"I believe that you mean transcendent dice and not trancendant dice." Yes, spelling fails at 4AM, nice catch.
The thing about the dice was that the only thing we had to go on was that Jen said there were dice in the jar. When put right beside an empty jar though we had no method, no tools to figure out the difference between nothing, and the supposed dice.
Josef, I don't know if I see what you are saying quite right. to define if something exists, or has ever existed one looks for the impact it would have, or is making. If I told you a meteor hit the earth you wouldn't ask when you would ask where, because then you could check for a crater. If theres no evidence of the earth being displaced, as you would expect from a meteor hit then you could resonably say I was mistaken about the meteor. In the case of the dice, we know dice make noise when put in a jar and shaken, we expect to be able to feel them. But this jar that supposedly had dice in it made no such sounds, nor could we see or feel anything inside the jar, it was as if nothing was there.
In the case of god we apply the same methods, if a god exists who, for example answers prayers and intervenes on behalf those who pray. We would expect some measurable difference between those who pray for help and those who do not. Of course we see no such difference so we are justified in the conclusion there is not likely a god who intervenes on behalf of people who pray in this fasion. (this should sound familiar to the book club)
I think it's your last line that's throwing me off, I feel like I should know what your saying but, my minds just not making the connections.
The thing about the dice was that the only thing we had to go on was that Jen said there were dice in the jar. When put right beside an empty jar though we had no method, no tools to figure out the difference between nothing, and the supposed dice.
Josef, I don't know if I see what you are saying quite right. to define if something exists, or has ever existed one looks for the impact it would have, or is making. If I told you a meteor hit the earth you wouldn't ask when you would ask where, because then you could check for a crater. If theres no evidence of the earth being displaced, as you would expect from a meteor hit then you could resonably say I was mistaken about the meteor. In the case of the dice, we know dice make noise when put in a jar and shaken, we expect to be able to feel them. But this jar that supposedly had dice in it made no such sounds, nor could we see or feel anything inside the jar, it was as if nothing was there.
In the case of god we apply the same methods, if a god exists who, for example answers prayers and intervenes on behalf those who pray. We would expect some measurable difference between those who pray for help and those who do not. Of course we see no such difference so we are justified in the conclusion there is not likely a god who intervenes on behalf of people who pray in this fasion. (this should sound familiar to the book club)
I think it's your last line that's throwing me off, I feel like I should know what your saying but, my minds just not making the connections.
