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Richard Dawkins Hero

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derben Flag 17 Jun 15 10.07pm

Quote Ray in Houston at 17 Jun 2015 10.01pm

Quote derben at 17 Jun 2015 9.23pm

But if God is omnipotent, God has unlimited powers. This would include the power to create itself or even retrospectively make itself exist from eternity!


This is where the difference between "hypothesis" and "theory" becomes really important. In fact, your claims don't even rise to the level of hypothesis - something based on limited evidence; they're merely speculation - conjecture lacking evidence.

Claiming that "my God can beat up your science" does not make it so.

Not saying it is my God. Just saying that if there is an omnipotent God, then God's omnipotence defeats all arguments.

 

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View TUX's Profile TUX Flag redhill 17 Jun 15 10.35pm Send a Private Message to TUX Add TUX as a friend

Quote derben at 17 Jun 2015 10.07pm

Quote Ray in Houston at 17 Jun 2015 10.01pm

Quote derben at 17 Jun 2015 9.23pm

But if God is omnipotent, God has unlimited powers. This would include the power to create itself or even retrospectively make itself exist from eternity!


This is where the difference between "hypothesis" and "theory" becomes really important. In fact, your claims don't even rise to the level of hypothesis - something based on limited evidence; they're merely speculation - conjecture lacking evidence.

Claiming that "my God can beat up your science" does not make it so.

Not saying it is my God. Just saying that if there is an omnipotent God, then God's omnipotence defeats all arguments.[/quote]

What created God?


 

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derben Flag 18 Jun 15 7.28am

Quote TUX at 17 Jun 2015 10.35pm

Quote derben at 17 Jun 2015 10.07pm

Quote Ray in Houston at 17 Jun 2015 10.01pm

Quote derben at 17 Jun 2015 9.23pm

But if God is omnipotent, God has unlimited powers. This would include the power to create itself or even retrospectively make itself exist from eternity!


This is where the difference between "hypothesis" and "theory" becomes really important. In fact, your claims don't even rise to the level of hypothesis - something based on limited evidence; they're merely speculation - conjecture lacking evidence.

Claiming that "my God can beat up your science" does not make it so.

Not saying it is my God. Just saying that if there is an omnipotent God, then God's omnipotence defeats all arguments.[/quote]

What created God?


As the omnipotent God has unlimited powers, ie: God can do anything, then it could have created itself.


Edited by derben (18 Jun 2015 7.31am)

 

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jamiemartin721 Flag Reading 18 Jun 15 8.06am

Quote derben at 18 Jun 2015 7.28am

Quote TUX at 17 Jun 2015 10.35pm

Quote derben at 17 Jun 2015 10.07pm

Quote Ray in Houston at 17 Jun 2015 10.01pm

Quote derben at 17 Jun 2015 9.23pm

But if God is omnipotent, God has unlimited powers. This would include the power to create itself or even retrospectively make itself exist from eternity!


This is where the difference between "hypothesis" and "theory" becomes really important. In fact, your claims don't even rise to the level of hypothesis - something based on limited evidence; they're merely speculation - conjecture lacking evidence.

Claiming that "my God can beat up your science" does not make it so.

Not saying it is my God. Just saying that if there is an omnipotent God, then God's omnipotence defeats all arguments.[/quote]

What created God?


As the omnipotent God has unlimited powers, ie: God can do anything, then it could have created itself.


Edited by derben (18 Jun 2015 7.31am)

You see why that's not scientifically acceptable though.


 


"One Nation Under God, has turned into One Nation Under the Influence of One Drug"
[Link]

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jamiemartin721 Flag Reading 18 Jun 15 8.08am

Quote Ray in Houston at 17 Jun 2015 7.17pm

Quote ChuFukka at 12 Jun 2015 10.48pm

About sums up the level of scientific knowledge being shown here. In science, the term 'theory' is only used for well-established principles. What you are thinking of is a hypothesis.


Any debate about creationism over evolution / big bang, should start with this tiny, but oh-so important, clarification.

Technically its not really a hypothesis, as a hypothesis should really be constructed around disproving a stated null hypothesis, and establish the basis of the hypothesis, and reference supporting research on which the argument has been built. You can't just have a hypothesis without a proposal as to why your testing it.


 


"One Nation Under God, has turned into One Nation Under the Influence of One Drug"
[Link]

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jamiemartin721 Flag Reading 18 Jun 15 8.14am

Quote TheJudge at 17 Jun 2015 7.22pm

Quote jamiemartin721 at 17 Jun 2015 12.32pm

Quote TheJudge at 17 Jun 2015 11.19am

Quote jamiemartin721 at 17 Jun 2015 9.27am

Quote TheJudge at 17 Jun 2015 8.49am

Quote reborn at 17 Jun 2015 8.36am

LOL sadly for you I live it, I spend all my days when I am not working trying to help other people and significant amounts of my money. You see its not a club, its a way of life.

I think the thing that irritates you the most is I don't fit into your close minded and prejudiced view of what a Christian is.

I will pray for you, not least for a sense of humour. Lighten up man, you seem so angry at everything.


I fail to see how god has anything to do with being charitable. Anyone can be charitable.
I have always thought that people who are always helping strangers are really doing it for themselves anyway.
Is there really such thing as a selfless act ? Not according to Dawkins. I 100% agree with him.

Edited by TheJudge (17 Jun 2015 8.51am)

Dawkins would be incorrect, except on a genetic level (however we cannot presume that genetics defines all behavior and genes are sentient), as such degrees of altruism exist and what is more the case is that people who don't believe resort to rhetoric and abstraction of the individual, in order to demonstrate this.

Its a move the goal posts argument, similar to that used in religion, by saying god creates evolution or the big bang, its hiding in the semantic limitations of proof (ie that you can neither truly prove or disprove something).

Granted no act is truly selfless, as existence is experienced existentially, so it must tie back to the individual making the action, but that doesn't distract from the fact that its more selfless than selfish (and we shouldn't mistake selfish for egocentric either, a selfish act is not immoral, unless it is committed egocentrically).


Wow. Where to begin.

Firstly, genes determine behavior for their own survival using the animal as a vehicle. Not very romantic I concede. Human behavior is complex but we must not let that cloud the reality of existence.

As for proof of anything. You must realise that just because you cannot disprove something does not make it more or less likely. This is the kind of absurd argument that followers of religion use. The fact that you cannot disprove god is irrelevant. As Dawkins would say: You cannot disprove the flying spaghetti monster either.

Only if you discount evidence from psychological sciences, that demonstrate quite adequately that genes at best have a influence on behavior and in no what categories it. The paradigm limitations of Biology, which has limited capacity to study behavior, relates to species not individual behavior. Its convenient when dealing with species and generations, but ultimately its reductionist and unsupported from outside of biology.

There is a relationship between genetics and behaviors, but in no way is it definitive, and evidence suggests that experience plays a far more important role in determining how we react than genetics. Even neurology suggests that the role of genes in behavior is limited to structural influence, rather than determinism.

Whilst humans do not possess free will, its equally absurd to suggest that they lack agency.



This is rather applying a macro explanation to a micro system. I don't really accept that biology has the limitations of which you speak. Our very consciousness is biological/physiological and all behaviors must ultimately be biological in nature. The gene is the only thing that must survive for life to continue in it's current form. (There may only be one)
You might prefer a more fluffy interpretation, but its only man's own arrogance that allows him the luxury of delusion regarding his consciousness and his significance beyond being some animate matter.

Mechanisms don't explain the whole of the process, but the basis on why the system operates, and its limitations. Also because something is biological doesn't follow that its genetically directed, genes create the system, and its flaws, but behaviour certainly has a fail safe of agency and consciousness, that can and does manipulate behaviour - The fact we are capable of learning, demonstrates a degree of agency is required and that in that process of learning (and reflection on what we experienced) we adapt the biological machine. The mind is a product of the brain, but its also capable of changing that brain by its decisions.

I'm a middle ground guy, that the reality lies between the two arguments. Agency-Structure, as the individual-self dualism breaks down when we look at groups as individuals, rather than as a species.

Genetics correlates with behaviour, its not causal.


 


"One Nation Under God, has turned into One Nation Under the Influence of One Drug"
[Link]

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jamiemartin721 Flag Reading 18 Jun 15 9.31am

Quote TheJudge at 17 Jun 2015 7.22pmThis is rather applying a macro explanation to a micro system. I don't really accept that biology has the limitations of which you speak. Our very consciousness is biological/physiological and all behaviors must ultimately be biological in nature. The gene is the only thing that must survive for life to continue in it's current form. (There may only be one)
You might prefer a more fluffy interpretation, but its only man's own arrogance that allows him the luxury of delusion regarding his consciousness and his significance beyond being some animate matter.

I think its more or less true, that a macro model will differ from a micro model because of the different assumptions, variables discounted and how observation and study is undertaken. However one must also account for reductionism.

A degree of sentience and agency, also makes sense as a evolutionary benefit (it massively aids adaptability). I don't think we have free will, that's nonsense, but I also think that the paradims of biological science cannot function when determining individuals (simply because of the scale) and so it abstracts.

Biology often refers to things we can demonstrate that are learned from our peers as hereditary, without them being genetic.

I don't think this is unique to humans either, just its most pronounced, because we're humans - and that we reduce this phenomena in other mammals because its convenient to our ego. Its also not active on an autonomic scale, we react in the moment, but reflect and plan our actions out and prepair in advance by running scenarios, that allow us to adapt our reactive self.

Essentially, we can, on some level, reprogram our own behavior, according to our experiences and desired outcomes. When faced in the moment we react.


 


"One Nation Under God, has turned into One Nation Under the Influence of One Drug"
[Link]

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derben Flag 18 Jun 15 11.06am

Quote jamiemartin721 at 18 Jun 2015 8.06am

Quote derben at 18 Jun 2015 7.28am

Quote TUX at 17 Jun 2015 10.35pm

Quote derben at 17 Jun 2015 10.07pm

Quote Ray in Houston at 17 Jun 2015 10.01pm

Quote derben at 17 Jun 2015 9.23pm

But if God is omnipotent, God has unlimited powers. This would include the power to create itself or even retrospectively make itself exist from eternity!


This is where the difference between "hypothesis" and "theory" becomes really important. In fact, your claims don't even rise to the level of hypothesis - something based on limited evidence; they're merely speculation - conjecture lacking evidence.

Claiming that "my God can beat up your science" does not make it so.

Not saying it is my God. Just saying that if there is an omnipotent God, then God's omnipotence defeats all arguments.[/quote]

What created God?


As the omnipotent God has unlimited powers, ie: God can do anything, then it could have created itself.


Edited by derben (18 Jun 2015 7.31am)

You see why that's not scientifically acceptable though.


I guess an omnipotent God could make it scientifically acceptable if that God chose to.

 

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View Lyons550's Profile Lyons550 Flag Shirley 18 Jun 15 1.00pm Send a Private Message to Lyons550 Add Lyons550 as a friend

Quote jamiemartin721 at 17 Jun 2015 3.22pm

Quote Lyons550 at 17 Jun 2015 2.41pm

Quote jamiemartin721 at 17 Jun 2015 10.44am

Quote SirPeanut at 17 Jun 2015 10.30am

One of the strong arguments (there are many!) against religion and belief in God come from locality.

Every religion currently being practiced on this planet, as well as every past religion which no longer has followers, has a definite, discernible origin in time and space. Even if the exact beginnings of a religion are murky, that religion still originated in a definite area and in a definite time period.

Surely any god or gods which existed and which desired to reveal themselves to humanity would not do this - they would not provide a revelation to only one culture, at one time, in one place.

The fact that all religions originated in one specific culture, at one specific time and place, tells us that they are the product of that culture, time and place - and not the product of divine revelation.

What is the fate of those who never heard about the supposed one and true God? Did they all go to Hell when they died, simply because God chose not to tell them the way to salvation? Or did they somehow get to Heaven without the redemptive powers of Jesus or even the Jewish law? And if so, if this is possible, then what was the point of sending Jesus or giving the law at all?

Or that they all tie into a greater cosmic reality, that people of ages, including this one, are attempting to relay. One should always accept the very strong likelihood that people thousands of years ago might have been very much 'filling in the gaps' and relying on their knowledge of the times and existent knowledge's / experiences.

The Catholic church struggled a long time with many of these arguments, and came to a number of interesting to absurd conclusions, based on their faith, some of which were quite surprising (they saw the pagan faiths as evidence of the age of the Nephilim in genesis, for example) and the idea or purgatory and the harrowing of hell etc.

We're always limited by what our 'situated knowledge's', and we will likely as not look as limited in our capacity to people in several hundred years.



Such as visiting Aliens

Pending sufficient evidence, yes. At present its a no, on the basis that there is no credible evidence of extra terrestrial life, let alone visitations to earth


Same with God I suppose

 


The Voice of Reason In An Otherwise Mediocre World

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TheJudge Flag 18 Jun 15 1.25pm

Quote jamiemartin721 at 18 Jun 2015 9.31am

Quote TheJudge at 17 Jun 2015 7.22pmThis is rather applying a macro explanation to a micro system. I don't really accept that biology has the limitations of which you speak. Our very consciousness is biological/physiological and all behaviors must ultimately be biological in nature. The gene is the only thing that must survive for life to continue in it's current form. (There may only be one)
You might prefer a more fluffy interpretation, but its only man's own arrogance that allows him the luxury of delusion regarding his consciousness and his significance beyond being some animate matter.

I think its more or less true, that a macro model will differ from a micro model because of the different assumptions, variables discounted and how observation and study is undertaken. However one must also account for reductionism.

A degree of sentience and agency, also makes sense as a evolutionary benefit (it massively aids adaptability). I don't think we have free will, that's nonsense, but I also think that the paradims of biological science cannot function when determining individuals (simply because of the scale) and so it abstracts.

Biology often refers to things we can demonstrate that are learned from our peers as hereditary, without them being genetic.

I don't think this is unique to humans either, just its most pronounced, because we're humans - and that we reduce this phenomena in other mammals because its convenient to our ego. Its also not active on an autonomic scale, we react in the moment, but reflect and plan our actions out and prepair in advance by running scenarios, that allow us to adapt our reactive self.

Essentially, we can, on some level, reprogram our own behavior, according to our experiences and desired outcomes. When faced in the moment we react.


I understand your view point but I'm inclined to think that in the same way that technology is an extension of nature, so is the complex nature of animals,including humans. I can't separate the agency of the animal from the genetic survival mechanism.
How can we really know if the ability of a person to use the abstract or learned behaviour is genuinely separate from a pre programmed instinct ?
I would point to the sometimes unpredictable nature of survival strategies and the apparent sliding scale of protecting genes belonging to ones self, children, cousins and sometimes the community. There seem to be very subtle rules in place that guide these things and they are not always obvious. It might be that the genetic control is so complex in its nature that it seems to be separate from simple biology. Maybe we just can't comprehend fully the reach of the gene and it's control of it's biological vehicle in the same way that that it seems incredible that nature produces highly complex interactions between species using only evolution.

 

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View Ray in Houston's Profile Ray in Houston Flag Houston 18 Jun 15 3.51pm Send a Private Message to Ray in Houston Add Ray in Houston as a friend

Quote TUX at 17 Jun 2015 10.35pm

What created God?


The Babel Fish.

 


We don't do possession; we do defense and attack. Everything else is just wa**ing with a football.

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View Mapletree's Profile Mapletree Flag Croydon 18 Jun 15 3.53pm Send a Private Message to Mapletree Add Mapletree as a friend

Quote Ray in Houston at 18 Jun 2015 3.51pm

Quote TUX at 17 Jun 2015 10.35pm

What created God?


The Babel Fish.

You are confusing God with Cod.

 

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