, is organic. Personality is brain related. Neurology is at a peak of developement and it is this fresh science, along with Darwin that will leap ahead now. There will be those that fight against progress but religious people, those who believe in an opinionated god are falling away. This knowledge has left us prone. The first world where religion is part of the past has seen a huge rise in suicide. An epedemic of depression. This is understandable. Consciousness evolved as a survival tool. To live a beautiful and highly precious life means you don't want to lose it. If death is all that faces us life can seem pointless and this is what we must tackle now. The history of the evolution of consciousness is tied up with the death problem that natural selection has given us no easy way to imagine not being. The workings of this survival tool are dependent on this. But now we know that the afterlife is unlikely how do we carry on? There is the Dawkins method of appreciating the beauty of nature and disindividuation. Bertrand Russell said something along the lines of as we get older we should become a broader river. I believe he meant that when we are young we barely accept others have feelings. At about 3 to 5 a child sees others have feelings and are enjoying being too. As we get older we may have children and put these first. Or seek immortality by contributing to culture  through art, music, literature that outlives you. 

Yet none of these, if we are honest with ourselves, satisfies as well as the survival of your soul. Life is solitary and this will end. We need to look to fill this.

Virtually all those at the spears tip of evolution are looking to fill this gap. On the telly such atheists as Brian Cox and Chris Packham are beginning to openly show their eyes are in the stars or on nature. Perhaps we can look the other way. Seek not to fill this gap but change ourselves. To become so engaged with the wonders of what we are surrounded by that death itself becomes meaningless.