Complex Numbers

Thanks

With Thanksgiving just a few days away, there are three things I can be sure of:

1) A plethora of "helpful" articles on the internet about traveling over the Thanksgiving holiday;
2) Nonstop ads and news "stories" about Christmas shopping;
3) Endless talk about being grateful.

I've heard people wondering why atheists observe Thanksgiving. After all, who or what are we thanking? Well, fortunately for you, I'm here to atheixplain.

There are two distinct forms of gratitude. The first is what I talked about in my last blog entry: simply expressing gratitude to someone who has done you a service (whether or not you paid for it). Religious, or spiritual, people use God, or gods, or the Goddess, or the Universe, or whatever, as the target of their gratitude, because they feel the deity (or whatever) has done them a service, so for them, it's all this first type. I have some experience with this, because I used to be religious. Of course, there's a great deal of variation among religious/spiritual people, so I'm sure one can find counterexamples, but I'm writing about generalities.

The second form of gratitude doesn't have a target. Or, perhaps, the target can be one's younger self - which certainly doesn't qualify as a deity, but what Young You did might have set the stage for today's bounty. Either way, this kind of gratitude, I think, is more about expressing a feeling of appreciation for what one has. It's an internal thing, a kind of acknowledgement that, okay, things could always be worse, but I'm going to focus on the positive.

In a more logical language than English (should one actually exist), perhaps these two expressions might be described by different words, much as the Greeks had more than one term for "love," or (and this is probably apocryphal) some Inuit supposedly have a multitude of words for "snow."

Because of this second definition, atheists can be perfectly happy to celebrate Thanksgiving in the US. I'd argue that, either way, you're acknowledging that things could be worse - and that has certain psychological benefits. Rather than dwelling on regrets, drama, or missed opportunities, you're reflecting on all that is good and helpful in your life: family, friends, french fries, fuckbuddies, finances... whatever.

Also, there's stuffing ("dressing" for my fellow Southerners). That in itself is sufficient reason to have a traditional Thanksgiving, regardless of one's religious or political point of view.

Unfortunately for me, I'm a bit of a contrarian. Okay, I'm a lot of a contrarian. In the past, I've purposely made lists on or around Thanksgiving of the things for which I am most decidedly not grateful. Telemarketers. Ice storms. Coors Light. Autoplay videos on websites. The cancellation of Sense8. Those sorts of things.

But I... I don't think I'm that person anymore. Near-death experiences can do that, I've heard. And I've had at least four of those, so sometimes the Universe or karma or fate or whatever has to kick me in the balls a few times before I'll pay attention. I just hope that doesn't mean I'm losing my edge. When snark becomes part of your personality, you come to depend upon it.

So... I'm grateful that I almost died at least four times? Maybe? It's probably disappointing to other people, though. Just goes to show that you can't please everyone, so you might as well drink.

Thank you, scotch!