Ask an agnostic

[ParadigmShifter]

I got the 1000th post in the "ask an atheist" thread!

I feel this is a sign from God I should open the next thread, even though I am an agnostic.

I just can't see any evidence for a supernatural being. I admit the possibility isn't impossible though (just very, very unlikely).

 

[peter grimes]

I feel this is a sign from God I should open the next thread, even though I am an agnostic.

I'm currently reading The Music of the Primes by Du Sautoy. He paints an amusing picture of Hardy's quarrels with god:
"Hardy knew that God would never allow the ship to sink and leave the world with the impression that Hardy and his proof [of the Reimann Hypothesis] had drowned and were lost forever. His ploy worked, and he arrived safely back in England." p.122

Sign from God indeed

 

[ParadigmShifter]

Yeah, Hardy used to send a telegram about proving the Riemann conjecture before any perilous journey

I read that in Simon Singh's book "Fermat's Last Theorem".

 

[Quackers]

Do you believe in the flying spaghetti monster? peace be upon him

 

[ParadigmShifter]

Nope. And it's "sauce be upon him".

 

[Thoughtful Thug]

I got the 1000th post in the "ask an atheist" thread!

I feel this is a sign from God I should open the next thread, even though I am an agnostic.

I just can't see any evidence for a supernatural being. I admit the possibility isn't impossible though (just very, very unlikely).

Herp derp Uncle Bertie, is that you?

An agnostic thinks it impossible to know the truth in matters such as God and the future life with which Christianity and other religions are concerned. Or, if not impossible, at least impossible at the present time. -Bertrand Russell

 

[Smellincoffee]

Do you have a mystic side or engage in anything anyone might call a spiritual practice?

 

[Antilogic]

What do you think of the (in my eyes, false) distinction between agnostics and atheists? Where agnostics are wishy-washy people who don't want to take sides and atheists are flat out trying to destroy the world's churches?

I've always taken the position that since the root of agnostic/gnostic is "to know" and atheist/theist is "to believe", claiming you know or don't know there is a god (or gods, or FSM(s), whatever) is a far stronger statement to make than saying you believe or don't believe there is a god. For reference: I take agnostic to mean you don't believe humanity can ever know whether or not there is a god, past, present, or future--for all time.

 

[ParadigmShifter]

Well, as a mathematician (kind of), obviously a thread about agnosticism should discuss the nature of proof, which Bertie ultimately failed in proving

 

[ParadigmShifter]

Do you have a mystic side or engage in anything anyone might call a spiritual practice?

No.

What do you think of the (in my eyes, false) distinction between agnostics and atheists? Where agnostics are wishy-washy people who don't want to take sides and atheists are flat out trying to destroy the world's churches?

I've always taken the position that since the root of agnostic/gnostic is "to know" and atheist/theist is "to believe", claiming you know or don't know there is a god (or gods, or FSM(s), whatever) is a far stronger statement to make than saying you believe or don't believe there is a god. For reference: I take agnostic to mean you don't believe humanity can ever know whether or not there is a god, past, present, or future--for all time.

Not for all time. God could manifest himself (or herself/itself), to everyone, with evidence, and prove they exist.

 

[Antilogic]

Not for all time. God could manifest himself (or herself/itself), to everyone, with evidence, and prove they exist.

So, by suggesting that God is in fact knowable to humanity or at least some fraction of it at some time, aren't you actually some kind of gnostic?

 

[ParadigmShifter]

When he/her/it does that, we can chat.

 

[Defiant47]

I got the 1000th post in the "ask an atheist" thread!

I feel this is a sign from God I should open the next thread, even though I am an agnostic.

I just can't see any evidence for a supernatural being. I admit the possibility isn't impossible though (just very, very unlikely).

You're one of those we call "weak agnostics".

You are, in fact, wrong. The entire point is moot. Divinity is unknowable. The "possibility" is therefore irrelevant.

 

[ParadigmShifter]

Nope, unknowable means assume unproven until a proof is found. Obviously, you can't prove an unknowable. So it's up to God to prove us all wrong.

 

[El_Machinae]

Isn't "Divinity is unknowable" an unprovable statement? It seems to me like "knowing divinity" would be possible if divinity existed.

 

[Defiant47]

Nope, unknowable means assume unproven until a proof is found. Obviously, you can't prove an unknowable. So it's up to God to prove us all wrong.

And I assume you would know what is an actual proof of God, and not a coincidence/alien/powerful-entity/ascended-being/demigod/illusion/dream/figment-of-imagination?

*laughs derisively*

 

[Defiant47]

Isn't "Divinity is unknowable" an unprovable statement? It seems to me like "knowing divinity" would be possible if divinity existed.

Divinity is unknowable by virtue of divinity being unprovable.

Only the divine can truly know what is actually divine (and even then, I'm not so sure).

 

[ParadigmShifter]

If god is all powerful, of course we would know

I am a bit drunk though so I will check over my logic tomorrow.

Do you want me to rename the thread "ask a weak agnostic" instead? A strong agnostic is just an atheist, surely?

 

[Defiant47]

If god is all powerful, of course we would know

I am a bit drunk though so I will check over my logic tomorrow.

Do you want me to rename the thread "ask a weak agnostic" instead? A strong agnostic is just an atheist, surely?

I am simply attempting to foster dissent and resentment within the agnostic ranks.

A thread title change will be unnecessary.

 

[ParadigmShifter]

OK. Glad we sorted that out.

I guess agnosticism is so easy to explain and non-controversial that this thread won't spark much interest