Do atheists believe in dark matter?

Question

Or is it similar to fairy dust? It isn't observable, or measurable in any way, but is simply inferred(kinda like God). The explanation is that since "this" happens, there must be some unseen force working. I know I hear a lot of people mocking the notion of God by comparing Him to a fairy in the sky, but isn't it a double standard to believe in something simply because someone says it has to exist, without any real proof or evidence? It seems to me that the only real difference is that one actually cares about you and how you live, while the other is inanimate and therefore easier to handle if you subconsciously don't want responsibility or accountability. I'm not saying dark matter is God or anything, and I don't have a problem with it existing, I am simply saying, why aren't you just as skeptical when it comes to dark matter as to the idea of God?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_matter

I see some arguments that say there is evidence for dark matter( I don't disagree), but none for God. I don't think that is a fair statement at all. There is plenty of evidence, but no definite proof. For instance, the fact that we have life and no evidence to show that it can spontaneously form, is evidence(not proof) that it was created. Also Bible stories that included supernatural events are actual places, and we know that names associated with those events were real people. More evidence that those events could have occurred. And my point is that if it only takes a little bit of evidence to believe in dark matter, then there should be no problem in accepting the likelihood that God does exist, and does love you and wants to get to know you. Have a great night guys.

Answer 1

You know, you are exactly right. I never thought of it like that, but we really don't have any evidence for the existence of dark matter, except that something is holding matter together.

I guess I'm not so skeptical about it because it sounds reasonable and plausible, unlike God and religion. Plus it's not based on faith, but an educated hypothesis.

Answer 2

I don't know if dark matter exists or not. It's possible, and if it does exist, it answers a fundamental question regarding observations of the universe. I don't have to "believe" in it. I accept it as a possible (and plausible) explanation. The concept of dark matter fits with the mathematical models of how the universe works. Its existence is theoretical. Like all scientific theories, it serves its purpose as an explanation until evidence is discovered that does not fall in line with predictions that are made by its explanation. The ultimate existence of dark matter can be tested and proven or disproven. Scientists are always seeking new information to further our understanding of the existence of dark matter. By comparison, the concept of God does not work as an explanation for anything as it is not testable and has not been proven by anyone. Religions actively stifle critical thought and analysis as to the existence of their deity.

Answer 3

The key difference between dark matter and God, is that dark matter is a scientific theory that helps understand some pretty difficult to integrate observations of the universe whereas God is...well...God. A scientific theory is A) based on reliable and valid scientific measurements B) makes testable hypotheses about what should happen in the future.

Scientists believe in Dark Matter not because we can see it, but because if we don't believe in it we can't really explain the motion of extra-galactic bodies through space and integrate those observations with strongly verified scientific principles such as Newton's Law of Gravity (i.e., the gravitational force between two bodies is proportional to the product of the mass of the bodies divided by square of the distance between them). Certain bodies observable from earth are not acting as if the gravitational force on them is a function of Newton's law of gravity, so the current best answer is there must be something in the universe we can't see. wha-la - Dark matter.

As far as proving Dark Matter exists, the philosopher of science, Karl Popper, argued that nothing can be proven, and that the goal of modern science is to create testable hypotheses and try to disprove them. So, Dark Matter exists not because no one has proven its existence, but because it has so far survived attempts of researchers to disprove the theory. So any good scientist is skeptical of dark matter, but that doesn't mean they don't accept it as an important component of the best current theory of the universe.

God, by definition, requires no proof. He is the alpha and the omega. If you start looking for ways to prove God exists, then you're missing the whole point of having faith in his power and his love.

Answer 4

That's quite a big jump you take there from dark matter being inferred to God being inferred. I'm not exactly sure how God is "inferred".

Actually, I have reserved judgment on dark matter as there is currently not enough information to make a sound determination. There is also not enough information to even feel the lack of evidence is significant. I am quite skeptical and my questions simply cannot be answered at this time.

Answer 5

The difference between dark matter and god, is that dark matter is predicted and accounted for by mathematical models. Its presence, as far as I know, has not yet been confirmed. As far as belief, I don't believe in it nor do I have faith in it, I accept the possibility it exist on the basis of the model. My acceptance of proven science will not be changed if dark matter is shown to be an error.

Edit:
While God may be totally spiritual and thus only known by faith, he has allegedly preformed physical actions in this world. Those actions would have left evidence, as of yet no evidence or collaboration has been found for any of these recorded events nor are they consistent with what we know.

Answer 6

First of all there is evidence for dark matter. It can be measured by it's effects in terms of gravity on other objects.

Secondly, using wikipedia as a source isn't good as anybody could write something there and what is written isn't always 100% true.

Answer 7

I'm afraid you are wasting your time. A few christians will believe the science of most things.
But if you are talking about the ones, who think Satan 'buried dinosaur bones' to test them, or if they believe the earth is 4-6 thousand years old, or the ones who will only abide by the laws of a 2000 year old book, well, good luck with that!
I still can't believe that there are people who are that dumb.
Dark matter might be over 'their' heads.

Answer 8

Evidence: we see stars wobble because planets that orbit them (over 200 planets so far). We have not seen one of those planets, but we can observe the dimming of those stars for the few where the planet eclipses the star as viewed from Earth. Those planets are dark matter, since they cannot be seen. That's not faith.

Answer 9

Dark matter is only considered a possibility by scientist to explain certain things. It is not know to exist and no scientist would say that it does exist until evidence is found.

That's how science works.

Answer 10

Some atheists are not physicists or cosmologists.

A great many of them seldom think about "dark matter" or the "Big Bang" or things of that nature.

Atheists are merely people who do not believe in divine entities. Other than that, they're just like you.