tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19674199.post113843866603876321..comments2023-10-20T14:28:00.004+01:00Comments on The World Behind the Glass: Belief -- Why We Know What We KnowBill McDanielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14386603092286490506noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19674199.post-42826871616274971512007-07-22T11:30:00.000+01:002007-07-22T11:30:00.000+01:00Bill, I'm not getting into the argument here. Real...Bill, I'm not getting into the argument here. Really, I just want to send you pictures of a black bear. That is something.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19674199.post-40374812852348579402007-03-25T03:36:00.000+01:002007-03-25T03:36:00.000+01:00I will try to drop by more often now that I know a...I will try to drop by more often now that I know about your blog. Nicely put about accumulating evidence. Most atheists are not really interested in the cummulative effect of evidence of God. <BR/><BR/>Anyway, I have a very active debate on this subject with very level headed and thoughtful atheists, agnostics and Christians at http://godvsnogod.blogspot.com. Come on over and join in.Randy Kirkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07187149342560881341noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19674199.post-1144480611255562752006-04-08T08:16:00.000+01:002006-04-08T08:16:00.000+01:00I do not know what would constitute dramatic evide...I do not know what would constitute dramatic evidence...the problem with percieving godhood is that it is considered, in most religions, to be in-percievable...unknowable. <BR/><BR/>If you see your image of God walkign around doing things, are you not likely to be as disuaded in a belief of diety as persuaded? <BR/><BR/>On the other hand, how do you 'see' the grand, millenial march of randomness and self organizing behaviour on the scale of universes? <BR/><BR/>actually, reason comes to our aid there. We CAN reason our way to emergence and self orgainzation as a universe building force, because we see it happen in small scales and over a set of scales. <BR/><BR/>Diety is harder to understand than that because deity occurs in discrete events..creation, destruction, miracle (by their very nature, discrete and isolated from the normal run of the universe).<BR/><BR/>In addition, it is far easier I believe to be struck by the coercive nature of belief when consistency is present. Gods tend to be fickle and invoking one as primus mobile often leads you to a situation where you have to rationalize inconsistent behaiviour. For example, how can an all merciful, all good god cause children to be eaten by bears in retaliation for bad behaviour (JOB)? How do you resolve the problem of evil in a universe watched over, ostensibly, by an omniscient, omnipotent, all loving and merciful godhead?<BR/><BR/>To accomodate belief in such, you have to depart quite a distance, it seems to me, from Occam's very sharp knife. Besides, could such a god actually be so petty as to deny forgiveness after death? Isn't forgiveness needed anytime, whether before or after an arbitrarily imposed deadline? <BR/><BR/>Dramatic evidence? I don''t know what that would be with respect to a godhood. For dramatic evidence of the opposing view, i find looking at the incredible conenctivity of the world around us from the patterns of falling grains of sand to the expansion of universes. These seem far more consistent and posing of dramtic evidence of a self organizing principle.<BR/><BR/>Hope that clarifiesBill McDanielhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14386603092286490506noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19674199.post-1144437710884927332006-04-07T20:21:00.000+01:002006-04-07T20:21:00.000+01:00Great thoughts about belief, and knowledge. I th...Great thoughts about belief, and knowledge. I think I can agree with much of what you wrote. I'm curious, what would constitute "dramatic evidence?" I like this terminology and am wondering if you are drawing from something else when you use this term. How would you define "dramatic evidence?" And, more specific to your current question as it relates to god: what would constitutue dramatic evidence for belief (coersion toward) god?jboydhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03616953872405857557noreply@blogger.com