What philosophical evidence is there against believing in non-physical entities?

[Pat Mustard]

Philosophy is not an actual science, dear.

Well maybe not, but philosophy establishes the definition of what science is based on argument and reason, rather than a magisterial argument (like citing a Scientific Academy's definition) which is based on an argument from authority.

Try to establish the bounds of science inside of the methods of one discipline of science and you will fail.

---

Why would anyone willingly accept such a claim without evidence?

But there is evidence, virtually all human societies have records and testimonies of people who had contact with spiritual entities. This is universal. Why be hostile to it?

Why not seek it out yourself? You can make contact with another type of life, I do it every day. I promise you it is real.

I am not asking you to believe me, I'm asking you to seek it out yourself because virtually all societies have testimony evidence and there is zero evidence to say that it is impossible.

Wouldn't that change your life if there were other forms of life besides humans? What if those spirits had a role in the origin of life on earth (as Richard Dawkins admitted was a possibility).

Every human culture has instances of people lying or making up stories for profit. Every human culture has instances of people ingesting mind altering substances. Every human culture has instances of stress induced hallucinations. Every culture has instances of sleep paralysis. Every culture has instances of people having delusions they believe are true.

For us to accept your conjecture you'll have to show us proof that one of those instances cannot be explained by more mundane means. That has never once been done in the history of these claims.

[Pat Mustard]

On a logarithmic scale of frequency, visible light is 2.3% of the whole electromagnetic spectrum, while on a linear scale it is 0.0035%
Our type of matter is entangled with 5 times more "dark matter" which is invisible to us.

The chances that there are living entities outside our range of perception is high.

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Another "you have to disprove my claim" thread.

This time it comes in a new "you have to use my method" flavor.

"Methods?  Where we're going, we don't need....methods." ~Doc Brown.

Just because phenomenon x is outside our perception it doesn't make it non-physical. If that were the case then both you and I would be non physical because of our inability to perceive the atoms of which we are made up of.

Another science fail brought to us by Arkilogue, the man who thinks things work differently before we find out how they work than after.

[Pat Mustard]

It is literally as simple as doing a google search.  You are online, correct?

http://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/


The RLS surveys more than 35,000 Americans from all 50 states about their religious affiliations, beliefs and practices, and social and political views.
User guide | Report about demographics | Report about beliefs and attitudes
Religions
Explore religious groups in the U.S. by tradition, family and denomination

• Christian 70.6%
  
• ► Expand Evangelical Protestant 25.4%  
  
• ► Expand Mainline Protestant 14.7%  
  
• ► Expand Historically Black Protestant 6.5%  
  
• Catholic 20.8%  
  
• ► Expand Mormon 1.6%  
  
• ► Expand Orthodox Christian 0.5%  
  
• Jehovah's Witness 0.8%  
  
• ► Expand Other Christian 0.4%  
  

• Non-Christian Faiths 5.9%
  
• Jewish 1.9%  
  
• Muslim 0.9%  
  
• Buddhist 0.7%  
  
• Hindu 0.7%  
  
• Other World Religions 0.3%  
  
• ► Expand Other Faiths 1.5%  
  
• Unaffiliated (religious "nones") 22.8%  
  
• Atheist 3.1%  
  
• Agnostic 4.0%  
  
• ► Expand Nothing in particular 15.8%  
  
• Don't know
  

Voltaire claimed that religion would be dead hundreds of year ago, but still the vast majority of people profess belief in organized religion.

Well done. In order to show how christianity has grown, you've posted a poll which sows christianity has shrunk in the US. Keep this up and you may manage an NG in your finals.

[Alex K]

Also, visible light is 2.3% of the electromagnetic spectrum? That's news to me.

[Pat Mustard]

Right. Testimony and "records" are anecdotal.

Except when they aren't.

Wrong. Because in order to prove a testamonial correct, evidence independent of the testamonial has to be provided. Evidence is of a different nature and quality than tesatmonial and it is what gives value to the claim not the initial claim itself.

[Anomalocaris]

Also, visible light is 2.3% of the electromagnetic spectrum? That's news to me.

Yeah, well, you should ask for your tuition back because they didn't teach you about the "made up bullshit" part of the theological branch of physics.

Our type of matter is entangled with 5 times more "dark matter" which is invisible to us.

The chances that there are living entities outside our range of perception is high.

But if God is not made of imperceptible matter, then since there are several orders of magnitude more hydrogen atoms than carbon atoms in the universe, The chances are much higher high still that God is a combustible, Hindenburg like Blimp filled with hot hydrogen.

[Alex K]

Correction: The Hindenburg was not a Blimp!

[The Grand Nudger]

I mentioned a neural correlate for any state of awareness to the OP for their benefit because they *do* believe in the supernatural.

Day dreaming DOES FIT YOUR DEFINITION OF AN ALTERED STATE.  IT OCCURS IN THE THETA STATE.  Caps lock for emphasis.  If it was a day dream it *doesn't help your argument.*

Take a deep breath.  Was it, a daydream?  

Dude, CALL IT WHAT YOU WANT.  I have already told you before, call it something else if you like.  A day dream.  A reindeer.  Whatever. It *doesn't change* what I'm saying to the OP: even strange perceptions have natural explanations.  No "ridiculous shit" required.

What the fuck.

What the fuck indeed.  Remember this all began as a way of explaining both how and why people dismiss anecdotes such as the one you offered -or some supernatural anecdote-.  It doesn't help to tell someone that their experiences can be explained by things other than the supernatural..no more so than suggesting that your experience was a daydream,...obviously.  You both end up huffing back IN ALL CAPS.  Ultimately, you're both doing the same thing.  Taking your flawed and spotty perceptions and memories and making a grand attribution.  In the same way that your experience can be explained by a daydream- which you strongly resist as an explanation...the believer strongly resists any natural explanation that could similarly explain their experience.  You both feel that you know, and deeply feel, that even if x -could be- explained by a daydream...that's just not what it was.

[Anomalocaris]

Correction: The Hindenburg was not a Blimp!

I said Hindenburg like blimp.  I was going to say Hindenburg like dirigible.   However, I thought even arkilogue's penetrative insight does not yet offer sufficient evidence for God having the specific attribute of an internal skeleton.

So I settle for God being a just a generic hydrogen filled gas bag instead.

[Alex K]

Correction: The Hindenburg was not a Blimp!

I said Hindenburg like blimp.  I was going to say Hindenburg like dirigible.   However, I thought even arkilogue's penetrative insight does not yet offer sufficient evidence for God having the specific attribute of an internal skeleton.

So I settle for God being a just a generic hydrogen filled gas bag instead.

Hehe, makes sense!