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You're clearly well-versed in this subject, I actually wasn't expecting a response that involved knowledge of quantum entanglement and particle/wave duality!

> You haven't even functionally defined consciousness, so how could I possibly explain it?

Were you aware, in your mind ("consciousness") that you were alive and typing this at the time you did? If so, that would make you conscious and not a "philosophical zombie".

Of course I could veer this completely off course and say that I don't even known that you exist, and I could just be playing a game in the only consciousness there is. My own.

Solipsism

> I'd have to argue that it's pretty much exclusively your unconscious mind that takes input from the photo-receptors in your mind. This is not a conscious process.

Correct.

> I would certainly agree with your point about quantum uncertainty, but I fail to see how it relates to the discussion of consciousness.

In my personal opinion, it has everything to do with it. It's the only possible solution to how we can have free-will and are not just unconscious robots ("philosophical zombies"). Without quantum effects, we could not be sentient beings that are free to make our own decisions, based on our own choices.

Not just (input in = input out) ... but (input in = conscious decisions = input out).

This quick search on Amazon will show how many books deal with this very subject.

I've read most of them. Some much more interesting than others. I'd say the best book I've ever read on these matters is by Paul Davies ... The Mind of God: The Scientific Basis for a Rational World. "Biocentrism" was also somewhat interesting, as was Fire in the Mind: Science, Faith, and the Search for Order.

Your points are all valid, and I won't go over every single one of them.

Should I assume that you believe in the emergent theory of consciousness? Where it arises at a certain neural threshold, for reasons we have no idea?

And where is the "seat of consciousness"? For a while, it was thought it was the pineal gland, then other places. Then we started removing half of people's physical brain matter and that made them better. So exactly where is this consciousness?

If it's emergent, that means I myself as a software developer just need to write a complex enough system. And then, like magic, my creation is self-aware?

For the record, I did really enjoy the movie Ex Machina.

Just want to start off of with saying that I am currently a christian sort of non-denomoninal I guess but I might think about that in more detail in the future. But I understand that you could be confused about the different accounts in the bible from the biblical writers. However humans tend to have somewhat different accounts of the same historical events which can be due to a few reasons, one is that they somehow interpreted the event somewhat differently, another possible reason could be due to the fact that the biblical writers got there at different times or may not have been paying attention the whole entire time thorefore it would not be shocking if they did indeed have somewhat different accounts. But my beliefs are that Jesus was who he said was which is the son of God and that Jesus did indeed rise from the dead. However I do think that is indeed some truth in the majority of the widely followed religions, since if we observe them more closely we can see that they have similar fundamental themes from different cultures who for the most part did not interact that much globably with other cultures since the world was much less connected back in that era. But I say though that you might be interested in philosopical theism here is an wikipedia article on it https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophical_theism , and this wikipedia article, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omnism , and this wikipedia article https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_theology also possibly look at some books at christian metaphysics, and look at scholastic philosophy here is an wikipedia article on it https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scholasticism, read some of works by thomoas aqunias he was known as one of the greatest Christian Theologian/Philosophers who ever lived. I would also recommend the book the Experience of God by David Bently Hart, and the Atheist Delusion by David Bently Hart I have not read these books though yet but I have listening to some videos of him speaking on youtube and his ideas make a lot of sense and are very profound. I do plan on reading this books tho.

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I would also recommend mere christianity by C.S. Lewis who was an atheist himself before he converted to christianity. And also some books by edward feser who was himself an atheist for a period of time after he lost his christian faith but then returned back to his faith. I would also recommend this book by Francis Collins who is an well-respected scientist in his field has a PhD in Physical Chemsitry from Yale University and also earned an MD degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is director of the NIH since 2009, and he has founded the biologos organization which has a goal of making the christian faith compatible with science in which is always has been until we got into a postmodern state of science vs fundamentalism religion which of course is certainly not the case and this us vs them is of course a false dichotomy science and religon are perfectly compatible insofar that they are not extreamly dogmatic with everything in the bible being the literally true word of God without there being any metaphores or similar literary devices. But anyway I should at least also mention that Francis Collins was an atheist during his time completing his higher eduction and ended up converting to the christian religion. Anyways here is the book he has written https://www.amazon.com/Language-God-Scientist-Presents-Evidence-ebook/dp/B000NY12E6

If your interested in the special diversity of Earth, I strongly recommend The Greatest Show On Earth, which does a truly marvelous job of putting a couple hundred years of initial speculation, exciting research, and modern evidence for evolution, and the basis of life on Earth into an easy to read book. It can be a little daunting at time, but I love the book, and recommend it fondly.

Book [The End of Faith] (https://www.amazon.com/End-Faith-Religion-Terror-Future/dp/0393327655) By Sam Harris
-This book was the support I needed to feel comfortable saying I do not believe in organized religion. (I felt guilty for never being a believer but this book helped me find my voice to explain why.)
-He also has a fascinating podcast on the topic along with youtube videos, just type in Sam Harris and you will easily find it.

[Stephen Fry Annihilates God] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-d4otHE-YI) Short video but fantastic.
EDIT: The link I posted for this all you need to watch is the first two minutes.

Other than those two sources that is pretty much all I have. I am fairly new to giving a voice to my lack of belief in organized religion so I do not have many sources yet.

Hope this provides some use to you.

A good resource is Dale McGowan’s In Faith and In Doubt: How Religious Believers and Nonbelievers Can Create Strong Marriages and Loving Families. The author is an atheist married to a Christian. To prepare for the book, he interviewed many couples in religiously mixed relationships. The book has lots of good advice and suggestions on how to make things work with your spouse, your kids, and all those “helpful” people who are trying to push their noses into your business.

Honestly, that's a truly awful book. Even by apologetics standards. Here is a good book that takes Strobel's points chapter by chapter. Strobel, like most apologists, is speaking to an audience of believers, attempting to give them some reason to think their faith is rational.

BTW, have an upvote to cancel out the person who downvoted. I might not agree with you, but it seems you posted that in good faith.

If anyone prefers the physical edition. If you would like an explanation for the drastic price differences, I explain in a blog post.

Update: Due to popular feedback, I decided to make split versions of the ebook edition for anyone who found 2554 pages too daunting but are still interested in reading my book. In case any of you are still interested.

Part I Only.

Part II Only.

Explanation on pricing can be read here.

> I equate my agnosticism to a monkey (or an ant) trying to understand an atomic bomb.

Fantastic analogy.

> There is only the search for more understanding in the hope that the future will be able to comprehend a little more than we do.

Or, perhaps all answers will be revealed after our death. Or, maybe not, and we won't care about it anymore. Or maybe we'll somehow move to another plane of existence, forgetting all past lives, etc.

I know it's somewhat futile to comprehend, but I sometimes enjoy the mystery. Kind of like what David Eagleman ponders in his book, "Sum"

Mindfulness in Plain English. It is a buddhist book about how to think objectively and clearly. It is very insightful and I know people are recommending atheist books so here is your religious book recommendation. Even though it focuses more on how to think properly and objectively more than anything else. I accidentally ordered an extra copy and would be willing to ship it to you, under the stipulation that you have to ship it or recommend to someone else on /r/agnosticism to read it, that is if you like it.

Edit: You gave me a topic idea! Thank you!

When it comes to understanding evolution, Why Evolution is True is a very entertaining, easily read introduction. I would also recommend The End of Faith by Sam Harris.

Eww I have a book and video for you. The video uses the book as a reference. It's a super easy read and informative.

Book:
http://www.amazon.com/History-God-000-Year-Judaism-Christianity/dp/0345384563


Video:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=21vPrlX6Yx4

Book: The Demon Haunted World by Carl Sagan. It presents a strong case for a secular view and discusses the basic underpinnings of a skeptical mindset with a bit more subtlety than can be found in works by other famous atheist authors.

Book: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. This book has nothing to do with atheism or agnosticism; in fact is was written by a Mormon. But it does provide some principle centered practices that are useful to people, particularly if you are feeling rudderless in the absence of a religious moral code.

I love Carl Sagan's The Demon-haunted World: Science As a Candle in the Dark

I am not a physicist but I have never heard one claim the Universe is infinite. As was mentioned before, the universe has no edge so it appears to be infinite. Watch this video if you can make it through:

http://www.universetoday.com/103790/zogg-from-betelgeuse-explains-why-the-universe-has-no-edge/

Understanding the universe is exceedingly difficult even for the smartest people (which I am not one of). Crazy stuff happens in the universe, this is one of the reasons I am not atheist, it is just too wild.

Time dilation for one: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_dilation

For instance, time is moving quicker for satellites relative to us here on earth, since we feel a larger effect of gravity. They had to slow down the clocks on the GPS satellites:http://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/~pogge/Ast162/Unit5/gps.html

Long story short, there are a lot of really wild things happening in the universe, maybe take a look at a book called Brief History of Time written by Stephen Hawkins.
http://www.amazon.com/Brief-History-Time-Stephen-Hawking/dp/0553380168/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1377011140&sr=8-1&keywords=brief+history+of+time

Here's a book on agnosticism, in case that's what you're looking for:

http://www.amazon.ca/Divinity-Doubt-The-God-Question/dp/1593156294