UnityJester
No bio...
User ID: 1008
UnityJester
1yr ago
You said it was extremely unlikely but not impossible. If there is even a .000000001% chance you should be doing the song and dance because of the payout. Do you disagree?
UnityJester
1yr ago
I do not want you to believe anything is impossible, what you do is up to you. I am simply commenting that your inability to concede that the extraordinary magic space teapot that I admit to you I fabricated on the spot does not possibly exist indicates a failure in your rationality.
You are welcome to hang on to your skepticism and hold a belief that it may exist, but the fact that you are not singing the song and dancing the dance (I assume) every night would indicate you don't think it exists any more than I do (which is not at all), since the payoff is so large for such a small cost.
UnityJester
1yr ago
Thank you for the thoughtful responses.
You say that you don't believe "God works that way" in regards to the $100 in the mailbox, which is a sentiment I understand as most people of faith would say the same I think. Can you help me understand why $100 in the mailbox is not the way God works but improving sound quality upon request is?
I understand that there are many examples in your life outside of the ones you have given, but are any of them repeatable in a way that you could re-perform the test and have the results consistently be the same? I think I know the answer to that, but it just seems to me like if praying for improved sound quality and it happening is reason for increasing belief then there are a multitude of things you could pray for daily of a similar nature, and record the results/update accordingly. I am sure there is some reason why that is not true as I am aware of the general aversion to testing god in most faiths, but you seem more open to the idea.
UnityJester
1yr ago
My example, that I made up on the spot, that there is a teapot orbiting Jupiter that will grant you one wish if you sing certain words every night for one year, is not impossible, just extremely unlikely?
This is a near perfect example of what I meant, and why I am convinced your way of thinking is absolutely incorrect.
In my mind, I am completely justified in applying the label "impossible" to that example. The fact that you cannot do the same would seem to indicate a failure in your rationality, in my opinion.
UnityJester
1yr ago
In my own anecdotal experience, anyone who claims to have been provided an opportunity to test Gods claims, coincidentally never is able to provide a surefire test that can not be attributed to coincidence and/or confirmation bias.
If you prayed right now to find a $100 bill in your mailbox in the morning, and it did not come true it would likely not move you even a single step in the other direction, correct? If you prayed and it did happen then that would of course increase your confidence in your beliefs. How do you know you are truly updating based on the design and outcome of these tests, and not instead just updating when the results match your desired result?
Would you believe any less if when your group prayed for improved sound quality, nothing happened? Or would it be dismissed with a sentiment similar to "God answers all prayers, and sometimes the answer is just no"?
UnityJester
1yr ago
How ludicrous does the example have to be before you are comfortable with a position of "innocent"? Russel's complete tea set, with a table, two chairs, cups and saucers, the whole deal... Still just skeptical or are you innocent yet?
What if maintaining the "skeptic" position actually involved having skin in the game? Imagine that not only is the claim that the teapot exists, but that by singing and performing the I'm a Little Teapot dance each night before bed for one year the teapot grants you a wish with no restrictions that will come true. If you are truly just skeptical (after all there is no evidence that such a teapot doesn't exist), then you would of course be singing every night, correct? Why take the innocent position and risk missing out on such a reward?
Unlikely events do happen all the time, but it seems to me your method of thinking is what allows people to believe that impossible things can/have happened, usually defended with "You can't prove it didn't"
My own experience in the US Air Force also supports this, at least as far as friendly interactions between races being the norm.
Interestingly enough there was still a pretty high level of race separation in the career fields, with the career fields requiring lower test scores on the ASVAB seemingly having a higher proportion of black people (weapons troops, services (cooks, gym workers, etc), security forces, etc) vs the career fields requiring higher test scores seeming to have a higher proportion of white people (avionics, intelligence, linguist). Officers also tend to be higher proportion white/asian due to the college degree requirement.
Despite this separation the interactions between races in my time in were overall friendly, with more frequent interaction and joking about racial differences than what I have seen now in the general civilian population.
More options
Context Copy link