• Welcome to the new Internet Infidels Discussion Board, formerly Talk Freethought.

Science is our friend - says Lion IRC (is not, is too, is not, is too,)

See? No data.
If we sampled the general population about Santa we'd find near 100% belief among the very young. It would taper off exponentially to near zero among older people.

If we actually made observations of people and from those observations concluded how important their Santa belief was, how much it operated in their daily lives, it would be near zero. Those same people would be spending more time putting their shoes on.

Religious belief is an extremely low cost exercise in belonging to an exclusivity club that yields tangible benefits.
 
You did not respond to any of my posts on this subject in the other thread

If anyone thinks I am deliberately ignoring or avoiding a certain post or line of argument and wants me to specifically reply to them please feel free to send me a PM. Then, if I still don't answer, you can announce to everyone that I'm ignoring you.

Otherwise, I don't feel obligated to answer every single comment - especially if the post is full of rhetorical questions or doesn't mention my user name or is written in an abusive way.

I try to read every post made in threads I'm following and frankly, some posts are taken as..."ok you've made your point, I've made mine, we obviously aren't going to agree, we both think the other is mistaken..that's all...let's move on."
Why would I want to wash, rinse, dry, repeat over and over again ad nauseam?

ETA - I don't reply to people who have negative repped me. (At least not until they up vote me to neutralise the bad karma.

You did it again. You ignored pretty much everything I said in my post and focused on something that was not related to the point I was making.

Still continuing with that shit, eh? You did not respond to any of my posts on this subject in the other thread, but you keep repeating your bullshit claim like it were not exposed to be a pile of stinking shit. There is no reason to believe in your god because there is no credible evidence to suggest that it exists, or has ever existed. Disbelief in a magical supernatural creature is the default position in the absence of evidence. Keep moving the goalposts as much as you like, but the fact remains that it is responsibility of the person making a claim to support the claim with evidence, which is even more true when the claim involves supernatural creatures that nobody has ever seen. The emperor has no clothes. The only question is, how much longer are you going to keep pretending like your position has any credibility despite the fact it has been debunked many times, and everyone here, including you, knows that. Why are theists so fucking dishonest?

Yes, we do pay attention. And we know the emperor has no clothes.
 
Every single bit of science weighs against a creator.

Talk is cheap.

You cannot rationally accept any science (and thus it cannot "help" support your beliefs) unless you accept the most fundamental principles of scientific reasoning and method, which say that faith has zero validity...

I agree that science (observation/testing) is used when faith isn't sufficient.

Faith is always by definition insufficient to support any belief. Faith is nothing more than irrationally disregarding that you don't have sufficient support for a conclusion but choosing to believe it anyway because it is was you emotionally prefer to be true. And with God and most other core religious beliefs, that insufficiency is beyond a mere absence of supporting evidence, but rather there is mountains of evidence that the conclusions are wrong.

But even science is frequently motivated by and often requires presuppositions.

The presuppositions are not faith based. They are the most plausible guesses based upon logically analysis of what is known to that point. And they are subject to future empirical validation or refutation, and only held with the level of certainty that the existing evidence supports.

We start out with the presupposition that everything is tentative unless or until proven wrong.
No, science starts by recognizing the logical probability that any particular idea is almost certainly wrong until their is evidence to shift that probability in its favor. In fact, it is logically impossible to start by giving all ideas tentative acceptance until proven wrong, because every idea has at least 1 and usually countless alternative ideas that are mutually exclusive. It is impossible to view them all as tentatively valid, because acceptance of one inherently requires the rejection of others. So, either you start by treating them all as invalid (which science does), or you start by irrationally and without evidence favoring one and rejecting others (which faith and religions do).

Correcting of mistakes is anticipated.
Faith and religion does not correct for mistakes. It violently attacks those who point out the mistakes and only reluctantly changes when social forces outside of religion put pressure on a religion to change or be abandoned.

And even if a hypothesis is (apparently) proven wrong we can't necessarily be 100% certain that the supposed disproof is sound. In other words, even scientists disagree on certain conclusions.

Correct, science, unlike religion and faith doesn't claim or treat as a virtue devout and certain belief because certainly always requires ignoring the most basic principle of science and going beyond what the evidence can support. Scientists disagree in part because they sometimes deviate from scientific principles, and in part because the relative probabilities supported by the evidence cannot usually be calculated with enough precision and leave room for error. Those errors get reduced with more evidence, which is why science shows directional progression toward consensus, unlike religion which has as much or more violent disagreement today as when all the existing major religions first arose.


...Any type of God belief or afterlife belief requires faith which ignores and goes well beyond what is supported by such evidence.

If you saw a miracle that would be observational evidence which might surpass your previously held "belief" in miracles
.

Saying it is "a miracle" starts with the faith-based preferred conclusion. What is actually experienced is not a miracle but a subjective experience that is only deemed to be a miracle on the basis of irrational faith. Every such experience has alternative explanations that are infinitely more plausible based upon logical analysis of all existing relevant evidence. There is no reason that actual miracles would be less likely to be caught on recording devices than any natural event, and no reason they should be less common today when we have the technology to validate or invalidate them than centuries ago. Yet, there is nothing recorded that doesn't have explanations that are more probable than being a miracle. And, whenever people do report miracles where we have the ability to investigate, they always turn out the be very obviously not miracles, proving that people who experience miracles are just emotionally blinded to the objective reality and unable to apply their own rational thinking to the situation. I have seen many things that you and most devout believers would wrongly conclude were miracles but I applied knowledge and rational thought, so I did not reach your wrong conclusion. Even when an event cannot be explained by our current knowledge of natural phenomena, inferring a miracle is irrational. The possibilities include that our knowledge of the natural phenomena is incomplete or incorrect and thus any one of an infinite number of natural non-god phenomena could be responsible. To favor the one possibility that it was God subverting natural laws (a miracle) over the infinite alternatives is to favor a conclusion that has a (1 / infinity) probability, which is the epitome of irrationality and anti-science. That doesn't even include considering the possibility that your sensory experience (which we know is prone to error) was wrong and a subjective distortion of what actually occurred.

So no, I don't accept that there cannot be observational, experienced evidence for God. All evidence, empirical or otherwise is derived from the senses.
Are you going to tell people they can't believe the evidence they observe?

No theism is based on what the believer observes. The God is never favored by any subjective experience for reasons I just explicated above.
And the totality of human experiences strongly disfavor any notion of God. So, the God hypothesis is not an act of believing what is observed. It requires accepting that belief prior to any evidence, then using that belief to dishonestly favor the highly implausible interpretation of even the most "miraculous" experiences, plus ignoring the 99% of observations and experiences that not only don't favor God but count as evidence against anything close to the conceptions that could be labeled God.

IOW, saying that theists are just believing what they observe is like saying that a racist who believes all blacks are violent is just believing what they observe because they claim that one night they saw a black man pull out what looked like a gun.

Thus, science makes rational belief in God impossible, requiring all theists the directly contradict the most basic principles of scientific thought, making any use of specific scientific knowledge an act of dishonest hypocrisy.

It might be your sincere belief, but generations of scientists have used science to confirm their belief in the existence of God.
No they have not. That is why none of them have ever published an argument for God that hasn't been thoroughly shredded for its clear distortion of the scientific facts and violation of basic principles of evidence-based reasoning.

Do you accept that Christian apologists like William Lane Craig draw heavily on scientific evidence in cosmology and astro-physics to support their arguments against a past-eternal universe?

I accept that they are dishonest charlatans who distort what science they use, deliberately ignore the 99% of science that contradicts them, and violate every principle of logical and scientific reasoning to link that evidence to their purely faith based conclusions. That is why none of them ever have published their arguments in generally respected scientific journals.
They abuse science in the same way Hitler did to support his conclusions. Merely making invalid use of selective scientific facts doesn't make science compatible with religion.

I agree that some of these theists are very intelligent and some actually do know a great deal about the relevant science. That is actually what makes the very blatant dishonesty and abuse of science in their arguments such strong evidence that valid use of science only contradicts God and cannot support it. If such smart and knowledgeable people cannot find a way to make a case for God that even a first year grad student could shred to pieces and show laughable, then it is clear that their is no way that valid use of science supports God.




You might not agree with the conclusions or inferences they draw from that scientific evidence but so what? Scientists don't agree on everything either.

This is NOT an instance of scientists disagreeing about the science. That entails scientists actually publishing scientific papers in respected peer-reviewed journals and arguing for differing conclusions. These frauds publish for-profit non-peer reviewed books because they know their arguments have no scientific merit and are not scientific arguments, so they don't even try to publish in legit science journals. It is no more a "scientific disagreement" than if someone who happens to have a Ph.D. in some science field posts on this board "Evolution never happened" or "All black people are evil." Sometimes people with science degrees say things via completely non-scientific channels that definitely wrong and nonsense so virtually none of their scientific peers give it any credence, and most of their scientific peers don't even bother responding because the person isn't even trying to honestly abide by the basic principles of rational discourse. Valid ideas get increasing acceptance and eventual consensus because the evidence for them continually accumulates. That is the case with all the crap from Lane Craig and others you are referring to. Only after an idea achieves widespread acceptance is it valid to refer to it as a scientifically supported argument, until then it is just something that is unlikely to be true that a person who may or may not have a degree is asserting.
 
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I would like to note here that William Craig Lane has in fact denied the existence of virtual particles. He is a science ignoramus. He has abused mathematics. Repeat after me, infinity is not a number.
 


Actual Data:
https://commons.trincoll.edu/worldviewsofscientists/report/

No doubt Lion will cherry-pick what he takes from it, but the facts are overwhelming - scientists are much less religious than the general population.

Check out III-A, III-C and III-D. Also of interest: II-H, II-O, III-E, III-F, III-G, III-H

India is a weird choice too - the 'religious' there are Hindu, not Christian. Even if Indian scientists were much more likely to be religious, that's (at best) a positive for Hinduism and a negative for Christianity, which (I guess) wasn't the intended conclusion.
 
Even if Indian scientists were much more likely to be religious, that's (at best) a positive for Hinduism and a negative for Christianity, which (I guess) wasn't the intended conclusion.
Well, Lion doesn't seem to be quite so angry at Hindus. As long as he can keep the bragging rights for science away from those nasty atheists, even if it goes to polytheists or deists or pagans, he'll probably be happier.
 
Even if Indian scientists were much more likely to be religious, that's (at best) a positive for Hinduism and a negative for Christianity, which (I guess) wasn't the intended conclusion.
Well, Lion doesn't seem to be quite so angry at Hindus. As long as he can keep the bragging rights for science away from those nasty atheists, even if it goes to polytheists or deists or pagans, he'll probably be happier.
Within my extended family I have a brother, now in his 50's who suffered brain damage at birth. His belief in Santa is as strong as ever, cookies, the reindeer, presents under the tree. I mention this because it is a window into how our brains must be different. His functional level is four or maybe five years old, not safe on his own, but able to socialize with adults quite well.

I'm not saying religious brains are damaged, only different.
 

Oh you bet I am gonna pick it to pieces.
66% of the respondents self-identified as Hindu!
Most of them have no qualms over introduction of Ayurvedic medicine as a subject in universities.
Nearly half of them 49% believe in the power of prayers.
This summary of that same report affirms that religion and faith are "deeply ingrained" among Indian scientists.
50% think homeopathy works.
58% think ("strongly approve") Vedic astrology should be taught in universities!
93% think "secularism" means tolerance of various religions.
54% either approve, strongly approve or "aren't sure" about space scientists getting an official religious blessing from lord Venkateswara for their scientific endeavours. Presumably lord Venkateswara is the god of science or space travel.


...but the facts are overwhelming - scientists are much less religious than the general population.
Scientists ARE the general population. There are scientists everywhere.
What you are doing is dividing scientists into 'no true scotsman' categories and making an artificial boundary where, for example, food hygiene laboratory scientists or mechanical engineers aren't the same as non-commercial, scientist boffins working in academia.



...India is a weird choice too - the 'religious' there are Hindu, not Christian.

I didn't say the majority of scientists are Christian.
Hinduism is a religion. Islam is a religion.
And your very helpful report about the religiousity of scientists in India bears out my claim.

Millions of Hindus. Millions of Muslims. Millions of Christians. And the percentage of them who are scientists will numerically outnumber the percentage (number) of atheists who are scientists.
This surely cannot be a surprise to you.
 
I would like to note here that William Craig Lane has in fact denied the existence of virtual particles. He is a science ignoramus. He has abused mathematics. Repeat after me, infinity is not a number.


He doesn't deny their existence, he denies that virtual particles are uncaused.
 
You appear to be anti-science about that which provides evidence against your positions and pro-science about that which supports your positions.

I've never seen any science that weighs against God's existence.
Have you?

sorry, god who? Tell me about this thing and I point you to the mountain of evidence against it (like the god described in many books still available today), OR (depending on how you describe it) I will point out how irrelevant and useless such a thing is (a god that is exactly the same as one that does not exist, for example - one that hides and does nothing).

- - - Updated - - -

After extrapolating that out of your ass, how did you get the bad smell off? Did you just leave it smeared in shit and that is how we noticed what you did, maybe?

Thanks for your contribution to the thread.
And thanks for speaking on behalf of all the other vulgarians.

I'm always left wondering how it works in a freethought community when a person appoints themself custodian of the word "we" and speaks for some cohort of sheeple.
I must checkout your list of 'followers'.

those people I this thread calling out your failed arguments.. they are the "we".
 
I've (still) never seen any science which weighs against God's existence. Thanks for NOT rocking my boat.

And if you don't know what I mean by "God" then you're a pretty lame type of atheist - you don't even know what it is that you don't believe exists.

...he isn't quite sure whether or not he really doesn't know what it is he doesn't believe in
 
And if you don't know what I mean by "God" then you're a pretty lame type of atheist - you don't even know what it is that you don't believe exists.
How incredibly, but unsurprisingly, self-centered of you, Lion. And wrong.

Atheists don't believe in Jehovah, or Ptah, or Amateratsu, Kos, Aslan, Cthulhu, Crom, Ki, Thor (Norse or Marvel versions), Apollo (Greek, DC, Marvel or Star Trek), Quetzalcoatl, or Pele. We can be quite clear on what WE do NOT believe in, and still not understand what it is YOU mean when you use the term: God.
 
And if you don't know what I mean by "God" then you're a pretty lame type of atheist - you don't even know what it is that you don't believe exists.
How incredibly, but unsurprisingly, self-centered of you, Lion. And wrong.

Atheists don't believe in Jehovah, or Ptah, or Amateratsu, Kos, Aslan, Cthulhu, Crom, Ki, Thor (Norse or Marvel versions), Apollo (Greek, DC, Marvel or Star Trek), Quetzalcoatl, or Pele. We can be quite clear on what WE do NOT believe in, and still not understand what it is YOU mean when you use the term: God.

Ah, another believer in Osiris! May Horus smile upon you. :p
 
I've (still) never seen any science which weighs against God's existence. Thanks for NOT rocking my boat.

And if you don't know what I mean by "God" then you're a pretty lame type of atheist - you don't even know what it is that you don't believe exists.

...he isn't quite sure whether or not he really doesn't know what it is he doesn't believe in

There's a pretty distinct difference between "Your god doesn't exist." and "You have no reason to assume that your god is real."

Also correct me if I am wrong here, but from a perspective of logic, if your god makes no attempt to intervene in the affairs of his creations, isn't that basically the same thing as not existing from our perspective?
 
Just as the term "God of the gaps" is said from atheists. What Lion is indicating here is; there are gaps in science , the full understanding of the universe. How would a Creationists explain in the science language currently and insufficiently available if scientists can't explain why natural laws behaves the way it does?

On top of this there is the excuse for definitions of God to be clarified. Lets us then say we mean a 'creator of all things' visible and unseen/ forces of nature. This should cover the varied versions of God meaning man and the animals were created.

Also correct me if I am wrong here, but from a perspective of logic, if your god makes no attempt to intervene in the affairs of his creations, isn't that basically the same thing as not existing from our perspective?

The perspective of logic used here is derived from experience with how humans behave. Why should there be an assumption that God should behave or intervene as humans think ? Logically from our perspective "prophesies would not be prophesies" if God keeps intervening so coinciding that there would be a day all will meet the creator as it is written.
 
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