Quote Originally Posted by altagid
Just because you have doubt doesnt mean that all bets are equal. Did you ever play poker? Its essentially a game about managing uncertainty - managing it more skillyfully than your opponents. Just because all men men have a weakness does not mean that all men are weak.

Sure you can doubt the very foundations of knowledge, the underpinnings of math and science. And you should! That doesnt mean they are discredited or even that they are the equivalent of all other forms of knowledge.

Ok so you might really be just a brain in a vat. Do you pay your electric bill or not?
Absolutely I pay my bills. Even Hume said at the end of the day, I set aside my doubts and go play badmitton with my friends. Odd one Hume. I guess my point being that when people interpret biblical texts literally and assume the have the Truth, in a capital T sort of way please note, they tend to become fundamentalist assholes who think it's ok to bomb people for thinking something else. Obviously any absolute outlook is going to have problems in this sense. Likewise I think anyone who restricts existence to the physical, lacks both inspiration and imagination. Keep an open mind, and don't think that just because your system is empirical you're getting Truth (capital) out of it.

As for religion, I'll just say, contrary to poker, the human weakness in all humans is the groundwork for compassion, not exploitation. I don't rely on causal or quantum connections in order to be a moral person. Whether or not there is a spiritual connection between all people, I behave as if there is. Whether or not my existence is predetermined or not, I behave as if I have freedom. I behave as if I should pay my bills rather than just lounge around in my vat.

What would you do?


ps ~ I don't see it as a straw man. I hardly built it into much, and never represented it as a statement of your views. You could make a case for it being an example of equivocation. But I think it stands. But it's all bullshit to you isn't it? Why should you have to know anything about logical standards when you deal with Science afterall :thumbsup: