Bright
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[edit] Definition
Bright is a noun meaning "a person who has a naturalistic world view". Bright is a "positive alternative" to terms such as atheist and agnostic.
According to the official Brights web site[1], a bright is defined as follows:
- "A bright is a person who has a naturalistic worldview"
- "A bright's worldview is free of supernatural and mystical elements"
- "The ethics and actions of a bright are based on a naturalistic worldview"
[edit] Origin
Coined in 2003 by Paul Geisert and Mynga Futrell of Sacramento, California.
[edit] Discussion
[edit] Purpose
According to Richard Dawkins in an article in the Guardian Unlimited [2], the purpose of the term was to have a "positive" term to avoid the negative associations many people have with terms such as "atheist", similar to the way the term "gay" was meant to avoid the negative associations of the word "homosexual."
From the article:
- "(Geisert and Futrell) have set out to coin a new word, a new "gay". Like gay, it should be a noun hijacked from an adjective, with its original meaning changed but not too much. Like gay, it should be catchy: a potentially prolific meme. Like gay, it should be positive, warm, cheerful, bright.
- Bright? Yes, bright. Bright is the word, the new noun. I am a bright. You are a bright. She is a bright. We are the brights. Isn't it about time you came out as a bright? Is he a bright? I can't imagine falling for a woman who was not a bright."
[edit] Criticism of the Term
While the term is embraced by some, it is not without its critics - even among those people who would fall under the term's definition.
Some perceive the term as arrogant and antagonistic, in that it implies that those who do not fall under its definition are not intelligent (i.e. not "bright").
Others object to the term for different reasons.
Here is a quote from a JREF Forum thread [3] about objections to the term:
- "It seems like most people were pretty much ok with bright except that they found it antagonistic, ambiguous, arrogant, condescending, confusing, too cutesy, pretentious, puerile, silly, and/or dorky."
