What philosophical evidence is there against believing in non-physical entities?

[joseph_]

That is not evidence so much as it is thoughts led astray by fancy.

Right. Testimony and "records" are anecdotal. There hasn't been, as of yet, any actual evidence. It seems odd that as technology and data gathering exploded, the number of these accounts had dropped dramatically. It's almost as though people were just telling stories, and as our ability to test and call people out on these stories, they just decided to stop telling them.

Where do you get the data that shows the numbers are decreasing? Spirituality is an almost universal experience of human kind. There are more Christians today than there ever have been and reports of supernatural experiences are extremely common. I would estimate that probably 1 in 3 Christians have some elaborate testimony that includes a certain supernatural experience. That is over 650 million people.

[Silver]

You must be new to the internet. There are countless studies confirming that belief is majorly going downhill.

[Minimalist]

All that means is that 1 in 3 xtians are delusional.

I actually suspect the number is higher.

[joseph_]

You must be new to the internet.  There are countless studies confirming that belief is majorly going downhill.

Care to cite any?

---

All that means is that 1 in 3 xtians are delusional.

I actually suspect the number is higher.

Is that supposed to be a seriously scientific assessment? That there are 600 million people that according to the DSM or something like this are suffering from "delusions"? Do you realize how unlikely this is? Or is this just some convenient hyperbole to gloss over the fact that you aren't advancing any real argument.

[Silver]

Care to cite any?

It is literally as simple as doing a google search. You are online, correct?

[Jesster]

Another "you have to disprove my claim" thread.

This time it comes in a new "you have to use my method" flavor.

[Arkilogue]

On a logarithmic scale of frequency, visible light is 2.3% of the whole electromagnetic spectrum, while on a linear scale it is 0.0035%
Our type of matter is entangled with 5 times more "dark matter" which is invisible to us.

The chances that there are living entities outside our range of perception is high.

---

Another "you have to disprove my claim" thread.

This time it comes in a new "you have to use my method" flavor.

"Methods? Where we're going, we don't need....methods." ~Doc Brown.

[LostLocke]

And all these stories of supernatural "experiences" are fine. But again, people can say anything they want, doesn't mean they can back it up.

Tell someone you had an experience 2000 or 4000 years ago, they might accept it at face value. Tell that to someone today, they likely won't.

[joseph_]

Care to cite any?

It is literally as simple as doing a google search.  You are online, correct?

http://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/


The RLS surveys more than 35,000 Americans from all 50 states about their religious affiliations, beliefs and practices, and social and political views.
User guide | Report about demographics | Report about beliefs and attitudes
Religions
Explore religious groups in the U.S. by tradition, family and denomination

• Christian 70.6%
  
• ► Expand Evangelical Protestant 25.4%  
  
• ► Expand Mainline Protestant 14.7%  
  
• ► Expand Historically Black Protestant 6.5%  
  
• Catholic 20.8%  
  
• ► Expand Mormon 1.6%  
  
• ► Expand Orthodox Christian 0.5%  
  
• Jehovah's Witness 0.8%  
  
• ► Expand Other Christian 0.4%  
  

• Non-Christian Faiths 5.9%
  
• Jewish 1.9%  
  
• Muslim 0.9%  
  
• Buddhist 0.7%  
  
• Hindu 0.7%  
  
• Other World Religions 0.3%  
  
• ► Expand Other Faiths 1.5%  
  
• Unaffiliated (religious "nones") 22.8%  
  
• Atheist 3.1%  
  
• Agnostic 4.0%  
  
• ► Expand Nothing in particular 15.8%  
  
• Don't know
  

Voltaire claimed that religion would be dead hundreds of year ago, but still the vast majority of people profess belief in organized religion.

[chimp3]

Philosophical evidence is an oxymoron. Like military intelligence or semi-boneless ham.