Logic... Reasoning... And REALITY?

Question

So, from most of the comments I've read from atheists (and I'm saying "most" so don't get all defensive if you are not one of them), they claim their logic and reasoning are reality. So this claim is based on knowledge attained from your senses right? It must be so, because you rely so heavily on "evidence" right? And evidence is perceived only through your senses, right? What then do you say about deception? About magic tricks that deceive your senses... (Metaphorically speaking)... Is that then your reality? What if your logic does not allow you to see past your senses... And how can you call this reality? Evidence and science is everchanging... A few hundred years ago, the world was flat... And everyone who disagreed was killed... Why are you trying to do the same thing here (without actually killing....)?

No Tom... You cannot say trust logic, when looking at a magic trick... Your logic is telling that what happened is real... You senses, your vision... tells you so. Logically speaking... The trick just happened and is reality. But it is DOUBT that will allow you not to believe... Just as you DOUBT God.

Answer 1

Sounds like a song.... "What's so funny about logic and reasoning and reality?"

Answer 2

Even magic tricks that can fool one sense cannot fool everyone or all the senses. Evidence doesn't change, our ability to understand it does. The fanatical murders of those with opposing viewpoints was never done by scientists, people who study the world. Scientists have always accepted that what they see as validation may only be in this case only. It is when the freaks and weirdos get ahold of a little science without understanding it that bad things start to happen. Our senses are a response to environmental stimuli, they are a truth. As a scientist we remove ourselves from the equation by finding things that can be measured, counted, poked and messed with and then remeasured and recounted. We use our senses for some observations but we usually try to use quantitative analysis (if you don't know the difference between quantitative and qualitative, then you have no business asking this question until you learn something.)

Answer 3

Thats the whole point, trust logic when you cannot trust your senses. In a magic trick, something happens that all your senses say "This is true" however there is a voice of logic saying "This can't possibly be true".

When a magician tells me what my card was when my senses say "He never saw that card" I stick to my logic which say "He can't know what your card is without forcing a specific card on you, or looking at the one you picked without you noticing"

When I see a magician cutting someone in half my eyes say "This is amazing, how is this possible" but my logical mind says "This is impossible, there's no blood, and someone simply cannot survive being cut in half, those legs are probably fake, and why isn't he showing me the open wound?"

Logic comes first, then perception. Always trust pure, first order propositional logic before trusting anything else. It's infallible.

With religion, my ears hear "God created the world in 7 days" , my eyes read "Jesus rose from the dead in 3 days" but my logical mind says "Big bang theory explains creation very well, as does evolution, why should I believe in God?" and "I know that people dont just come back to life, everyone knows that, so why should Jesus be any different"

Answer 4

Our senses are dependent on how the brain process information from the environment. The functioning of the brain can alter those sense. Right know science can't explain how consciousness is created. It does however know that consciousness is far more than sensory imput.

Answer 5

you're right,science DOES change and expand it's knowledge and that's why we must be ready for change....just because science changes and modernizes,it's not an excuse to NOT learn new things and accept them if they make sense because then no one would ever progress...trial and error is a part of knowledge...make mistakes and learn from them.

in your own example,the people who STUCK to their beliefs about the world being flat were wrong weren't they? so imagine if everybody else had also stuck to those beliefs (either out of fear or convention) we'd STILL be thinking the world is flat!