• the_toast_is_gone@lemmy.world
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    9 hours ago

    This argument is only as compelling as “There are over 5,000 explanations for what the sun is. But don’t worry, only yours is correct.” Or “There are over 5,000 ideologies believed in by humanity. But don’t worry, only yours is correct.”

    • Infynis@midwest.social
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      5 hours ago

      The difference is, with the sun, you can actually look up and see it. You can use a telescope to see it in detail. You can determine which of the 5000 statements is true. You can study and understand it. With religion, they all have an equal basis in reality

      • the_toast_is_gone@lemmy.world
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        3 hours ago

        Not all religions have an equal basis in reality. If you have a religion that claims the sun is literally a divine, disembodied head that’s so mad it’s glowing, we can empirically disprove that. That’s just not what stars are. If you have one that correctly states what the sun is, that means the second religion has a better basis in reality than the first.

        We can also know things logically or philosophically, but can’t debate them scientifically. That’s often how we come to moral conclusions - we can’t strictly base how we should behave off of evolutionary advantages, for example.

        • agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works
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          2 hours ago

          I mean, that’s a pretty human-chauvinistic view. You can prove that the sun is a gigantic nuclear furnace, but you can’t really prove that gigantic nuclear furnaces aren’t what disembodied godheads look like.

          • the_toast_is_gone@lemmy.world
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            2 hours ago

            We know what a head is. It’s a part of a biological creature. In the absence of some convincing evidence or argumentation otherwise, it doesn’t make sense to assume it’s a head.

            • agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works
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              2 hours ago

              Robots are not biological, yet many have heads that fulfill the same sensory function as biological heads. It is very possible that non-biological sentient entities exist, and in absence of some convincing evidence or argumentation otherwise, it doesn’t make sense to definitively assume nuclear sentiences can’t exist.

              • the_toast_is_gone@lemmy.world
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                2 hours ago

                You’re piling on assumptions like crazy, which makes for a logically weak position. All other things being equal, the claim that relies on the fewest assumptions is more likely to be true. Given the increasingly outlandish assumptions at play, it makes more sense to believe that the sun is not a sentient head glowing with rage.

                • agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works
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                  1 hour ago

                  Not really, no. My position is objectively based on fewer assumptions than yours. Occam’s razor is certainly useful, but it is not a tool for determining truth. It’s only a tool for determining the simplest explanation.

                  Your assumption that sentient beings, and their heads, must be biological places your claim in a much more precarious position relative to the razor than mine.

      • TranscendentalEmpire
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        5 hours ago

        What if my god is the sun? Check and mate.

        Before you try and blaspheme, just know the power of my deity can and will give you cancer if you don’t anoint yourself with the proper sacrificial ointments.