RE: The Problem with Christians
March 5, 2016 at 2:45 am
(This post was last modified: March 5, 2016 at 2:49 am by robvalue.)
Let me address this "are they all lying" point.
Lying is not the issue, when it comes to anecdotes. Someone can fully believe what they are saying is the truth. However:
1) Memory is notoriously unreliable and warps over time; false memories can even be created
2) Even if the memory is more or less correct, it doesn't mean the person correctly identified what was happening
3) No one has the authority to categorise things that have not as-yet been demonstrated to be real
For example, my wife tells me stories about ghosts. I believe she is being sincere. I believe she really believes she saw ghostly activity. What I don't believe is that she has correctly evaluated her experience.
From my position, there is nothing to test. I can have no opinion of it, other than it is an extroidanary claim. So until such time as there is evidence to examine, I don't believe her conclusion. I don't have to say her conclusion is false; although weighing up the probability, it's reasonable to say it is probably false.
If you just believe conclusions people make about mysterious phenomena based on anecdotes, you are gullible. The filter you apply is likely to be the same as your own beliefs. If you already thinks ghosts are real, you'll probably believe ghost stories. But if you also don't believe in vampires, you'll likely reject vampire stories.
Lying is not the issue, when it comes to anecdotes. Someone can fully believe what they are saying is the truth. However:
1) Memory is notoriously unreliable and warps over time; false memories can even be created
2) Even if the memory is more or less correct, it doesn't mean the person correctly identified what was happening
3) No one has the authority to categorise things that have not as-yet been demonstrated to be real
For example, my wife tells me stories about ghosts. I believe she is being sincere. I believe she really believes she saw ghostly activity. What I don't believe is that she has correctly evaluated her experience.
From my position, there is nothing to test. I can have no opinion of it, other than it is an extroidanary claim. So until such time as there is evidence to examine, I don't believe her conclusion. I don't have to say her conclusion is false; although weighing up the probability, it's reasonable to say it is probably false.
If you just believe conclusions people make about mysterious phenomena based on anecdotes, you are gullible. The filter you apply is likely to be the same as your own beliefs. If you already thinks ghosts are real, you'll probably believe ghost stories. But if you also don't believe in vampires, you'll likely reject vampire stories.
Feel free to send me a private message.
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Index of useful threads and discussions
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