Why do some people need physical proof to validate the existence of something?

Question

There are many things we can't prove, but they do indeed exist: radio waves, microwaves cooking the food, Little Miss Daisy sleeping with her limo driver behind Mr. Daisy's back...

Answer 1

Some people think that history is bunk. They think it was made up a couple years ago. Some people have been lied to so much that they now think that everything somebody tells them, even the truth, is a lie. I've never met Hitler, or Lincoln, or Washington, or George III, or Mohammed, but I have no reason to believe that they were not real people, even though there's no physical, scientific proof that they ever lived.

Language was one of the first great tools for keeping records, giving us something that could allow us to pass knowledge down to future generations. To ignore or disbelieve everything that only has material proofs is to discount all oral testimony of the past and make ourselves very poor indeed.

As fas as the things that science cannot prove go, if one is going to limit oneself to a materialistic, non-theistic universe, then all we are left with is that the supermassive black hole in the center of our galaxy will eventually suck everything in, including the dust that used to be Earth after the Sun swells into a red giant and gets done toasting it.

Nothing will remain. All of our accomplishments will end. We know that the human race is doomed, and yet we keep on going as though there was some kind of hope.

And if we came about by random chance collisions of atoms, if we were not made by anybody, nobody will care what happens to us. All the reasons we have for living mean nothing because in the end there isn't really any difference between us and unliving matter.

If we came from nothing and are going to nothing, as science claims it can prove, there is no reason to keep on living, and anything that anybody says or does to the contrary is just deceiving themselves. If that's all there is, language doesn't really have meaning; it's just repeated sounds made by matter. And that means that truth, justice, compassion, love, and life itself mean nothing.

I really don't understand why some people would choose to believe that the universe was not created, why they would choose to believe that existence is meaningless.

Even people who know the physical facts and undestand what I am talking about might just shrug and go back to their lives without bothering to find out if there is any real point to existence other than what they imagine for themselves. If everything's material, there isn't really anybody there doing the imagining.

Why do people choose meaninglessness...? How do they manage to deceive themselves...? I have heard materialists rant about the suposed foolishness of Christians who "can't face" the reality of the physical universe. But I think that some materialists are equally short-sighted and timid.

Sooner or later our legal system will stop using concepts like 'right' and 'wrong' which are solely religious concepts. They will recognize that if all we are is matter and energy, we can do no wrong; as DeSade said, "Whatever is, is right."

They will stop criminalizing murder, incest, cannibalism, theft, stop catering to those who complain that it was not fair that someone should hit them or hurt them or rape them or steal from them. We will live in our natural state. Will that be good?

And it will not matter. When everything that we have done and everything that we were gets sucked down the cosmic crap-hole, none of our politics or 'justice' or 'values' will remain. And nobody will care.

I'm putting my hope in something I can't see because nothing else offers any meaning. I'm hoping that the God of the Bible is real and that the forgiveness offered by Jesus Christ is real, because I just can't stand to live as though I ultimately evolved from inorganic particles, and will ultimately wind up as cosmic dust. I can't stand to think that there is no truth or justice, that it doesn't really matter how badly I have been hurt or how unfairly I have been treated. I can't stand to think that it really, really doesn't matter whether my loved ones live or die. I can't stand to think that when I feel something matters, it's just self-delusion.

A lot of science these days seems aimed at pushing away any possibility that there is anybody other than ourselves to provide meaning and value to our lives. But we can't provide it.

I don't see how materialists can do it. I don't think that a lot of them squarely face the alternative: that it doesn't matter. Maybe some of them are young and have led sheltered lives and have never had to wrestle with these painful thought late at night.

Maybe it's not a matter of believing. Maybe some of them are already convinced, deep down, that there is meaning and value to life, with all the theistic implications that drags along. Maybe some of them just don't want to admit that there might be someone out there that they ought to be obeying.

But they will have those opportunities, eventually. I hope for their sake that they will come to the same conclusions that I have, that there is real meaning to existence because Someone made us and lent us meaning, and not just because we assume or imagine that there is such meaning.

Answer 2

But you're wrong. That a radio works is physical proof of radio waves. The cooked pudding is evidence that the micro waves are real. As for Little Miss Daisy, I never much believed in her... you got some proof?

Answer 3

There is actually physical proof of radio waves and microwaves, they can be scientifically measured and the fact that you hear the radio and taste the cooked food is proof that they exist. The things we can not prove seem to be religious based, this is based on blind faith and nothing more. Give me science any day.

Answer 4

Well, radios and microwaves use energy that cannot be seen or felt, but it can be measured and manipulated and so can be considered real. Other things, such as the existence of god or the soul, cannot be sensed or measured, so some people who aren't comfortable with unprovable belief don't think they exist. We need to have some type of criteria for determining what's real and what isn't, otherwise we'd never be able to tell the difference between dreams and reality or differentiate hallucinations from daydreams.

Answer 5

We can observe and measure radio waves as well as the flirtive excursions of miss Daisy.....we can't measure or observe god or the supernatural. We don't need the physical proof in front of our faces to know that something exists, as long as there's a preponderance of evidence from the scientists and other experts. I don't need to see that the earth is round, i can believe in the preponderance of evidence from the astonomers and other experts...for example.

Answer 6

It is just human nature, not to believe in something that you can't see,feel,touch or taste. Radio waves can be heard, microwaves can be felt, but I don't know anything about Daisy.

Answer 7

radio waves i hear
my food gets cooked
both physical proof via cause and effect
who gives a **** about miss daisy? (oh and miss would mean she's not married)

Answer 8

In many cases physical evidence isn't always available, so this way sufficient proof cannot be offered; but validation can be offered through other mediums if the individual is prone to being open minded. If not, you are wasting your time. One example, does God exist?

Answer 9

I am one of those people who needs physical proof. It is something I struggle with daily. I wish I didn't have to, but I just find it hard to believe in something that I can't pin to solid evidence. There are many things that I want to believe in but I have to overcome my need for physical evidence before I can put my trust in them.

Answer 10

I agree with you. In fact, some of the most important realities can't be proven, haven't been, or a person's attitude will not count the evidence as proof.