Community Messageboard 3: Re: You can't prove existential negatives. by Monotonous Mantra

Re: You can't prove existential negatives. Monotonous Mantra - 13/04/2004 04:34:02 PM

I swear, I just need to make a journal with this in it, and link people to it over and over.

You can't prove existential negatives. You can't "prove" that God doesn't exist... but neither can you prove that SANTA doesn't exist. That doesn't mean it's reasonable or logical to believe in God, any more than it is to do so in Santa. Negatives are assumed until positives are evidenced. It's the rational way.

Nor can you prove they do exist. If you can do neither there is no profound basis for refutation.

Furthermore, there's no difference between "I do not believe that there is a god" and "I do believe that there is not a god," aka "I don't believe in God." They're the same thing. There's no difference between not believing and believing not.

How does this pertain to my comments?

As far as you can tell, it just ain't true. God is not a testable scientific hypothesis one can disprove. There's no actual evidence, so it's not reasonable to believe in God.

That's what "faith" means - believing something without proof/factual evidence. If there is no disproof either then there is very little basis for refutation. The scientific approach can only be taken so far with regards to human beliefs and actions, seeing as how most decisions are based on knowledge and theory.

A "ball of matter" didn't just appear, and nothing actually exploded, by the way.

I suck at Physics - if you want to elaborate on this I guess it'd be informative (thanks in advance). However, in layman's terms the term 'explosion' comes to mind and seems to be used when referring to the Big Bang.

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I find it odd that many religious people are still anti-evolution Gavroche - 11/04/2004 06:08:32 PM 260 Views

Not everyone acknowledges the Pope. *NM* Vivien - 11/04/2004 06:15:07 PM 13 Views

I'm sorry... but this was somehow extremely funny. *NM* Danae alThor - 11/04/2004 06:20:20 PM 12 Views

I can see it now..."You just knocked over the Pope!" Arok Manok - 11/04/2004 06:25:47 PM 63 Views

Heh. Cool smiley. *NM* TaskmasterJack - 11/04/2004 09:49:25 PM 6 Views

I forgive you.

*NM* Vivien - 11/04/2004 06:43:04 PM 7 Views

For one thing, while most Christians respect him, not all are Catholic Arok Manok - 11/04/2004 06:24:41 PM 62 Views

of course, that can be referred to my post lower on the board Gavroche - 11/04/2004 07:03:31 PM 26 Views

As to Catholics Alexandros - 11/04/2004 07:56:18 PM 23 Views

Shouldn't it be the other way around? The Logic Ninja - 11/04/2004 08:37:27 PM 36 Views

Of course not. Alexandros - 11/04/2004 09:34:38 PM 25 Views

You know... farmboy - 12/04/2004 04:25:25 AM 20 Views

Also, where did Caine's wife come from? The Logic Ninja - 12/04/2004 06:35:28 AM 25 Views

Exactly! farmboy - 12/04/2004 02:19:40 PM 16 Views

Wow, what an original point!!!!

Green Gaidin - 13/04/2004 05:01:22 AM 12 Views

Demonsesese!

*NM* Arok Manok - 13/04/2004 11:07:02 AM 6 Views

Mel Gibson's dad snoopster - 12/04/2004 05:27:41 AM 22 Views

Well, to be fair, Jews are not Christians... Arok Manok - 13/04/2004 11:12:03 AM 11 Views

Not my meaning snoopster - 15/04/2004 07:14:24 AM 5 Views

*arrives in a hijacked popemobile* chorabliss - 11/04/2004 07:15:03 PM 45 Views

Do you have some good papal history links? *NM* ÐragonForever - 12/04/2004 05:30:09 AM 7 Views

id reccomend reading books on it chorabliss - 15/04/2004 12:55:01 PM 5 Views

People that don't are mostly literal-believers. Alexandros - 11/04/2004 07:37:35 PM 24 Views

I feel that too many people are becoming Arian-type Christians. Arok Manok - 13/04/2004 11:16:48 AM 10 Views

are you really suprised? Mat Maniac - 11/04/2004 08:11:01 PM 31 Views

Please note The Logic Ninja - 11/04/2004 08:45:22 PM 26 Views

Re: Please note Mat Maniac - 12/04/2004 01:45:31 AM 15 Views

I agree. Evolution may be the method reason understands... Arok Manok - 13/04/2004 12:01:24 PM 8 Views

people prefer mysticism and faith to fact and science wads - 11/04/2004 10:41:41 PM 32 Views

Thought I was gonna have to disagree with you. Arok Manok - 12/04/2004 01:27:16 AM 30 Views

A snide response. The Logic Ninja - 12/04/2004 09:13:12 PM 14 Views

But there IS evidence. Just not published in Science journals. Green Gaidin - 13/04/2004 05:12:40 AM 14 Views

Geez. The Logic Ninja - 13/04/2004 08:00:07 AM 18 Views

The point of faith is that you don't need scientific proof. Arok Manok - 13/04/2004 11:39:14 AM 11 Views

You do realize The Logic Ninja - 13/04/2004 03:49:06 PM 13 Views

Science is based on sensible assumptions... Monotonous Mantra - 13/04/2004 11:49:54 AM 12 Views

He doesn't see it that way because he sees his faith as quantifiable. *NM* Arok Manok - 13/04/2004 11:54:47 AM 5 Views

Yeah, *sensible assumptions*, The Logic Ninja - 13/04/2004 03:13:43 PM 11 Views

But not proven Monotonous Mantra - 13/04/2004 03:15:50 PM 10 Views

Huh? The Logic Ninja - 13/04/2004 03:54:38 PM 12 Views

True Monotonous Mantra - 13/04/2004 04:05:10 PM 12 Views

You can't prove existential negatives. The Logic Ninja - 13/04/2004 04:22:17 PM 11 Views

Re: You can't prove existential negatives. Monotonous Mantra - 13/04/2004 04:34:02 PM 9 Views

See THEOLOGY for Reason in support of Faith. *NM* Arok Manok - 13/04/2004 11:53:43 AM 7 Views

Like what? The Logic Ninja - 13/04/2004 04:23:31 PM 7 Views

Next time you're in the barber chair... Arok Manok - 13/04/2004 11:19:52 AM 12 Views

You still don't get it. The Logic Ninja - 13/04/2004 03:09:56 PM 14 Views

Furthermore, the age of the world is a separate issue from evolution. *NM* The Logic Ninja - 12/04/2004 12:08:34 AM 9 Views

Not entirely. If a Christian found a way to prove the Earth was young Arok Manok - 12/04/2004 01:36:12 AM 23 Views

Yeah, but they're still two separate issues. The Logic Ninja - 12/04/2004 02:12:50 AM 17 Views

They are linked, and one requires the other. Arok Manok - 13/04/2004 11:43:43 AM 12 Views

No. No, not really. The Logic Ninja - 13/04/2004 03:51:51 PM 7 Views

*shrugs* Nebhead - 12/04/2004 06:19:05 AM 16 Views

I think it is silly to hold onto beliefs from a book written by , you kazetaran - 12/04/2004 10:31:13 AM 26 Views

it's not the catholics mierin sedai - 13/04/2004 03:55:14 PM 13 Views

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