From: Richard Steven Hack (richardhack@pcmagic.net)
Date: Sun Feb 24 2002 - 19:16:12 MST
At 05:37 PM 2/24/02 -0500, you wrote:
>http://www.philosophers.co.uk/games/god.htm is now open to the public
>again. I seem to have taken the same hit as a lot of other list members
>(The Loch Ness Monster/God one).
>
>
>
>
I just tried this game. I took one hit and bit one bullet. The bullet was
bit because I said that evolution was essentially true, which the site
decided meant that I thought it was certainly true, therefore my request
for certain proof of God was irrational. I deny this, so I bit the bullet
and said I demanded more proof, which is the only option the site gives you
since you can't argue with their premises or THEIR logic.
I took the hit because I said any being that could be called God should
have the ability to do anything, but later denied that they could square a
circle. Obviously this hinges on one's notion of "anything".
This site is puerile and its logic questionable. I had no trouble with the
Loch Ness monster question but it does not logically follow that lack of
proof equals non-existence. Most of you skeptical types have a lot of
trouble with that logic, as I know well from my past interest in
UFOs. However, in the case of God, the argument - as stated by Mike Siegel
on Coast-to-Coast AM one night - that since you can't prove God does not
exists somewhere in the universe, that means you cannot say that he does
not exist. This reduces the notion to stating that no matter what fanciful
concept I may come up, if I cannot prove it does not exist by an exhaustive
search of the universe, I must accept that it does exist. This is not the
case. I can just as easily and correctly turn this around and say that if
the only place I can prove something exists is in my own mind, then it is
reasonable to conclude that it does not exist, in the absence of any other
evidence. The Loch Ness Monster and UFOS do NOT fit this criteria - there
IS actual evidence (however weak or strong one may analyze it to be) - it
is not merely a concept. There is NO direct evidence for the existence of
God - and a good deal of historical, cultural, and psychological evidence
that the entire concept of God is based on human need to deal with the fear
of death.
I was pleased to see, however, that the site recognized that my overall
stance on these matters was remarkably consistent. I was amused to see
them state that my stance seemed to depend on attitudes that most other
people would consider strange :-} Found out as a Transhuman again!
Richard Steven Hack
richardhack@pcmagic.net
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