I'm an atheist. Ask me anything.

[Erebus]

Actually, that makes me think of another problem: one door's honest and one door's a liar, but what if the honest door doesn't know that the lying door lies? Solving the problem requires that both doors have perfect knowledge (within the scope of the problem, anyhow), but we're given no information about how knowledgeable the doors are.

The answer that both of you gave hadn't occurred to me at all, it does work, like you say, providing the door has sufficient knowledge of its partner. Without going into extra detail on it beforehand, this is implied anyway really.

If the doors don't have perfect knowledge... would the door that tells the truth be the only one capable of saying "I don't know?"


I should probably ask Autodidact another question aswell here, or she might get upset... How many times a day do you pray to the non-existence of God?

 

[aymen amir]

She pointed out that it would be fallacious to base a belief in a deity on the fact that there appears to be no other life in the universe but we simultaneously know that we don't have the means to explore distances necessary to find it.

She's essentially pointing out that your implication would be the same as saying that since we don't detect frequencies above 1000GHz, they don't exist, which means scientists are wrong and there must be god. First of all it's a false assumption that the frequencies don't exist when we know we don't have the tools to test for them, and secondly it doesn't change the likeliehood of the existence of god even if they don't exist. Actually this analogy is being more than fair too, because there is good reason to believe that life does exist based on simple probability. Of course again, it doesn't prove or disprove god. Then again, it does beg the question why he never mentions any other life anywhere in the universe. Could it be because the holy texts are really nothing but man-made? :yes:

man made :no: and there is lots of evidence for that. I promise to prepare my case and start another thread

 

[Storm]

That was my tentative conclusion, based on pure logic. (btw I don't think I redefined anything; I thought I was using accurate definitions.)

You said "I define God as a being who does not exist." (That's from memory, so forgive me if I didn't get the phrasing precisely right.) By that definition, everyone is atheist.

Once I got there, then I began to look for evidence to confirm it or refute it. I wanted to test it out.

One of the main lines of evidence I thought would be helpful was the efficacy of intercessory prayer. I read all about the research on it. Had it turned out that intercessory prayer was effective, I would be a theist or agnostic. The fact that it is completely ineffective I take to be conclusive evidence against the existence of any God that is defined as responding to prayer, that is, to the Abrahamic God.

There is other evidence, such as the problem of evil, but that was the evidence that started me feeling that I had reached the correct conclusion.

The other thing that has really persuaded me--I don't think you would call evidence--is this. I go to these boards and debate theists. I wanted to test my conclusions, see if there was something I had missed or not thought of. Their arguments suck. They turned out to be of 4 kinds:

1. Circular reasoning.
2. Special pleading.
3. False assertions.
4. The watchmaker argument.

It seemed to me if there was a decent argument to make, some theist would make it. They have yet to do so.

So the number one thing that has led me to feel very confident in my atheism is the lousy quality of the theist arguments.

That includes their books, videos, websites, etc.

Point of clarification: is your strong atheism limited to the Abrahamic God? Because none of this addresses alternative theologies.

And the worst of the lot is "presuppositionalism." Have you had the misfortune to encounter it? I'm glad it's gone out of style.

Doesn't ring a bell.

 

[no-body]

YOU see this NOBODY is my biggest problem the earth is just too perfect to exist with out a creator .

Douglas Adams puddle quote is apt to debunk this

"Imagine a puddle waking up one morning and thinking, 'This is an interesting world I find myself in, an interesting hole I find myself in, fits me rather neatly, doesn't it? In fact it fits me staggeringly well, must have been made to have me in it!' This is such a powerful idea that as the sun rises in the sky and the air heats up and as, gradually, the puddle gets smaller and smaller, it's still frantically hanging on to the notion that everything's going to be alright, because this world was meant to have him in it, was built to have him in it; so the moment he disappears catches him rather by surprise. I think this may be something we need to be on the watch out for."

The world only seems "perfectly made" because of your perception of it.

 

[Autodidact]

i guess i could say the same to you ... the other way around

Well you can say anything, but it wouldn't make sense. I didn't premise my conclusion on any statement about life on other planets; you did. Therefore, if we don't know whether there is or not, it would only impact your argument, not mine, which had nothing to do with that.

Not only are you factually wrong (we don't know whether there is life on other planets, but reason suggests there probably is,) but your logic is wrong as well. There is no relationship between life on other planets and the existence of God. It could be that God exists, and has placed life on many planets, or that Earth is the only planet with life, and there is no God.

You'd almost think there was an association between theism and inability to think clearly.

I repeat, it is exactly this sort of thing that confirmed me in my atheism. It seems to me that if aymen had a logical argument, he would make it.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

You'd almost think there was an association between theism and inability to think clearly.

I repeat, it is exactly this sort of thing that confirmed me in my atheism. It seems to me that if aymen had a logical argument, he would make it.

This tweaked something in my brain:

Do you consider yourself a skeptic?

 

[Autodidact]

This tweaked something in my brain:

Do you consider yourself a skeptic?

Definitely. (*has a feeling she's about to get slammed by 9/10)

 

[aymen amir]

Well you can say anything, but it wouldn't make sense. I didn't premise my conclusion on any statement about life on other planets; you did. Therefore, if we don't know whether there is or not, it would only impact your argument, not mine, which had nothing to do with that.

Not only are you factually wrong (we don't know whether there is life on other planets, but reason suggests there probably is,) but your logic is wrong as well. There is no relationship between life on other planets and the existence of God. It could be that God exists, and has placed life on many planets, or that Earth is the only planet with life, and there is no God.

You'd almost think there was an association between theism and inability to think clearly.

I repeat, it is exactly this sort of thing that confirmed me in my atheism. It seems to me that if aymen had a logical argument, he would make it.

what brought this up is that i said the earth has the perfect means to support human beings and that can't be without a creator. i wasn't using this as my argument cause i gave up on ATHEIST long ago..

A little knowledge of science makes man an atheist, but an in-depth study of science makes him a believer in God." Francis Bacon".

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Definitely. (*has a feeling she's about to get slammed by 9/10)

Don't worry - it wasn't meant to be a trap.

Which came first for you? Did you first self-identify as a skeptic and then as an atheist, or the other way around? Did one have anything to do with the other?

 

[Autodidact]

what brought this up is that i said the earth has the perfect means to support human beings and that can't be without a creator. i wasn't using this as my argument cause i gave up on ATHEIST long ago..

A little knowledge of science makes man an atheist, but an in-depth study of science makes him a believer in God." Francis Bacon".

We evolved to live on earth. You cannot assume that the earth was created for human beings. (And it's arrogant to assume it was.) Why not conclude the earth was designed for ants? There's a whole lot more ants than people.

 

[aymen amir]

We evolved to live on earth. You cannot assume that the earth was created for human beings. (And it's arrogant to assume it was.)

i feel me and you are gonna have a word fight so lets take it easy...

you say its arrogant to assume that earth was created for human beings only
for me its not because ALLAH tells us in the QURAN that he created every thing on this earth for humans its just a matter of my belief

 

[Storm]

Auto, did you see post #143?

 

[Autodidact]

i feel me and you are gonna have a word fight so lets take it easy...

you say its arrogant to assume that earth was created for human beings only
for me its not because ALLAH tells us in the QURAN that he created every thing on this earth for humans its just a matter of my belief

Yes, I'm sure you believe all that, and you believe that Allah exists and told Muhammed that in the qur'an, but since you have no rational justification for that, what relevance does it have to this thread? Basically you're confirming what I'm saying.

Let me ask you some questions: Where were you born? When did your family begin indoctrinating you into Islam? What other religions did you study, before accepting the evidence for Islam? What happens if you leave Islam?

 

[Autodidact]

Auto, did you see post #143?

Yes, and will respond when I get more time. Sorry.

 

[Storm]

No worries. Just a very busy thread and didn't want you to miss it.

 

[Kathryn]

OK, I'll ask you something:

Why does ear and nose hair grow so much faster on old men than on young ones?


I've always wondered about that...

 

[Riverwolf]

If you have any question about how one atheist sees morality, the world, our place in it, or anything else, this is a place to ask.

How do you, personally, feel when you see the Dawn?

 

[DarkSun]

I responded to this, but my reply was too gross so I deleted it.

That's what she said.

Sorry about the late response, I got tied up.
And while I was stuck there, an atheist was trying to eat my babies...
Before their conception.

I hate it when that happens.

 

[Sunstone]

As an atheist, how is it possible for you to use mathematics without siding with Jesus since maths are true and Jesus tells us he is the Truth?

 

[Tiapan]

Do you think Humans are evolving?

Could it be that the recent proliferation of atheism has an evolutionary advantage, by taking on more responsibility for ones life through continuous learning and experience, thus making them more complete and competitive perhaps "smarter" humans.

Cheers