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Fine-Tuning Argument vs Argument From Miracles

A creationist I knew pointed out the window and said It is obvious a giod created it all!'. A variation of 'the universe can not possibly exist without a god, therefore god exists'.

Fine tuning says physical constants leads to the conclusion the universe was designed, therefore god exists. It is similar to the watchmaker arument. You find a watch and you have never seen one. You conclude with its c omplexity it could not have come to be to be by a natural process, therefore there must be a watchmaker. The compexity of the universe that allows life on Earth implies a creator, god.

Christians see miracles in their daily lives all the time. They pray for money and find a twenty dollar bill on the sidewalk. They pray and see a result in their lives. I pray and I feel results therefor god exists.

I knew a Christian who had an echocardiogram that shoed very thin walls in his heart. Wen they opened him up it was not nearly as bad as thought. He considered an act f god. I called it experimental variation.
 
It is similar to the watchmaker arument. You find a watch and you have never seen one. You conclude with its c omplexity it could not have come to be to be by a natural process, therefore there must be a watchmaker. The compexity of the universe that allows life on Earth implies a creator, god.
Aye, there's the rub.
The watch is complex, and unlike anything in Nature, therefore an artifact.
Then Scotty reverses polarity on the sensors, and the same observer compares the same Nature and the same watchand finds that Nature is like the watch which proves Nature is an artifact, but that conclusion is based on the watch necessarily being an artifact because it != Nature, which our conclusion disagrees with, so our observation is disprovenl and our conclusion must be abandoned, which takes away the disproof of our initial observation, so that stands, the watch is an artifact again, but we dare not compare it to nature too many times or it may turn out to be a seed.
Or a tumor.
 
Well, as Dawkins has stated...there is nothing about the universe that is particularly fine tuned to support life. Black holes, exploding stars, radiation up the ass, and the cold...holy fuck it's cold. Well, maybe Dawkins didn't say those words exactly. But you get the gist.
 
Well, as Dawkins has stated...there is nothing about the universe that is particularly fine tuned to support life. Black holes, exploding stars, radiation up the ass, and the cold...holy fuck it's cold. Well, maybe Dawkins didn't say those words exactly. But you get the gist.

Universe. Lacks atmosphere, not enough of it seems to (be) matter. The tiny amount of it that does manage to be interesting isn't sufficient to make up for the gaping voids. One star (out of 1024). Rated R18+ (violence, sex, nudity, drug use, language, adult themes).
 
Why does everyone believe those who hold their breath turn blue?

Red seems more likely donchathink.

Probably has something to do with fear of a devil?

Purple, maybe. Or blue. But not red - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyanosis

Geez. I'm in to lower energy results not to expected results. I'm in to hyperbole, significantly lower energy results ........ What could be further from the sun that something red shifted to just less than microwave ........

..... (violence, sex, nudity, drug use, language, adult themes).


That's the spirit,
 
Take your pick of starting premise on which to base your theory that the universe is fine-tuned:

  1. If it wasn't then I wouldn't exist.
  2. If it wasn't then the human species wouldn't exist.
  3. If it wasn't the Earth wouldn't be suitable for life.
  4. If it wasn't the physical constants wouldn't allow for the formation of elements needed for life.
  5. If it wasn't the physical constants wouldn't allow for matter to coalesce into forms.
  6. If it wasn't then nothing would exist.
Only the last one has some metaphysical basis for argument. All the others lack objectivity and are therefore irrational and illogical. They all lack context and perspective. They are conclusions without premises. There needs to be something that makes the conclusion important in an objective sense. In other words each of the premises needs to be followed by ", and therefore (what?). There's no actual need to resort to either an intentional God or a many-worlds theory. There's simply no objective reference point from which it can be said that it's good that the universe turned out as it did, or that it was particularly unlikely that it did so.
 
Why does the puddle fit the hole? The hole must have been fine-tuned to the exact measurements of the puddle.
 
FTA also defeats itself by positing a creator/life form that needs none of the fine tuning or elements needed for life. If life could exist without the universe then the universe (even a fine-tuned one) is irrelevant.
 
FTA also defeats itself by positing a creator/life form that needs none of the fine tuning or elements needed for life. If life could exist without the universe then the universe (even a fine-tuned one) is irrelevant.

That's a pretty powerful argument. I'll have to remember that point. Thank you for sharing.
 
FTA also defeats itself by positing a creator/life form that needs none of the fine tuning or elements needed for life. If life could exist without the universe then the universe (even a fine-tuned one) is irrelevant.

That's a pretty powerful argument. I'll have to remember that point. Thank you for sharing.

I don't think it hits the mark. FTA is only concerned with material existence. God and God's spiritual creations by definition simply exist. No batteries required.
 
God and God's spiritual creations by definition simply exist.

Except that, beings don't just simply exist by definition. Someone can claim that, of course, but that doesn't make it true and would be a very poor argument.

Big Foot exists by definition. See? Not exactly compelling.
 
God and God's spiritual creations by definition simply exist.

Except that, beings don't just simply exist by definition. Someone can claim that, of course, but that doesn't make it true and would be a very poor argument.

Big Foot exists by definition. See? Not exactly compelling.

I meant that if you try to use that argument with someone who believes in a creator God they'd claim that what they call God does simply exist, and that the material universe does have a begininning, or creation event. I'm not saying they're good arguments. Just that you won't convince anyone using Atheos' argument. The best argument is against the anthropic principle which states that the universe needs to be compatible with an intelligent observer. I'd argue that no matter how the universe began there is no evidence of a goal or intention or particular reason that it had to be able to support life of any kind. You might as well argue that you or I had to exist because otherwise we wouldn't be having this discussion. But if we didn't, or if life didn't, it would simply be different. Not better or worse.
 
I'm not saying they're good arguments. Just that you won't convince anyone using Atheos' argument.

Much though I'd like to take credit for it, it's not my argument. I heard it elsewhere and thought it was clever.

As for the rest of what you said I'd argue that it's been my experience that few people are ever convinced using argumentation.
 
I'm not saying they're good arguments. Just that you won't convince anyone using Atheos' argument.

Much though I'd like to take credit for it, it's not my argument. I heard it elsewhere and thought it was clever.

As for the rest of what you said I'd argue that it's been my experience that few people are ever convinced using argumentation.

I understand. And it's why I was responding to T.G.G. Moogly who did seem to think it would work.
 
I'm not saying they're good arguments. Just that you won't convince anyone using Atheos' argument.

Much though I'd like to take credit for it, it's not my argument. I heard it elsewhere and thought it was clever.

As for the rest of what you said I'd argue that it's been my experience that few people are ever convinced using argumentation.

I understand. And it's why I was responding to T.G.G. Moogly who did seem to think it would work.

It's a very simple point to make and to understand, no mental gymnastics required by either party. Before there was a universe or a fine-tuned universe there was this creator, this god, that's the claim. So to ask if this god was alive or dead really makes a point because if it was already alive then who needs a fine tuning argument or even a universe?

It's a purely clever and emotional response and would work quite well on 99% of the believers I know. None of them are even curious about where the word Easter comes from or know that "under god" was added to the POA in the 1950's. They thought "under god" was always there, and that "Easter" just fell out of the sky.

So it's precisely these kinds of responses and tactics that work on these kinds of people, at least in my experience. Will they change their tune? Hell, no. But it will certainly back them up and shut them up, at least for a while because it makes them aware of their contradiction and of being uninformed.

If a person wants to argue about how their creator was or wasn't alive or dead, biologically or otherwise that's super. It opens up all kinds of possibilities for more discussion. Do they want to say it was mystically alive? Okay, then it was biologically dead, and it's still biologically dead. Another point made, I would think. What's the point of making biological life if there was already this mystical life? Seems kinda stupid doesn't it? And on we go.

It's the perfect kind of response and tactic for most of the believers I know.
 
I understand. And it's why I was responding to T.G.G. Moogly who did seem to think it would work.

It's a very simple point to make and to understand, no mental gymnastics required by either party. Before there was a universe or a fine-tuned universe there was this creator, this god, that's the claim. So to ask if this god was alive or dead really makes a point because if it was already alive then who needs a fine tuning argument or even a universe?

It's a purely clever and emotional response and would work quite well on 99% of the believers I know. None of them are even curious about where the word Easter comes from or know that "under god" was added to the POA in the 1950's. They thought "under god" was always there, and that "Easter" just fell out of the sky.

So it's precisely these kinds of responses and tactics that work on these kinds of people, at least in my experience. Will they change their tune? Hell, no. But it will certainly back them up and shut them up, at least for a while because it makes them aware of their contradiction and of being uninformed.

If a person wants to argue about how their creator was or wasn't alive or dead, biologically or otherwise that's super. It opens up all kinds of possibilities for more discussion. Do they want to say it was mystically alive? Okay, then it was biologically dead, and it's still biologically dead. Another point made, I would think. What's the point of making biological life if there was already this mystical life? Seems kinda stupid doesn't it? And on we go.

It's the perfect kind of response and tactic for most of the believers I know.

I'm not interested in "what works on these kinds of people" simply to "shut them up". If that's all you want then my mistake.
 
Why do you have to "make up shit" in order to debunk the Jesus miracles?

(continued from previous Wall of Text)


And notably, there are no writings to be found about Jesus the celestial entity (Paul's Jesus) as these were likely systematically destroyed in . . .

No, there are many such writings which survived -- more than those about Jesus the miracle-worker -- and a vastly greater number which did not because they perished. 99% of all the ancient writings perished because they were not copied. There's no evidence of any systematic destruction of literature in those centuries. It's not until the late 5th century that there is finally one dubious reference to books being destroyed by the Church 100 years earlier.

Other than this one reference to an event 100 years earlier there is no evidence of any systematic destruction of books by Christians, or of any orders to destroy books, though there are many edicts preserved which condemn heretics and their teachings.

There is one isolated incident of NON-systematic destruction of books on divination or magic (Acts 19:19), but nothing to do with any alternative beliefs about Jesus or the celestial Christ or anything theological or philosophical. And there is one 11th-century account saying that in the 4th century a pagan temple (in Antioch) containing a library was burned by a mob of Christians.

. . . these were likely systematically destroyed in the second and third centuries by the zealous Christians who . . .

If that were true, they would also have destroyed the Gnostic gospels, and others, also the Book of Revelation. And also many of the Patristic writings would have been destroyed, because most of them also contain references to Jesus the celestial entity. There's no evidence whatever of such writings being destroyed.

. . . by the zealous Christians who wanted to sell their version of flesh and blood, miracle-performing, rising up from dead personal savior Jesus.

You're incoherently confusing the "zealous Christians" Jesus with the Paul Jesus. The "rising up from the dead personal savior Jesus" is the same as Paul's Jesus, so how can you say this was "systematically destroyed" by the "zealous Christians" and yet they want to "sell" it?


separate "versions" of Jesus:

As to the "flesh and blood, miracle-performing" Jesus, which you say they wanted to "sell" -- there is very little of this in all the writings from the period, after the NT. Most of the writings are of the celestial Christ, the Pauline and Johanine Logos Christ, the Gnostic Christ, and the Messiah of Jewish prophecy, not the "flesh and blood, miracle-performing" Jesus. If you review the Patristic writings, after Paul, from Clement and later, you see very little of the miracle-worker Jesus. You have to search through hundreds (thousands) of pages about Paul's celestial risen Christ and the Messiah of Prophecy, in order to find a rare reference to Jesus performing the healing miracles.

If it's true that these "zealous Christians" destroyed the "Jesus the celestial entity" writings, as you falsely claim, and instead promoted their "flesh and blood, miracle-performing" Jesus, why do we find so little of the latter, which you say they wanted to sell, and so much of Paul's "celestial" Jesus which you say they destroyed? Go and look through all the writings after the 1st century, and you'll find the "celestial" Jesus everywhere -- the Gnostic Logos Jesus, and the Virgin-born Messiah of Prophecy -- but virtually none of the "flesh and blood, miracle-performing" Jesus who walked the earth and healed the blind and lepers etc.

The actual evidence shows the OPPOSITE of what you're saying. The writings which prevailed are the ones you're saying were destroyed.

However, you're ignoring that these two kinds of writings don't contradict each other. Rather, the contrast is that the "flesh and blood" miracle-working Jesus is de-emphasized, while it's the cosmic heavenly celestial Christ who gets 90% of the attention in all the Patristic writings. This includes the virgin-born Messiah, fulfiller of ancient prophecies, and the Resurrected Christ.

But there's a joining of the two Christs -- the earthly miracle-worker Jesus and the Cosmic Risen Christ, so they're really the same. It's incorrect to see these as contrary, even though Paul ignores the earthly Jesus almost entirely. Neither makes any sense alone. An abstract non-physical Christ never made any sense, as a Risen entity, unless he was first an earthly person who was killed and then rose.

Outside the earthly component, Paul's Risen Christ has no meaning, and his sermons and writings would have had no effect or acceptance by his audience if it had not been based on the reported earthly Christ. And without the Resurrection and later Salvation possibility, the earthly miracle-worker Jesus has no meaning. The miracles have to point to something farther out into the future. So only the two together can make any sense. Either one alone is meaningless and would have gained no following or believers.


And what we have today are copies of copies of translations of copies of copies of copies.

Like all our historical writings. Again, your observation confirms that these writings are historical. It's such writings as these, copied again and again and again, upon which we rely for 98% of our known history, i.e., the mainline history taught in books and schools, etc.


That is the evidence. There is not enough to establish Jesus as a flesh and blood person, much less . . .

So Josephus and Philo the Alexandrian and Hillel and Spartacus and Attila the Hun and thousands of other characters in the historical record were not "flesh and blood" persons, because written documents are "not enough to establish" that they existed and did what we believe they did? You want to throw out of the historical record all the characters named in the accounts because written documents are "not enough to establish" that they existed physically, in history.

. . . much less attribute any credibility to the miracles claims of the fan-fiction gospels.

Of course you can conclude this if you start out from the premise that no miracle event can ever happen, despite any evidence that it did. However, we are not required to adopt this dogmatic premise. There is nothing in logic or science or math which precludes the possibility of miracle events, when there is evidence that they happened. The reason we generally reject such claims is that there is no evidence. But when there is evidence, as in this case, it becomes a reasonable possibility, and so we consider the evidence, asking the reasonable questions, inquiring further, rather than dogmatically condemning the evidence because it contradicts our ideology that no miracle event can ever happen.


You can polish this turd as much as you like, . . .

What turd is that?

. . . but the stink ain't goin' away.

Wrong topic. Trump's budget deal is found in the Political Issues forum.


(this Wall of Text to be continued)
 
Hey look at that. The exact same bullshit argument once again repeated.

The historical writings are historical writings proving that they are historical writings and that's why magical ponies can grant wishes!
 
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