Atheism & Nescience

Originally posted by epiphinehas
[b]I see the limits that nature prescribes - like quantum mechanical limits - but I don't see anything stopping us from continuing to develop our understanding of the universe and its nature.
Nescience as ignorance? Yes, I accept there are many things that I'm ignorant about. (Is that what you mean?)

I should clarify: not ignorance in the sense o ...[text shortened]... owledge.

The 'mystery of existence' helps to reinforce my atheism.

How so?[/b]

Ever heard of the anthropic principle?


Ultimately, any theist position comes down to a "just because God said so" argument. An atheistic one never comes down to that. It may come to, "that question doesn't make sense" (although that's because we use logic, which is imperfect at dealing with very big events), or "I don't know". "I don't know" however, is always a superior answer to "Goddunit".

Originally posted by Zander 88
[b]Trees, for example: we know what constitutes a tree and how it grows, what it looks like, how it feels, etc., yet if we ask ourselves what it is, we merely rehash what know about it without ever answering the fundamental question, what is it.

So, what is a tree? Or is that the point? I think I'm beginning to understand your argument... I must go back and reread your posts. It will take some time, so have patience with me 🙂[/b]

So, what is a tree?

To paraphrase a theist.


"Goddunit"

Originally posted by scottishinnz
Ever heard of the anthropic principle?


Ultimately, any theist position comes down to a "just because God said so" argument. An atheistic one never comes down to that. It may come to, "that question doesn't make sense" (although that's because we use logic, which is imperfect at dealing with very big events), or "I don't know". "I don't know" however, is always a superior answer to "Goddunit".

'I don't know' is honest at least. 'Goddunit' hardly addresses the nescient aspect of the universe. Even if it may ultimately be correct that 'goddunit', that statement itself hardly answer's the simple question, 'what is it?' 'Goddunit' is a cop-out. Awe and wonder are still our first and best reactions to existence, whether a believer or not.

Doesn't the anthropic principle basically say that the solar system only seems to be engineered for life because the only way we'd be conscious of ourselves is if the exact variables were in place, by chance, to begin with? Giving the illusion that God engineered our existence, when, in fact, through random chance out of billions of galaxies, something was going to line up just right somewhere. That something being us. Isn't Stephen Hawking a believer in the anthropic principle?

Kind of hard to argue against that, isn't it? 🙂