Systematically Dismantling Atheism

[Brian37]

A couple seconds max is not much time wasted. This isn't a chore to me to accept that I could be wrong.

Whatever, Brian. That's your way of thinking, and I respect that. But I just don't do absolutes when it comes to matters I don't have sufficient knowledge in.

UGGGGGGGG, rant rant oogggaaa booogggga.

I don't want anyone, atheist or theist to "respect" anything I say. I want others to pony up with evidence. It is not your duty to blindly buy what I say even if you value my right to make the claim.

Now again, when you say "I don't do absolutes" you are assuming that is what I am demanding you do. NO NO NO NO NO.......

I am saying that being open minded DOES NOT include clinging to bad claims or defaulting to all claims having equal weight "just in case".

The psychological reason you do that is because the meme of fairness in western society is deep seeded on rights issues, which is not the same issue as credibility, which is what science addresses, and no ethical science or proper use of method, starts from the assumption that all claims are true by default. Nor does it assume that all claims are equal by default. Nor does it assume that all claims are worthy of consideration by default.

"So you're saying there's a chance"..............Of what? Monkeys flying out of my butt?

Yes it is ok to say "I don't know". But again, what you do not want to accept is that is there is a huge difference between the open minded nature of scientific method and confusing it with how laypeople use "open minded". If scientific method was closed minded you would not be typing on this computer right now. Closed minded would be assuming a magic computer pixy runs your CPU.

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Neil deGrasse Tyson has pointed out the stumbling block of humans in science when they hit a gap far too many times that ends up with "well we cant figure out anything else so god did it". He points out that limits our discovery and slows it down. It is not a good way of thinking when you hit something you have yet to understand. The ethical open minded nature of scientific method is to go with established data that is confirmed and build on that. By discarding bad claims you open the door to knowledge. "I don't know" does not negate, nor should it, the use of a trash can to throw bad ideas in. Not only does it not negate it, it is the wise way to keep that door open.

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I would say that it doesn't take time to have not dismissed things out of hand. You don't have to actively keep thinking about it in order to not dismiss it. It's just that you are in the frame of mind such that if new evidence presents itself, the idea is ready to come out of the attic and be reassessed.

Living practically as if something doesn't exist doesn't mean you have to also erase the possibility from your mind that it may change in the future.

ARRGGGGGGGGGGGG...............

I think far too many theists and even far too many atheists in the interest of rights and pluralism misuse how science keeps and open mind vs how humans in general treat "open minded" from a government human rights standpoint.

Of course the future is not currently set. In 10 years I do not know if my position will change. I certainly am not the same person I was I was 12 or 20. I do not hold the same positions now that I did then.

This is where people, including atheists, need to get used to "agnostic" and "atheist" being valid as a term.

There is a time frame issue people do not consider. There are past claims, current claims and a future that is not set.

As far as past and current claims I am a flat out atheist. I am agnostic about the future. But even that for me, is strictly semantic in word only considering the highly unlikely probability of a god existing since our current best data is running away from the concept on top of saying it isn't even a requirement.

Yes, I do not know the future. But that does not mean we should keep every claim "just in case". You clutter your desk with garbage and never use your trash can, your desk is going to fill up with crap that is going to slow you down, or lead you to bad results.