RE: I can feel your anger
July 12, 2012 at 10:50 am
(This post was last modified: July 12, 2012 at 10:59 am by Whateverist.)
(July 12, 2012 at 5:00 am)Selliedjoup Wrote: I claim a god may exist then.
That's fine. And I claim that if in fact one does show itself our concept of the natural world will be expanded even if we lack the capacity to understand exactly what it is we've been shown.
My question for you becomes, what are you going to do with that claim? Will it effect any of your plans or generate any new projects? If not, it is hard to see how the belief inherent in your claim makes much of a difference otherwise.
When I talk about what I believe, it isn't just a question of considering evidence and arguments. Beliefs are not always rational and may or may not be operative regardless of what one considers to be reasonably supported.
So I also look to see if such beliefs seem to animate my actions. But I don't find myself wondering about the existence of gods or rethinking my actions in light of what One might think if It did exist. I don't feel the presence of gods walking down the street. So far as I can tell, there are no beliefs about gods that are operative in the way I live my life.
Now whether or not such beliefs should be operative in my life is entirely a separate question. As a bare abstract possibility, I am 100% agnostic about the existence of gods. I find no more evidence than you do for or against the existence of gods. I don't have any reason to believe the statement that gods don't exist is true. I agree with your claim that gods may exist, but I find myself pretty apathetic generally toward claims for which no evidence is available.
This is where the tired haggling over the burden of proof comes in. I'll just say that if one agrees that there is no evidence yet feels that it does matter, then one must have more beliefs regarding gods actually operative in their psyches than I have in mine. I won't insist anyone owes me any proof but I damn sure don't owe them anything either.
(July 12, 2012 at 5:18 am)Tiberius Wrote: An absolute claim that something "may" exist is exactly the same as a relative claim that something does / does not.
In both cases, you are not claiming any specific truth other than a law of logic that is already assumed true (A or not A).
Well that cuts to the heart of the matter.
