Did you know there is no objecitive evidence of Gods, fairies, leprocauns, ... ?

Question

pots of gold at the ends of rainbows, psychics, people capable of telekinesis, life after death, goblins, ghosts, dragons, demons, grimlins, hells, heavens, or causes of bad luck? What should this tell a level headed person?

I know, leprechauns and objective.

Rok c: But why should a person believe that any of these things exist?

Beeg Juan: I'm glad I could help, mr. funny.

Samurai Jack: I think it would be creepy.

Greenman: Someone needed to tell you. Now you don't have to waste your life planning for something that will never happen.

Antibiotic Void: Yes.

view keyring (RIP chris, nancy, and dan): Yeah, pretty much.

disciple: What secular history do you refer to? Smells funny to me.

wefmeister: I've seen young children speak to invisible freinds, does that make the invisible friend exist outside of the child's mind?

Melissa B: I believe in hard work and diligence. Not magic.

Nurse Nancy :) : I bet you don't even realize that you are using hell as a threat. Don't want me to think freely?

Go to the library? Why don't you decide for me.

Eloy: I'm so sorry, there's no Easter Bunny either.

Henk : Reasons, I want reasons. I wouldn't just "have faith" in what anyone tells me.

Suspedor of Disbelief : I'm not making the magnificent claims.

Alinvain: that would be nice.

Why I Love My Dog: A person could imagine all kinds of crazy things, and who is to say that they aren't possible. For all I know the moon could be made of cheese, and it's a huge conspiracy that we landed on it and so forth. You could drive yourself insane with all the possibilities. But what's likely? It's likely that people want to believe in these things because it makes them feel special, because they don't like reality.

john_d_ayer: It was poor wording. Though, I'll admit, my knowledge about math and science wouldn't yet hold a candle to yours.

But, being as smart as you seem to be, I would bet that you know what I mean. Would you give the same "faith" answer had I worded my question right?

Answer 1

Objective evidence?

All evidence is subject to interpretation, even evidence which can be reproduced. The evidence is subjective even if the fact is not.

Objective evidence is a widely used term and I think it suffers from seriously being misunderstood.

As an engineer working in "science", doing research and development, I constantly work with evidence of theories and I can tell you that it is not often that all of us agree on what evidence means.

Even when we can reproduce an experiment within an acceptable standard of deviation, and all experiments are processes subject to inconsistency, we do not always arrive at the same conclusions.

Doing an experiment is kind of like making cookies. No matter how accurate your instrumentation there is always some variance. A stove can be accurate within .1 degree Fahrenheit, there is still a variance in the controlled temperature.

Unfortunately most people seem to think all results of experimentation are as exact as mathematics and just as objective.

The only thing your post tells me is that you don't know a lot about evidence or the scientific process. Don't feel bad, about 95% of the posters in R&S don't seem to understand much about it either.

In physics, Quantum Mechanics, we learn the theory of Schroedinger's cat. Long story, but the theory is that measuring the results of an experiment ultimately has an effect on the results.

So while we can say that the speed of light is X, within Y tolerance (when we want to be accurate), is a fact we cannot say that it is a fact that mass cannot travel faster than light.

Therefore the evidence of the measurement of the speed of light is subject to interpretation of those studying relativity.

You should be able to easily research any of this on the web, design of experiments, interpretation of data, Schroedinger's cat, relativity, etc.

I apologize for moving the examples to physics, but, I find the data for these facts and theories to be easily researchable as opposed to theories about religion.

Answer 2

I guess it depends on what a 'level headed' person is.

At one point people thought the Earth was flat and the center of the Universe, and Einstein was wrong and crazy.

If a person does not believe in any of these things then they are either not interested in them or not open to all possibilities, so that would make them narrow minded. Since it hasn't been proven that these things don't exist or cannot happen, that would mean that the person wouldn't know which would make them ignorant.

People usually believe what they believe because it has either been proven to them in some way or they want to believe it (faith).

Answer 3

This should tell the level-headed person that there is no need to believe in deities of which there are no evidence, and that it would be far better if we made decisions via logic, something it seems many people have never learnt to do. People who believe in leprechauns are insane, but people who believe in human virgin births and ressurections are members of a religion? Bulls**t.

Answer 4

Here are some other things which I can't disprove:
- Thor
- Poseidon
- The Invisible Flying Pink Unicorn
- Russel's Celestial Teapot
- Santa Claus
- My being abducted by aliens every night while I sleep
- etc.

Even though they can't be disproved, it is reasonable not to believe in these things because there is no evidence for them.

Answer 5

The objective evidence in God lies in the life of Jesus Christ, his life fulfilled many prophecies of old concerning the messiah that would have been impossible for them all to come true and also the miracles in the life of Jesus that he performed could only be from God, even secular history records that he did many miracles and also the multitude of witnesses at the time.

Answer 6

Wow....that is just amazing No evidence, hmmmmm? Try going into your local library and looking up some of those words...you can decide which ones.

I'll leave it up to you to decide.

For some people, there is never enough evidence, until they die of course. Then the cold truth hits.

Answer 7

Then we are OK.For a minute I thought you were going to say there is no Easter Bunny.

Answer 8

no really that stuff is fake...how dare u tell me that..u have wrecked my dreams of becoming rich by following a rainbow and marrrying a gremlin

Answer 9

Did you know that I know God?
He revealed Himself to me through His Holy Spirit and through faith in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Isn't it a little narrow-minded to assume that because you don't have something that it therefore does not exist?

Answer 10

Whew.. I sure hope someone who has been dead shows up with some real evidence.