"Twelve Questions to Ask an Atheist" ["Some of these obviously involve multiple questions…"]
1. Does the universe have a beginning that requires a cause? If so, what was this cause?
2. Is materialistic determinism compatible with the intrinsically probabilistic nature of quantum mechanics?
3. How do you account for the physical parameters of the universe (the gravitational constant, the strong nuclear force, the mass and charge of a proton, etc.) being finely tuned for the existence of stars, planets, and life?
4. Why is the human mind naturally fluent in the language of mathematics, and how do you explain the eerie, seemingly unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics in describing the laws of nature?
5. Do you believe that DNA repair mechanisms, catalytically perfect enzymes, and phenomena such as substrate channeling are best explained by naturalism? If so, why are rational human scientists and engineers so woefully incapable of imitating the precision and complexity of cellular machinery that (presumably) arose via strictly irrational processes?
6. Do you believe free will to be illusory? If so, can the punishment of crimes be ethically justified (and does the word “ethical” have any real meaning)?
7. Does objective morality exist? If so, what is its source…and how do you define “objective”? If not, do you concede that concepts like “justice”, “fairness”, and “equality” are nothing more than social fads, and that acts of violence and oppression must be regarded merely as differences of opinion?
8. In what terms do you define the value of human life? Is the life of a human child more or less valuable, for example, than that of an endangered species of primate?
9. Much attention has been given to alleged cognitive biases and “wishful thinking” contributing to religious belief. Do you believe that similar biases (for example, the desire for moral autonomy) play a role in religious nonbelief? If not, what specifically makes atheism immune to these influences?
10. Do you believe religion (speaking generally) has had a net positive or a net negative effect on humanity? If the latter, how do you explain the prevalence of religion in evolutionary terms?
11. Is it rational for you to risk your life to save a stranger?*
12. How would you begin to follow Jesus if it became clear to you that Christianity was true? What would be the hardest adjustment you would have to make to live a faithful, public Christian life?* *Questions 11 and 12 are taken from a similar list on Wintery Knight. http://wellspentjourney.wordpress.com/2012/07/08/twelve-questions-to-ask-an-atheist-2/
Originally posted by Grampy BobbyDon't expect a cogent response; none will be forthcoming.
[b]"Twelve Questions to Ask an Atheist" ["Some of these obviously involve multiple questions…"]
1. Does the universe have a beginning that requires a cause? If so, what was this cause?
2. Is materialistic determinism compatible with the intrinsically probabilistic nature of quantum mechanics?
3. How do you account for the physical parameter ...[text shortened]... y Knight. http://wellspentjourney.wordpress.com/2012/07/08/twelve-questions-to-ask-an-atheist-2/[/b]
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Originally posted by Grampy BobbyFor most if not all of these questions there is not a short simple answer.
[b]"Twelve Questions to Ask an Atheist" ["Some of these obviously involve multiple questions…"]
1. Does the universe have a beginning that requires a cause? If so, what was this cause?
2. Is materialistic determinism compatible with the intrinsically probabilistic nature of quantum mechanics?
3. How do you account for the physical parameter ...[text shortened]... y Knight. http://wellspentjourney.wordpress.com/2012/07/08/twelve-questions-to-ask-an-atheist-2/[/b]
And I am not about to write 12 pages of answer right now.
And many/most of these questions have no relevance to atheism, so I will give a
quick "relevance to atheism" answer to each. [and by relevance to atheism
I mean whether it's relevant to whether atheism is right... ie relevant to
whether a god exists or not. because that's the only part of atheism that
all atheists actually agree on]
Also... If the answer is we don't know then the answer is we don't know.
Making an answer up is an argument from ignorance fallacy.
1. Does the universe have a beginning that requires a cause? If so, what was this cause?
Not relevant to atheism. Ask a physicist.
2. Is materialistic determinism compatible with the intrinsically probabilistic nature of quantum mechanics?
Not relevant to atheism. Ask a physicist.
3. How do you account for the physical parameters of the universe (the gravitational constant, the strong nuclear force, the mass and charge of a proton, etc.) being finely tuned for the existence of stars, planets, and life?
Not relevant to atheism. Ask a physicist.
4. Why is the human mind naturally fluent in the language of mathematics, and how do you explain the eerie, seemingly unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics in describing the laws of nature?
Not relevant to atheism. Also, I don't accept that the human mind IS NATURALLY fluent in mathematics.
As for why maths is good at explaining the laws of nature... it's an interesting topic... but has nothing to
do with atheism. ask a physicist.
5. Do you believe that DNA repair mechanisms, catalytically perfect enzymes, and phenomena such as substrate channeling are best explained by naturalism? If so, why are rational human scientists and engineers so woefully incapable of imitating the precision and complexity of cellular machinery that (presumably) arose via strictly irrational processes?
Not relevant to atheism. [and I also don't necessarily buy the premise] Ask a biologist.
6. Do you believe free will to be illusory? If so, can the punishment of crimes be ethically justified (and does the word “ethical” have any real meaning)?
Not relevant to atheism. Not totally sure which discipline/s cover this... probably start with neuroscientist and take it from there.
7. Does objective morality exist? If so, what is its source…and how do you define “objective”? If not, do you concede that concepts like “justice”, “fairness”, and “equality” are nothing more than social fads, and that acts of violence and oppression must be regarded merely as differences of opinion?
Not relevant to atheism. Ask an Ethicist.
8. In what terms do you define the value of human life? Is the life of a human child more or less valuable, for example, than that of an endangered species of primate?
Not relevant to atheism. Ask an Ethicist.
9. Much attention has been given to alleged cognitive biases and “wishful thinking” contributing to religious belief. Do you believe that similar biases (for example, the desire for moral autonomy) play a role in religious nonbelief? If not, what specifically makes atheism immune to these influences?
We are all subject to biases and use heuristics and have judgement clouded by emotion.
I am sure... In fact I know that there are people who lack belief in gods for bad reasons...
or who haven't reasoned it out at all.
However that's not relevant to the question of if atheism is true.
10. Do you believe religion (speaking generally) has had a net positive or a net negative effect on humanity? If the latter, how do you explain the prevalence of religion in evolutionary terms?
Net negative, by miles. Ask an evolution expert.
11. Is it rational for you to risk your life to save a stranger?*
Not relevant to atheism. Ask a rationalist / Ethicist.
12. How would you begin to follow Jesus if it became clear to you that Christianity was true? What would be the hardest adjustment you would have to make to live a faithful, public Christian life?
Can only answer personally. Never going to happen.
I wouldn't 'follow Jesus' even if Christianity was true.
No god worth worshipping would ever ask for or require it.
I will never worship any god or gods even were they to be proved to exist.
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Originally posted by Grampy Bobby1-we dont know............yet.
[b]"Twelve Questions to Ask an Atheist" ["Some of these obviously involve multiple questions…"]
1. Does the universe have a beginning that requires a cause? If so, what was this cause?
2. Is materialistic determinism compatible with the intrinsically probabilistic nature of quantum mechanics?
3. How do you account for the physical parameter ...[text shortened]... y Knight. http://wellspentjourney.wordpress.com/2012/07/08/twelve-questions-to-ask-an-atheist-2/[/b]
2 -yes, why wouldnt it?
3- we dont know for sure.
4- we invented it using our brains. maybe there are better systems for describing the laws of nature that we havent or are incapable of inventing, who knows.
5- its still a new science, give the boys in the lab coats a few hundred years before you start calling them woeful.
6- yes and yes (kinda)
7- only in our minds
8- good question, very difficult to answer.
9- it can do, but not always.
10- negative. evolution does not always equal good.
11- can be, not always though.
12- i would never follow the christian god. he is a monster.
Originally posted by googlefudgeHa!
[b]For most if not all of these questions there is not a short simple answer.
And I am not about to write 12 pages of answer right now.
And many/most of these questions have no relevance to atheism, so I will give a
quick "relevance to atheism" answer to each. [i][and by relevance to atheism
I mean whether it's relevant to whether atheism is right ...[text shortened]... k for or require it.
I will never worship any god or gods even were they to be proved to exist.
The very thing the atheist complains about the Christian
Why are you here, again?
Originally posted by Grampy Bobby
[b]"Twelve Questions to Ask an Atheist" ["Some of these obviously involve multiple questions…"]
1. Does the universe have a beginning that requires a cause? If so, what was this cause?
The day they find out the answer to this question the only atheist you'll find will be burnt toast.
Originally posted by googlefudgeWhat justification do you offer for the belief that all of these questions are "not relevant"?
[b]For most if not all of these questions there is not a short simple answer.
And I am not about to write 12 pages of answer right now.
And many/most of these questions have no relevance to atheism, so I will give a
quick "relevance to atheism" answer to each. [i][and by relevance to atheism
I mean whether it's relevant to whether atheism is right ...[text shortened]... k for or require it.
I will never worship any god or gods even were they to be proved to exist.
Originally posted by stellspalfie"4. Why is the human mind naturally fluent in the language of mathematics, and how do you explain the eerie, seemingly unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics in describing the laws of nature?"
1-we dont know............yet.
2 -yes, why wouldnt it?
3- we dont know for sure.
4- we invented it using our brains. maybe there are better systems for describing the laws of nature that we havent or are incapable of inventing, who knows.
5- its still a new science, give the boys in the lab coats a few hundred years before you start calling them w ...[text shortened]... d.
11- can be, not always though.
12- i would never follow the christian god. he is a monster.
Originally posted by stellspalfie
"4- we invented it using our brains. maybe there are better systems for describing the laws of nature that we havent or are incapable of inventing, who knows."
"We invented" or discovered "... the language of mathematics" and "the eerie, seemingly unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics in describing the laws of nature"?
Originally posted by Grampy BobbyWhy would you want to ask those questions of an atheist? They have
[b]"Twelve Questions to Ask an Atheist"
[/b]
nothing to do with atheism. You may as well title the thread as "Twelve
questions to ask a philatelist".
If you naively believe that not being able to answer the questions validates
theism then ask yourself this; if Man was not around and those questions
were given to cats and dogs - would their lack of answers prove there
must be a god?
If something is unknown it does not make "god dunnit" a likely answer !!
Originally posted by Grampy BobbyThe "human mind naturally fluent" in Mathematics ? Are you sure?
"Why is the human mind naturally fluent in the language of mathematics, and how do you explain the eerie, seemingly unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics in describing the laws of nature?"
And should we find it eerie that the discipline we use to model reality ...
models reality?