(February 21, 2015 at 2:35 am)xr34p3rx Wrote: the argument where Christians pull a number out of their ass saying "what are the chances of a universe like this existing without a god" or something similar.The idea is really just to come up with numbers (using the "thin air" methodology) that imply that a particular occurrence is so unlikely as to be impossible. Once you make the case that it's impossible for, say, the Earth to have developed into a life-sustaining planet without a guiding hand, you have established the need for a guiding hand, and therefore begun building the case for god.
As always, god could make such exercises moot by making its presence known. Her unwillingness to show her face has led to some amazing mental and philosophical gymnastics, which can occasionally provide a bit of amusement, if you can stop rolling your eyes long enough.
"Well, evolution is a theory. It is also a fact. And facts and theories are different things, not rungs in a hierarchy of increasing certainty. Facts are the world's data. Theories are structures of ideas that explain and interpret facts. Facts don't go away when scientists debate rival theories to explain them. Einstein's theory of gravitation replaced Newton's in this century, but apples didn't suspend themselves in midair, pending the outcome. And humans evolved from ape- like ancestors whether they did so by Darwin's proposed mechanism or by some other yet to be discovered."
-Stephen Jay Gould
-Stephen Jay Gould