Today's reading for the irrationalists and superstitious atheists of USMB

[Justin Davis]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/8510711/Belief-in-God-is-part-of-human-nature-Oxford-study.html


The idea of God is not a figment of human culture. It's a fact of human nature and human psychology. This is self-evident, but I guess if you just have to have a scientific study to prove what logic already proves, here you go.

 

[Delta4Embassy]

Dunno how valid the studies are. If you're asking children in cultures with a god-based mythology god-related questions, you're going to get god-related answers. Only way to know how innate such beliefs are is to ask those raised with no concepts of god or the supernatural which would be difficult if not impossible in the 21st century. And since people take a dim view of raising children just to study that sort of thing on...

 

[AVG-JOE]

Belief in God is a fact of human nature?

​

I'm not saying that I buy that idea but... that point not withstanding, so what?

All that proves is that human belief is real and that human belief in the divine is common. But even if humanity is hardwired to believe in God, that fact alone offers zero evidence that a god exists. Even taken to the extreme that belief in The Divine being hardwired in to the human psyche is proof of The Divine, that fact alone does NOTHING to validate The God of Abraham, as defined in The Torah, The New Testament and The Koran, or any other ancient character, as THE God.


I don't think Monkeys are hard-wired to consider The Divine. Not like we're hard-wired to consider sex.

`​

​

 

[Luddly Neddite]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/8510711/Belief-in-God-is-part-of-human-nature-Oxford-study.html


The idea of God is not a figment of human culture. It's a fact of human nature and human psychology. This is self-evident, but I guess if you just have to have a scientific study to prove what logic already proves, here you go.

And your avatar is wrong too.

 

[Justin Davis]

Belief in God is a fact of human nature?

​

I'm not saying that I buy that idea but... that point not withstanding, so what?

All that proves is that human belief is real and that human belief in the divine is common. But even if humanity is hardwired to believe in God, that fact alone offers zero evidence that a god exists. Even taken to the extreme that belief in The Divine being hardwired in to the human psyche is proof of The Divine, that fact alone does NOTHING to validate The God of Abraham, as defined in The Torah, The New Testament and The Koran, or any other ancient character, as THE God.


I don't think Monkeys are hard-wired to consider The Divine. Not like we're hard-wired to consider sex.

`​

​

There's no evidence for God's existence? This is what you're saying? The universe doesn't exist? You don't exist? You're certifiably insane. You know that right?

 

[Justin Davis]

Dunno how valid the studies are. If you're asking children in cultures with a god-based mythology god-related questions, you're going to get god-related answers. Only way to know how innate such beliefs are is to ask those raised with no concepts of god or the supernatural which would be difficult if not impossible in the 21st century. And since people take a dim view of raising children just to study that sort of thing on...

The issue is not whether or not humans are born with certain ideas. The fact is that humans are born with the same basic faculties of reason and mathematics that are hardwired and produce the very same understanding of things about the alternatives of origin and many other things. Who needs a study in the first place? The idea of an eternally existent something or another is axiomatic.

 

[TheOldSchool]

Your

Dunno how valid the studies are. If you're asking children in cultures with a god-based mythology god-related questions, you're going to get god-related answers. Only way to know how innate such beliefs are is to ask those raised with no concepts of god or the supernatural which would be difficult if not impossible in the 21st century. And since people take a dim view of raising children just to study that sort of thing on...

Nonsense. The issue is not whether or not humans are born with certain ideas. The fact of the is that humans are born with the same universal faculties of reason and mathematics that are hardwired and produce the very same understanding of things about the alternatives of origin and many other things. Who needs a study in the first place? The idea of an eternally existent something or another is axiomatic.

The main finding of your study:

One of the studies, from Oxford, concluded that children below the age of five found it easier to believe in some “superhuman” properties than to understand human limitations.

And of course you outed yourself by saying you don't need a study for your beliefs. Which lets everyone know what you think of all other studies. Children below the age of 5 also believe in Santa Claus. What's he bringing you for Christmas this year Justin?

Also:

 

[Justin Davis]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/8510711/Belief-in-God-is-part-of-human-nature-Oxford-study.html


The idea of God is not a figment of human culture. It's a fact of human nature and human psychology. This is self-evident, but I guess if you just have to have a scientific study to prove what logic already proves, here you go.

And your avatar is wrong too.

I'm wrong about what?

 

[Justin Davis]

Your

Dunno how valid the studies are. If you're asking children in cultures with a god-based mythology god-related questions, you're going to get god-related answers. Only way to know how innate such beliefs are is to ask those raised with no concepts of god or the supernatural which would be difficult if not impossible in the 21st century. And since people take a dim view of raising children just to study that sort of thing on...

Nonsense. The issue is not whether or not humans are born with certain ideas. The fact of the is that humans are born with the same universal faculties of reason and mathematics that are hardwired and produce the very same understanding of things about the alternatives of origin and many other things. Who needs a study in the first place? The idea of an eternally existent something or another is axiomatic.

The main finding of your study:

One of the studies, from Oxford, concluded that children below the age of five found it easier to believe in some “superhuman” properties than to understand human limitations.

And of course you outed yourself by saying you don't need a study for your beliefs. Which lets everyone know what you think of all other studies. Children below the age of 5 also believe in Santa Claus. What's he bringing you for Christmas this year Justin?

Also:

Sigh

You have no understanding at all.

I don't need a study to tell me that the universe exists, that I exist and that either the universe has always existed or was caused to come into existence by a transcendent Being.

That's the bottom line, and faith has nothing to do with that at all. Logic. Reason. Common sense. Everybody knows that these are the options for origin, and everybody knows that the second option cannot be ruled out.

 

[Agit8r]

Lol. You mean gods, right? Because even the ancient Hebrews worshiped many gods. And as with them, we can chalk such nonsense up to the weakness of flesh.

 

[Agit8r]

...Only way to know how innate such beliefs are is to ask those raised with no concepts of god...

Such a study exists:

Judgments About Fact and Fiction by Children From Religious and Nonreligious Backgrounds - Corriveau - 2014 - Cognitive Science - Wiley Online Library

 

[Justin Davis]

Lol. You mean gods, right? Because even the ancient Hebrews worshiped many gods. And as with them, we can chalk such nonsense up to the weakness of flesh.

Meaningless blather.

 

[TheOldSchool]

Your

Dunno how valid the studies are. If you're asking children in cultures with a god-based mythology god-related questions, you're going to get god-related answers. Only way to know how innate such beliefs are is to ask those raised with no concepts of god or the supernatural which would be difficult if not impossible in the 21st century. And since people take a dim view of raising children just to study that sort of thing on...

Nonsense. The issue is not whether or not humans are born with certain ideas. The fact of the is that humans are born with the same universal faculties of reason and mathematics that are hardwired and produce the very same understanding of things about the alternatives of origin and many other things. Who needs a study in the first place? The idea of an eternally existent something or another is axiomatic.

The main finding of your study:

One of the studies, from Oxford, concluded that children below the age of five found it easier to believe in some “superhuman” properties than to understand human limitations.

And of course you outed yourself by saying you don't need a study for your beliefs. Which lets everyone know what you think of all other studies. Children below the age of 5 also believe in Santa Claus. What's he bringing you for Christmas this year Justin?

Also:

Sigh

You have no understanding at all.

I don't need a study to tell me that the universe exists, that I exist and that either the universe has always existed or was caused to come into existence by a transcendent Being.

That's the bottom line, and faith has nothing to do with that at all. Logic. Reason. Common sense. Everybody knows that these are the options for origin, and everybody knows that the second option cannot be ruled out.

You're right. There's no way to disprove God. Just as there's no way to disprove that our entire universe isn't a speck on a flower being protected by an elephant named Horton.

There are countless zany beliefs that can't be disproven. Therefore we can't rule out Zeus, or Ra the sun god, or Shiva, or *gasp* Allah.

Hey maybe the Jonestown people were right and right now they're on some ascended plane with aliens like they believed! You can't disprove that!

 

[Justin Davis]

You're right. There's no way to disprove God. Just as there's no way to disprove that our entire universe isn't a speck on a flower being protected by an elephant named Horton.

There are countless zany beliefs that can't be disproven. Therefore we can't rule out Zeus, or Ra the sun god, or Shiva, or *gasp* Allah.

Hey maybe the Jonestown people were right and right now they're on some ascended plane with aliens like they believed! You can't disprove that!

Of course mythical conceptualizations of divinity can be ruled out, dummy. Stop being a dummy. What cannot be ruled out is a divine origin for existence.

 

[Agit8r]

Lol. You mean gods, right? Because even the ancient Hebrews worshiped many gods. And as with them, we can chalk such nonsense up to the weakness of flesh.

Meaningless blather.

Really? What percentage of the world's population do you suppose believes in monotheism (for the sake of discussion we can include trinitarians, if you like)

 

[mdk]

Thunder is just God moving the living room furniture or bowling. Its true because that is what my sister and I believed as kids.

 

[TheOldSchool]

You're right. There's no way to disprove God. Just as there's no way to disprove that our entire universe isn't a speck on a flower being protected by an elephant named Horton.

There are countless zany beliefs that can't be disproven. Therefore we can't rule out Zeus, or Ra the sun god, or Shiva, or *gasp* Allah.

Hey maybe the Jonestown people were right and right now they're on some ascended plane with aliens like they believed! You can't disprove that!

Of course mythical conceptualizations of divinity can be ruled out, dummy. Stop being a dummy. What cannot be ruled out is a divine origin for existence.

We also can't rule out that everyone who you talk to isn't real and they exist only in your imagination.

After all absence of evidence is not evidence of absence! Therefore your claim that mythical conceptualizations of divinity can be ruled out is ignorant and closed minded. Dummy.

 

[AVG-JOE]

There's no evidence for God's existence? This is what you're saying? The universe doesn't exist? You don't exist? You're certifiably insane. You know that right?

I'm insane?!? ​

Dude...
I'm not the one raving on about the existence of a supernatural being without one single iota of evidence, ass-u-me-ing the ancient Arabian stories are taken off the table.


You're the one claiming the existence of a god, you have the burden of proof.

​

 

[AVG-JOE]

Sigh

You have no understanding at all.

I don't need a study to tell me that the universe exists, that I exist and that either the universe has always existed or was caused to come into existence by a transcendent Being.

That's the bottom line, and faith has nothing to do with that at all. Logic. Reason. Common sense. Everybody knows that these are the options for origin, and everybody knows that the second option cannot be ruled out.

Nobody is questioning the fact of your existence. It's your claim of the existence of a deity that's up for debate.

Your claim, your obligation to supply evidence and proofs for consideration.


Of course, if we're really going to get anywhere, step one is to name the God that's up for discussion. I've been ass-u-me-ing that this thread references The God of Abraham, as defined in The Torah, The New Testament and The Koran. Let me know if that's wrong.

 

[AVG-JOE]

Lol. You mean gods, right? Because even the ancient Hebrews worshiped many gods. And as with them, we can chalk such nonsense up to the weakness of flesh.

Meaningless blather.

It's all blather, Bro'.

Why is that particular blather 'meaningless' to you? Be specific.​