tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8708547959553815878.post2449618924670136196..comments2023-06-08T05:39:18.487-07:00Comments on In the Shade of a Wave: Atheism: Weak or Strong?Mercuryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09569022088574033458noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8708547959553815878.post-67194124021151566172010-06-07T23:54:36.029-07:002010-06-07T23:54:36.029-07:00Evid3nc3 said...
"Christ. Talk about multiple...Evid3nc3 said...<br />"Christ. Talk about multiple postings. Sorry about that! "<br /><br />I don't know what's wrong with Blogger's commenting system sometimes. When I removed the duplicate posts, all the others disappeared along with them!<br /><br />I wouldn't otherwise be making this comment, but making a new comment seems to bring them back somehow.Mercuryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09569022088574033458noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8708547959553815878.post-69603201242269626252010-06-06T22:06:36.899-07:002010-06-06T22:06:36.899-07:00And I look forward to the rest of the series. :)And I look forward to the rest of the series. :)Mercuryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09569022088574033458noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8708547959553815878.post-86130127354039060282010-06-06T22:05:00.578-07:002010-06-06T22:05:00.578-07:00I hope I didn't come across as though I was at...I hope I didn't come across as though I was attacking the tone of your videos; it was furthest from my intention.<br /><br />I don't think that "proof" should be used only for mathematical proof (which is why we have the phrase "mathematical proof") - the more general meaning of "convincing evidence" is useful, and shouldn't be ignored.<br /><br />Also, I don't think it's fair that "know" should be surrendered to the fideists, as it seems to me that it's they who misuse the term; but I agree that it can be misleading when arguing directly with one, much like how we seem to have to continually explain what "theory" actually means.<br /><br />I guess my point - which is one of tone and so kind of trivial, I admit - put more succinctly is that basically all words imply volumes. Take "up" for instance. There really is no such thing - when the word is used it is automatically understood that the vector being described is relative to some agreed point. The same is true for "know".<br /><br />So, I'm okay with qualifying words like "proof" and "know" on occasion, to further refine a point. But I'm not okay with negative claims like "we don't know" when we're obviously certain. No scientist would say, unless they were being glib, that they don't know anything, which is technically true using the extreme definition of "know".Mercuryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09569022088574033458noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8708547959553815878.post-71447723108566272562010-06-06T08:24:49.490-07:002010-06-06T08:24:49.490-07:00To expand on this a bit, "proof" has its...To expand on this a bit, "proof" has its proper meaning in Mathematics and I feel it should retain that meaning because mathematical proofs are indeed the strongest type of knowing.<br /><br />And "know" has its proper meaning among theists who subscribe to fideism. When an atheist says they "know" God doesn't exist, a fideistic theist will take this to mean the same thing as what they mean when they say that they "know" he does. In reality, atheists like yourself mean something entirely different, and so I feel this word too should retain its original meaning.<br /><br />Because, while we agnostic atheists and scientists may realize that you can't really "know" very much at all, a large percentage of the world population doesn't.<br /><br />But as I will attempt to show in the series, we can express the extreme soundness and evidential strength of our atheistic position without resorting to the use of the words "know" and "prove".Evid3nc3http://www.youtube.com/user/Evid3nc3noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8708547959553815878.post-64821461787652415552010-06-06T08:15:47.025-07:002010-06-06T08:15:47.025-07:00Great commentary overall.
"as sure about the...Great commentary overall.<br /><br />"as sure about the non-existance of God(s) as they are about any other certainty in their lives"<br /><br />Don't worry, the considerable strength of the atheistic position will be expressed in the series. Your conviction in this strength and my own are one in the same. <br /><br />However, we have a slight philosophical disagreement in that I don't believe that we have to use the words "know" and "prove" to express the extreme magnitude that strength.Evid3nc3http://www.youtube.com/user/Evid3nc3noreply@blogger.com