The term bright, used as a noun, is a neologism invented by Paul Geisert and Mynga Futrell as a positive-sounding umbrella term to describe various kinds of non-superstitious people. They define the word as follows:

A bright is a person whose worldview is naturalistic - free of supernatural and mystical elements. A bright's ethics and actions are based on a naturalistic worldview.

The idea has been publicised by Richard Dawkins in an article for the Guardian and Daniel Dennett in the New York Times.

The inspiration for the project was the seeming success the word "gay" has had in improving the lot of homosexuals in modern society. The project borrows heavily from the theory of memes.

A different movement that includes naturalists who believe in God is called Universism.

External links

  • The Brights Net — website set up by Geisert and Futrell to publicise their idea