Rubbish of course. When people use that argument, it is being flippant, but that's because the question 'Can you disprove God?' is so stupid and nonsensical. It doesn't deserve our sincerity.
If that person really pressed me and demanded I not be flippant, I'd ask him to disprove one of the other thousands of gods that are sincerely believed by many intelligent people, for whom there is as much anecdotal evidence, as per his criteria. The actual argument is rock solid.
His fifth point on that particular argument about not being able to prove what he had for dinner is a diversionary tactic. He's absolutely right, he can't prove to me what he had for dinner last night or what his thoughts are. But it doesn't matter because they are mundane claims. If somebody says to me 'I had pasta for dinner last night', I've no real reason to disbelieve them, and it's hard to think of a reason that they might be lying. Even if they are lying, what effect does that lie have? We're obviously happy to accept less evidence for more ordinary claims such as this. Once you start claiming things like there's a divine being who created everything and witnesses our every move, I'm not so happy to just accept this, since I can think of many reasons why people would make such a thing up and it's an extraordinary claim.
If that person really pressed me and demanded I not be flippant, I'd ask him to disprove one of the other thousands of gods that are sincerely believed by many intelligent people, for whom there is as much anecdotal evidence, as per his criteria. The actual argument is rock solid.
His fifth point on that particular argument about not being able to prove what he had for dinner is a diversionary tactic. He's absolutely right, he can't prove to me what he had for dinner last night or what his thoughts are. But it doesn't matter because they are mundane claims. If somebody says to me 'I had pasta for dinner last night', I've no real reason to disbelieve them, and it's hard to think of a reason that they might be lying. Even if they are lying, what effect does that lie have? We're obviously happy to accept less evidence for more ordinary claims such as this. Once you start claiming things like there's a divine being who created everything and witnesses our every move, I'm not so happy to just accept this, since I can think of many reasons why people would make such a thing up and it's an extraordinary claim.
