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How much proof is enough?


hereticspl

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24 minutes ago, Habitat said:

But what would be the proof that convinces ? 

Concrete evidence, not blind belief.

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4 minutes ago, Black Red Devil said:

Concrete evidence, not blind belief.

such as ?

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5 minutes ago, Habitat said:

such as ?

Such as evidence from thousands all proving evidential theories against a book written by who knows who thousands of years ago.  What's your view on how old the Earth is and the rotation of stars and planets?

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4 minutes ago, Black Red Devil said:

Such as evidence from thousands all proving evidential theories against a book written by who knows who thousands of years ago.  What's your view on how old the Earth is and the rotation of stars and planets?

I'm not sure what you mean there, and no, I am not a biblical creationist.

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4 minutes ago, Habitat said:

I'm not sure what you mean there, and no, I am not a biblical creationist.

You wanted some examples of concrete evidence and I've already mentioned I believe in science, therefore I asked you for your swing on two contradicting views by evolutionists and creationists but now you claim you're not one.  So what do you believe in?

Edited by Black Red Devil
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1 minute ago, Black Red Devil said:

You wanted some examples of concrete evidence and I've already mentioned I believe in science, therefore I asked you for your swing on two contradicting views by evolutionists and creationists but now you claim you're not one.  So what do you believe in?

I believe in accepting the truth, but I am not seeing any example of this concrete evidence you want ?

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1 minute ago, Habitat said:

I believe in accepting the truth, but I am not seeing any example of this concrete evidence you want ?

If were talking about concrete evidence against bible scripture you can really take your pick of a thousand different examples. 

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2 minutes ago, Habitat said:

I believe in accepting the truth, but I am not seeing any example of this concrete evidence you want ?

What specific thing convinces you and makes you accept this truth?

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Just now, hereticspl said:

If were talking about concrete evidence against bible scripture you can really take your pick of a thousand different examples. 

That wasn't what I thought he meant, I thought he wanted "proof" of God, and I asked what would satisfy that requirement.

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1 minute ago, Black Red Devil said:

What specific thing convinces you and makes you accept this truth?

I go on what I see and hear, and I have seen more than enough to convince me that an afterlife does exist, and that really means, for me, that all bets are off as to whether the ultimate reality in bland materialism. It is not. In the absence of such demonstrations, I'd simply say I just don't know. 

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15 minutes ago, Habitat said:

I go on what I see and hear, and I have seen more than enough to convince me that an afterlife does exist, and that really means, for me, that all bets are off as to whether the ultimate reality in bland materialism. It is not. In the absence of such demonstrations, I'd simply say I just don't know. 

Ah OK, now I finally get where you're coming from although I wouldn't attach myself to religion in the quest to find spirituality.  I'm not sure you do (rely on religion for your beliefs) but in my view the best chances to find out if there is life after death and a spiritual essence is initially through theoretical science.  Of course, there is no science until there is evidence but one can still keep an open mind.

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1 minute ago, Black Red Devil said:

Ah OK, now I finally get where you're coming from although I wouldn't attach myself to religion in the quest to find spirituality.  I'm not sure if you do but in my view the best chances to find out if there is life after death and a spiritual essence is initially through theoretical science.  Of course, there is no science until there is evidence but one can still keep an open mind.

The open mind certainly is the way to go. I doubt that scientific evidence will ever be seen, though.

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Somewhere in this topic, someone stated that they knew the truth of their deistic beliefs due to personal knowledge/experiences. But they cannot demonstrate this truth, they can only refer to it as the cause for their beliefs.

So, if one has a personal reason to believe something, but cannot demonstrate the reason, or provide evidences of it, then does this reason matter to anyone but the believer herself? And, if someone believes another's claim regarding "X", does that mean that they believe in "X", or do they believe the claimant?

EXAMPLE:  It is reported that Moses went up the mountain for 40 days, and received the tablets of law from Yahweh and returned to his people with them.  Many people are said to have accepted his report of god writing this tablets. BUT, did they really believe a being of a higher order wrote them? Or did they merely believe in Moses as their leader?

Edited by Jodie.Lynne
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3 minutes ago, Jodie.Lynne said:

Somewhere in this topic, someone stated that they knew the truth of their deistic beliefs due to personal knowledge/experiences. But they cannot demonstrate this truth, they can only refer to it as the cause for their beliefs.

So, if one has a personal reason to believe something, but cannot demonstrate the reason, or provide evidences of it, then does this reason matter to anyone but the believer herself? And, if someone believes another's claim regarding "X", does that mean that they believe in "X", or do they believe the claimant?

EXAMPLE:  It is reported that Moses went up the mountain for 40 days, and received the tablets of law from Yahweh and returned to his people with them.  Many people are said to have accepted his report of god writing this tablets. BUT, did they really believe a being of a higher order wrote them? Or did they merely believe in Moses as their leader?

I'd say that if such an example happened with me personally, I'd simply be content in knowing what others don't know And not even bother trying to convince other people since it'd be unreasonable for me to even expect other people to believe it based on my personal testimony alone.

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13 minutes ago, Habitat said:

The open mind certainly is the way to go. I doubt that scientific evidence will ever be seen, though.

Look at the progression of science and technology.  Starting from the Greeks it took practically two and a half thousand years to get to where we are and realistically only in the last hundred have we gone leaps and bounds.  Despite this we still don't have the answers to two of the most basic questions, what's the universe and what are we doing in it.  With this progression (despite all the negative opinions from doomsdayers) who knows what we'll understand in a thousand years.

Edited by Black Red Devil
despite all the negative opinions from doomsdayers
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4 minutes ago, Black Red Devil said:

Look at the progression of science and technology.  Starting from the Greeks it took practically two and a half thousand years to get to where we are and realistically only in the last hundred have we gone leaps and bounds.  Despite this we still don't have the answers to two of the most basic questions, what's the universe and what are we doing in it.  With this progression who knows what we'll understand in a thousand years.

Is there a point at which it becomes logically reasonable to say no something does not exist? For example people have been trying to prove the existence of gods and afterlife for so long with no real progress would it be reasonable at this point to say no?

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1 minute ago, Black Red Devil said:

what's the universe and what are we doing in it. 

What if the answer to the second half of your statement simply "natural causes"?

We, as a species, seem to have a burning obsession with knowing 'why' something happens, or exists. We apply this question to everything from A to Z. "Why did the plane crash?" "Why did the tsunami hit?" "Why did he kill those people?"

Sometimes we can discover the 'why', sometimes we cannot. Sometimes we simply do not have enough data, or knowledge, or technology to determine 'why'. Yet. Or it maybe that the answer to some questions are never to be known, simply because we haven't enough data, and never will to be able to positively state a reason.

And it is 100% OK to say "We don't know".

But for some people, that is not a comfortable answer. They cannot stand "I don't know", so, they create an answer that satisfies this itch to know. For some, its "god" or 'gods'. Or universe creating pixies, or whatever concept allows them to sleep easy, "knowing" that there is a reason.

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3 minutes ago, hereticspl said:

Is there a point at which it becomes logically reasonable to say no something does not exist? For example people have been trying to prove the existence of gods and afterlife for so long with no real progress would it be reasonable at this point to say no?

Nope, it would not be logical at all, it being an unfalsifiable proposition.

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4 minutes ago, hereticspl said:

Is there a point at which it becomes logically reasonable to say no something does not exist? For example people have been trying to prove the existence of gods and afterlife for so long with no real progress would it be reasonable at this point to say no?

The ancients used to think it was impossible for man to fly and yet we worked around it by building vehicles to allow us to fly.  I don't think we can discard any possibility until we know enough.  Personally that doesn't mean I believe in either. 

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Just now, Habitat said:

Nope, it would not be logical at all, it being an unfalsifiable proposition.

So theres no point at which something becomes so statistically unlikely that you are within reason to say no it's not going to happen? Think carefully about your answer.

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2 minutes ago, Habitat said:

Nope, it would not be logical at all, it being an unfalsifiable proposition.

So you are claiming that the existence of gods is a falsifiable proposition?

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9 minutes ago, hereticspl said:

So theres no point at which something becomes so statistically unlikely that you are within reason to say no it's not going to happen? Think carefully about your answer.

There is no hard data, therefore no assignment of probability is possible. The question of "God", is hardly comparable to any other.

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2 minutes ago, Habitat said:

There is no hard data, therefore no assignment of probability is possible. The question of "God", is hardly comparable to any other.

I hope u never get jury duty

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24 minutes ago, Jodie.Lynne said:

What if the answer to the second half of your statement simply "natural causes"?

We, as a species, seem to have a burning obsession with knowing 'why' something happens, or exists. We apply this question to everything from A to Z. "Why did the plane crash?" "Why did the tsunami hit?" "Why did he kill those people?"

Sometimes we can discover the 'why', sometimes we cannot. Sometimes we simply do not have enough data, or knowledge, or technology to determine 'why'. Yet. Or it maybe that the answer to some questions are never to be known, simply because we haven't enough data, and never will to be able to positively state a reason.

And it is 100% OK to say "We don't know".

But for some people, that is not a comfortable answer. They cannot stand "I don't know", so, they create an answer that satisfies this itch to know. For some, its "god" or 'gods'. Or universe creating pixies, or whatever concept allows them to sleep easy, "knowing" that there is a reason.

I agree with the bold part which was the result of the ignorance at the time until science came along and opened up eyes.  The reason science came along was because we are curious creatures.  If we stop asking the whys and hows we won't progress. 

Hard to tell whether we'll have all the answers but one theory I've got is that many times the answer is so simple and right there in front of you. Maybe it's not the time and the right conditions to know the answer to certain questions.  What would people living in the Roman times done with Einstein's equation E=MC2?

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Just now, hereticspl said:

I hope u never get jury duty

You would have God "guilty" of non-existence, presumably, without any evidence. And I have good reason to believe you would be wrong, so I'd consider you unsuitable for jury service.

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