I am not trying to put words in your mouth, and apologize for that.
It was an unfair jab, because you have not stated that Atheism is objectively correct, or that I am wrong to not believe it. That's why it bothers me a little to argue with you, you are very good at it, and so if you think me a tin-foil hat kinda guy, it is a little likely to be true.
I maintain that I am notorious for using words as abstract symbols to represent ideas and concepts, and that my personal definition may be a little off. That might create the most friction here. I learned from you guys that Homeopathy does literally mean snake-oil. Things like that. So I may be misunderstanding skepticism.
Skepticism is about what is possible, not what is certain. Ooooh, another jem. Write that one down.
Thanks again,
-Pip
It was an unfair jab, because you have not stated that Atheism is objectively correct, or that I am wrong to not believe it. That's why it bothers me a little to argue with you, you are very good at it, and so if you think me a tin-foil hat kinda guy, it is a little likely to be true.
Quote:However my point about believing something based on the evidence, that's a staple of skepticism.Allow me to continue if I may? I think that believing something based on evidence is paramount, but we have to be very honest about the value of all of the evidence. And I see the doubt and the skepticism in that need. When I see a video about 9/11 I know it is a video. It is a work of opinion by another person who, even if they tried to be objective as possible can't help but try to manipulate the information. So I can't believe that 9/11 was an inside job because I have seen a video, no matter the quality of the arguments or any alleged proof it showed. Because the proof in other people videos will always be alleged until I get something more solid, more real world... That is what I mean by skepticism, that we assign a realistic value to evidence, and that we err on the side of doubt. So that is why I didn't "see the light" with Adrians 9/11 "proof", because it was a YouTube video. I, if you remember, did not post a YouTube video to make my point, I referenced basic physics and our own personal recollections of the event.
I maintain that I am notorious for using words as abstract symbols to represent ideas and concepts, and that my personal definition may be a little off. That might create the most friction here. I learned from you guys that Homeopathy does literally mean snake-oil. Things like that. So I may be misunderstanding skepticism.
Skepticism is about what is possible, not what is certain. Ooooh, another jem. Write that one down.
Thanks again,
-Pip
