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NihilusZero -> RE: Is Atheism a religion? (9/11/2009 3:19:10 PM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: CallaFirestormBW
There is no possibility that, hidden somewhere inside that Volvo is a Maserati, or that a Maserati will suddenly appear when you purchase the Volvo, by -wishing- it were so.
Sure there is. It's nearly impossible, true...but heck, a Volvo exterior could probably be functionally mounted on a Maserati.
the point is, there is no reason to assume it's a Maserati. No evidence that would indicate it.
quote:
ORIGINAL: CallaFirestormBW
is no evidence for either the existence or the non-existence of God.
Non-existence is the default status of anything. There has never been and continues to be no realistically sound evidence to indicate the existence of a theistic deity. There's no need for "proof" of the non-existence of something that isn't there.
To keep the analogy going, it would be the equivalent of the car salesman demanding that I prove there isn't a Maserati in an empty lot. Granted, people give Maseratis much more concrete characteristics which can be measured whereas gods are defined with intentional ambiguity...
quote:
ORIGINAL: CallaFirestormBW
The existing "evidence" can be (and is) interpreted by either side to support their claims, with a great deal of 'scientific proof" to support their hypothesis -- but because we cannot know all things, we cannot KNOW, without a shadow of a doubt, that either hypothesis is the "truth". Everything else is speculation.
Then, we are yet again at the point where that Volvo could be a Maserati because we cannot know, without a shadow of a doubt, that it isn't.
Either we throw our hands up and treat every single thing in the universe as equally likely or we succumb willingly to the reality that there are tools by which to determine if one thing is more likely than another. And the only universal means we have to do that are through materialism and science (because they measure real things which can be falsified and, therefore, disproven).
And no human, as Pyrrhonian as they may claim to be, lives as if everything they think is real could be false. Otherwise we'd live in eternal stagnation.
quote:
ORIGINAL: CallaFirestormBW
Of course, I may be just a 'battery' in some Matrix-type power-farm... *shrugs* but how would I know?
You wouldn't. And, for all intents and purposes, the program running us is consistent unto its own laws. Meaning, we are still able to understand more about our universe (false as it may be) by yielding to its laws.
quote:
ORIGINAL: CallaFirestormBW
In many ways, to again quote the Matrix (and though, in every behavioral way I disagree with this character's decision process), I will answer with the words of Cypher:
quote:
You know, I know this steak doesn't exist. I know that when
I put it in my mouth, the Matrix is telling my brain..that
it is juicy..and delicious.
he sighs
After nine years, you know what I realize?
Cypher puts the bit of steak into his mouth, and sighs, as he chews it with
his eyes closed.
Ignorance is bliss.
Dame Calla
That is the eternal conundrum of humanity. We have the ability to decide for ourselves whether delusions are preferable to reality. And we have the ability to construct delusions for ourselves. Fantastic machines, we. And if we are talking about which result is most preferable, then there is no right answer. However, when it comes to which is most demonstrably factual to our reality, then we can determine that.
The problem with too many people who like their metaphysics is that they want it to be more than just metaphysics too.
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