Straight from the mind of lame neologism syndrome (LNS) afflicted David Eagleman, comes a nifty new term which he was just so pleased to have enter the nerdgastic-retardian lexicon: possibilianism. Oh my, do you think you have what it takes to be an Eagleman-brand possibilian?
Here's the basic premise of the term:
Explore. Learn. Seek. But never be intellectually honest about conclusions or levels of probability about outcomes.
Yes, my friend, reach, reach, reach for the stars. Glory in the wondrous beauty of it all. But, simultaneously keep your head in the sand, and silent about what the real facts are, and what the true history is of science and religion.
We get this kind of thing all the time from people who have zero experience with real hard core religion. David Eagleman was raised a secular Jew. So basically the guy never spent one way in anything approaching a religion with actual hard core literal beliefs in an alien god creature, or in a god who sends you to hell, or to some gradation of heaven depending on how many brownie points you rack up either by kissing His ass, or by doing His bidding here.
In Eagleman's talk here, he talks about how the creation myths of various religions can be like points in the sky. Oh, and boy howdy, we get to look up at the sky of "possibilities," and wonder with great awe about which one just might be correct. Oh, and he says the most important words in science are "I don't know."
But these claims of his are all bogus because:
1. We do know. And we only know because humans have developed to a point where they've finally happened across the most effective means of separating fact from fiction: science & the scientific method. So, we DO know. We can know. We will know. But ONLY because we have only very recently discovered that SCIENCE is the best method humans have developed thus far to separate fact from fiction.
2. Not all myths have an equal change of being true (an equal probability level of being accurate). Do you think the creation myth of the Amerindians, of the Catholics, of the Mormons, of Islam, of the ancient Greeks, and of all the other religions & cultures, - that all these different stories about how we & the Universe came into existence - that all these have the exact same probability level of being true? No. You don't believe them all. And to claim that all have the same chance (possibility) of being true is not only absurd, it feels like a purposeful lie.
3. Science (and atheism) are different BECAUSE we're willing to accept new facts about existence, if they are shown to be accurate through reasonably verifiable or cogent explanations, explanations that match up with observations and with cogent mathematical and scientific theory. Regions are either NOT willing, or they are VERY RELUCTANT, to accept new facts about existence. And when they do partially accept the new clearly evident facts they tent to warp their acceptance so as to fit the facts into their own narrative about existence (so they can keep saying "yes my god did that," even though the ever growing pile of evidence shows that their supposed god had little if anything to do with creation or anything).
Is your belief falsifiable? Can you state what it would take for you to change your mind? A committed theist will usually always say no. Committed atheists & honest scientists will usually say yes.
4. Not all definitions of the word god are the same - in fact none of the definitions are are. The word is therefore largely a lie every time someone says "I believe in the same god you do." Oh yes? Is the Mormon alien god from Kolob who literally had sex with Mary with Mother of Jesus the same being who caused the virgin birth of Jesus (a concept popular with Catholics)? No. Is a personal theistic god who fiddles constantly with Creation the same as a deistic one who never does? No. Are people who say "god is the Universe" or "god is sex" or "god is love" - do these people believe in the same god as those who believe in a god who sends people to hell or who cares about how, when, where, and with whom you have sex? No. So the term itself is dishonest, unless those who use it are willing to define what you mean when you use it.
Einstein's God is not your god, not if you're a regular church goer and you believe your god cares about whether your children masturbate or whether your neighbor's smoke. And not even if you believe your god is some intelligent creature somewhere out there, or a giant multiverse-existing termite who spits universes out of her bum - even that god is probably not Einstein's God.
It's retarded to come up with a new word (possibilian) that is dishonest on it's premise.
Atheists believe in possibilities as much as anyone. If theism were true. If your alien god existed. We'd happily or unhappily admit it. We'd be honest and admit it, if there were any reasonable evidence.
We will freely state what it will take for us to change our mind.
The same cannot be said of the committed theist.
And THAT is one key difference between atheism and theism, and the difference between our view and that of Eagleman's bogus disingenuous "possibilianism," that claims "we cannot know."
We can know. We do know. We will know. And we'll only know because of the hard work of scientists. Not because a charismatic charlatan decided he could a.) create an Evil Santa Claus God from Kolob who micromanages the sex lives of all adults & their children, and b.) simultaneously sleep with any woman he wanted (women still married to other men) and with 14 year olds.
By Jonathan
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