Atheism

rosier79 · 23-07-2014 2:15am #1

Do you think it is possible that there's a spirit world but not a god?

basillarkin · 23-07-2014 2:18am

Immanuel · 23-07-2014 2:24am

Alien life could be in a spiritual form. Whatever form it takes, no evidence for alien life has been found to date, but I believe it's probably out there somewhere.

Turtwig · 23-07-2014 2:50am

Whatever about a spirit world, a world where pokemon are real would be fricking awesome!

Zillah · 23-07-2014 2:51am

rosier79 wrote: »

Do you think it is possible that there's a spirit world but not a god?

Anything is possible. But we have no evidence, so probably not.

Amirani · 23-07-2014 2:52am

Possible? I guess.

Likely? Not so much.

Nodin · 23-07-2014 5:36am

rosier79 wrote: »

Do you think it is possible that there's a spirit world but not a god?

No. I've seen the same evidence for the supernatural as I have for God (nada).

smacl · 23-07-2014 7:47am

rosier79 wrote: »

Do you think it is possible that there's a spirit world but not a god?

No just possible, but I've been there, and it rocks

unfortunately dwelling too long with said spirits will lead you straight to hell.

nozzferrahhtoo · 23-07-2014 8:41am

rosier79 wrote: »

Do you think it is possible that there's a spirit world but not a god?

I think it possible there is a god.

I think it possible there is a "spirit world".

I think it possible the elected politicians of the world have all been replaced by a reptilian alien species from space.

I think it possible that the plants in my garden grow because just when no one is looking, little tiny fairies come out with little tiny scaffolding and extend them.

I think it possible homeopathy actually works.

All this stuff is _possible_. The simply fact is however that they are all, every one of them, totally unsubstantiated.

There is a chasm of difference between recognizing a possibility, and lending credence to a claim in the face of substantiation.

SebBerkovich · 23-07-2014 8:58am

I'd tend to agree with most people here.

There's no evidence of spirits (how ever you define them) and so there probably isn't a place where they live.

Mr. CooL ICE · 23-07-2014 10:05am

But somebody would have to create the spirits. Therefore, god.

Corkfeen · 23-07-2014 10:44am

Turtwig wrote: »

Whatever about a spirit world, a world where pokemon are real would be fricking awesome!

PETA would implode with such a possibility.

kiffer · 23-07-2014 10:52am

Is it possible that there is life on neutron stars like in Baxters's book Flux?
Is it possible that there is a seemingly infinite number o pparallel Earths we can jump to using a potato powered device like in The Long Earth? Or Sliders...

Wereghost · 24-07-2014 12:53am

I don't think that a consciousness can persist while disembodied any more than a computer program can run without a computer. That goes for ghosts pretty much as well as gods (though some have argued that old stone buildings might somehow preserve and replay part of the mind-state of the deceased).

MayoSalmon · 24-07-2014 11:16am

Everything has a spirit, dogs, cats, trees, people. We all have inner spirits.

Where that spirits goes after this life i'm not sure, hopefully somewhere nice though.

Kidchameleon · 24-07-2014 11:19am

anything is possible OP

smacl · 24-07-2014 11:44am

Kidchameleon wrote: »

anything is possible OP

Many things are possible, but so massively improbable that we can safely dismiss them. e.g. regardless of what my email says, I didn't win the Spanish lottery this morning, nor is there a gentleman in Nigeria keen to transfer 7 million dollars in my bank account.

What we can say with a high degree of confidence that ghosts, Gods and Narnia don't exist, as there is no evidence whatsoever to support their existence.

MayoSalmon · 24-07-2014 11:59am

smacl wrote: »

Many things are possible, but so massively improbable that we can safely dismiss them. e.g. regardless of what my email says, I didn't win the Spanish lottery this morning, nor is there a gentleman in Nigeria keen to transfer 7 million dollars in my bank account.

What we can say with a high degree of confidence that ghosts, Gods and Narnia don't exist, as there is no evidence whatsoever to support their existence.

I would say flying on an airplane would of been massively improbable to 5th century celts, not sure if it should of been dismissed though.

My mind is always open and very relcutant to dismiss anything

magicbastarder · 24-07-2014 12:11pm

looks like a driveby.

Brian Shanahan · 24-07-2014 2:29pm

MayoSalmon wrote: »

Everything has a spirit, dogs, cats, trees, people. We all have inner spirits.

Where that spirits goes after this life i'm not sure, hopefully somewhere nice though.

Please point out the evidence you have for said "spirits".

nozzferrahhtoo · 24-07-2014 3:21pm

MayoSalmon wrote: »

My mind is always open and very relcutant to dismiss anything

I am not. I am willing to dismiss unsubstantiated assertion for example.

That is not dismissing the possibility, which is what the thread is about. There is a chasm of difference.

I think you and I are possibly operating off a different meaning of "open mind".

MayoSalmon wrote: »

Everything has a spirit, dogs, cats, trees, people. We all have inner spirits.

What do you mean by "spirit" exactly, and how have you substantiated its existence?

MayoSalmon · 24-07-2014 4:36pm

nozzferrahhtoo wrote: »

What do you mean by "spirit" exactly, and how have you substantiated its existence?

Not everything needs to be substantiated or analyzed.

I am talking about the energy you see in animals, nature and people. You might call it there soul but I see it more as there spirit. Personalities tend to be reflection of this spirit inside everything.

TwoShedsJackson · 24-07-2014 4:39pm

MayoSalmon wrote: »

Not everything needs to be substantiated or analyzed.

I am talking about the energy you see in animals, nature and people. You might call it there soul but I see it more as there spirit. Personalities tend to be reflection of this spirit inside everything.

Claims that something exists need to be backed up with evidence.

I don't see any 'energy' in animals, nature, or people - does that mean it doesn't exist?

smacl · 24-07-2014 4:47pm

MayoSalmon wrote: »

Not everything needs to be substantiated or analyzed.

So how do you then distinguish between what is real and what is imaginary?

I am talking about the energy you see in animals, nature and people. You might call it there soul but I see it more as there spirit. Personalities tend to be reflection of this spirit inside everything.

The energy I see in animals is largely kinetic and thermal. What energy do you see? How is it manifested such that you can see it? If you can see it, but it can't be measured, are you sure that it is real, and if so, why?

MayoSalmon · 24-07-2014 4:48pm

smacl wrote: »

So how do you then distinguish between what is real and what is imaginary?

The energy I see in animals is largely kinetic and thermal. What energy do you see? How is it manifested such that you can see it? If you can see it, but it can't be measured, are you sure that it is real, and if so, why?

I am not talking literally

smacl · 24-07-2014 4:58pm

MayoSalmon wrote: »

I am not talking literally

Ok, so there is no literal energy, but metaphorically or figuratively you are still referring to a thing that you believe exists. What is that thing, and what leads you to conclude that it is real rather than imaginary? At a guess, you're referring to the state of something being alive, and all that that entails. The problem comes when you get rid of the thing that was alive (e.g. cremate a dead body), how exactly can the no longer existing thing still have a state?

Kidchameleon · 24-07-2014 5:20pm

Wereghost wrote: »

I don't think that a consciousness can persist while disembodied any more than a computer program can run without a computer. That goes for ghosts pretty much as well as gods (though some have argued that old stone buildings might somehow preserve and replay part of the mind-state of the deceased).

Assuming for a moment that consciousness is a collection of neurons and synapses etc. It is possible that such a structure could be replicated on a computer. I'm talking computers hundreds if not thousands of years from now. Would a replicated brain develop a personality of its own accord? Would it be possible to transfer a human consciousness to a computer? We could conceivably duplicate minds, reprogram them. We could create a blank mind and program it to have certain traits, thereby becoming gods.

What if this has already happened? What if we are computers created by another race? We could be more advanced than them.

Turtwig · 24-07-2014 5:21pm

Earth is a giant computer run by lab mice.

Kidchameleon · 24-07-2014 5:22pm

TwoShedsJackson wrote: »

I don't see any 'energy' in animals, nature, or people - does that mean it doesn't exist?

If you see an animal, you are seeing a collection of atoms. Atoms = Energy.

MayoSalmon · 24-07-2014 5:33pm

smacl wrote: »

Ok, so there is no literal energy, but metaphorically or figuratively you are still referring to a thing that you believe exists. What is that thing, and what leads you to conclude that it is real rather than imaginary? At a guess, you're referring to the state of something being alive, and all that that entails. The problem comes when you get rid of the thing that was alive (e.g. cremate a dead body), how exactly can the no longer existing thing still have a state?

That's a great summary, and it doesn't I would suggest it moves into a new state, no evidence etc of this of course. I guess I am a believer in the theory of reincarnation of some sort.

Barr125 · 24-07-2014 6:30pm

Kidchameleon wrote: »

If you see an animal, you are seeing a collection of atoms. Atoms = Energy.

Atoms aren't energy (unless you're talking about atomic energy specifically) and he has already pointed out the fact the "energy" he was referring to is not a literal energy.

Atheism

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