Frank Apisa wrote:2)...you have not laid a glove on any of the logical, thoughtful comments I
have made.
That latter is mostly because you apparently do not have the guts to actually deal with the comments...and don't have the ethics or honesty to acknowledge that you don't.
Quote:Frank,
You forget so easily that I am the only one (of the two of us) that is trying to move the discussion of our dispute forward.
No, Bin, you are attempting to sidetrack the discussion by evading the questions I have asked by raising a bunch of red herrings...even though I have attempted to respond to every question you have asked.
But that was already apparent from that little discussion we had earlier about the sentence you mangled.
In any case, I will repeat my original attempt to "move the discussion along."
Quote:Let's take this right from the beginning
so we can see just how anxious you are to stick with the issues.
Here is a question
which is a component of the question "What is the nature of REALITY?"
Is there a God (or gods)
or are there no gods?
My answer to the question is clear, decisive, and to the point:
I do not know if there is a God
I also do not know if there are no gods
and I do not see enough evidence that points in either direction that persuades me to guess in one direction or the other.
You, on the other hand, have offered: "I do not know"
and
"For certain there are no gods."
(And you presume to infer that I am fence straddling!)
So let's discuss this, Bin
and please
no red herrings
at least for a little while.
When are you going to deal with this, Bin?
Is there a God (or gods)...or are there no gods?
I've already given my answer.
It is at the essence of everything being discussed here.
Or are you gonna do more red herring filibustering?
You already know my answer to this question. I have stated it several times, and you have quoted me. I have explained it and why it is more consistent than your BELIEF SET. You are the one being unethical here, presenting that I have not addressed your question. I repeat, I have, and you have quoted me:
binnyboy wrote:So I say that there is no god. I say it as a fact. I am not sure it is true. But it is a fact. Just as I say I have no invisible incorporeal tail. I am not sure that is true either. But it is a fact.
Frank Apisa wrote:Quote:So I say that there is no god. I say it as a fact. I am not sure it is true. But it is a fact. Just as I say I have no invisible incorporeal tail. I am not sure that is true either. But it is a fact.
In fact we are so far past this that we have elaborated on it: look back to page FIVE to find:
Frank Apisa wrote:Quote:So I say that there is no god.
Yes you do.
Quote: I say it as a fact.
Yes, you do disguise the fact that it is simply a guess.
Quote: I am not sure it is true.
Yes, we are in agreement on that.
Well it might be a fact...but you are in no position to assert that it is.
And that is what I am dealing with here...your assertion...not whether or not it is a fact. I don't know if it is a fact or not...just like you.
I carried on to show how this position was inconsistent with your later statement (page 6):
Frank Apisa wrote:You are correct, Bin
I do not know that I do not have an invisible, incorporeal tail that fades in and out of corporeality every 90 years.
Like you, I would be wiling to guess that I do not.
in the following way:
binnyboy wrote:Frank Apisa wrote:You are correct, Bin
I do not know that I do not have an invisible, incorporeal tail that fades in and out of corporeality every 90 years.
Like you, I would be wiling to guess that I do not.
Frank Apisa wrote:I do [not] know if there is a God
or if there are no gods.
I do not see anywhere near enough unambiguous evidence upon which to make a reasonable, meaningful guess in either direction
and because of that, I choose not to guess in either direction.
What makes you choose to guess you have no tail? What unambiguous evidence upon which to make a reasonable, meaningful guess in that direction do you have?
to which you cleverly responded:
Frank Apisa wrote:The unambiguous evidence I have upon which I would base my guess is... that the very first time I ever heard such an absurd idea being proposed
was right here in this thread
by you, a guy I could see was getting desperate to back up his atheistic guesswork with nonsense proposed as intellectual wherewithal.
I evaluated the evidence of whether or not this absurd out-of-the-blue batch of nonsense was actually a revelation of some sort or just childish prattle
and came up with a guess that I think is justified.
to which
I very honestly and openly inquired:
binnyboy wrote:So, let me see if I get this right. Is the following a correct description of what you think?
You don't have a tail is a guess you can make because I just then made it up; I do not claim it was revealed to me. If I did claim it was revealed to me (and you believed me)(or guessed that I was not intentionally lying, I guess I should say, since you don't BELIEVE anything), you might have to either come up with another reason to guess I am mistaken or, as you do with the gods case, refuse to draw a conclusion about whether I am mistaken (or agree with me which would not happen).
There is not a god is a guess that you cannot make because some people claim that there is a god and they seriously claim that they have had a revelation of this.
Is this an accurate conclusion? (I am trying very hard to say something in the spirit of your thoughts.)
My hopes have all but been dashed, however, as you refuse to carry on the discussion in favor of making a red herring of me making red herrings. Repetition doesn't indicate truth. We still are being held up by your refusal to address the question asked immediately above.
Furthermore, you asked:
Frank Apisa wrote:Are you of the hilariously misinformed impression that agnostics suppose there are no facts
or that there is something wrong with asserting a fact
or that there is something wrong with making reasonable guesses?
, to which I had the courtesy to respond:
binnyboy wrote:Quote:And I might reiterate that I do not come up with enough evidence upon which to make a guess to the question of "What is the nature of REALITY?"
Quote:Are you of the hilariously misinformed impression that agnostics suppose there are no facts
or that there is something wrong with asserting a fact
or that there is something wrong with making reasonable guesses?
Quote:My contention, as I have mentioned several times
deals with you asserting that you know which is the fact.
Your contention is that I am asserting a fact that I'm not sure of. My contention is that you constantly assert facts you could be wrong about. But you are right to call them facts. Just as I did:
binnyboy wrote:So I say that there is no god. I say it as a fact. I am not sure it is true. But it is a fact. Just as I say I have no invisible incorporeal tail. I am not sure that is true either. But it is a fact.
I have used several examples in the past few posts to show how your "facts" could be just mistaken opinions. You're not sure (and if you are that's an equally big problem), and yet you call these BELIEFS facts. And you're right to do so. And so am I. Hope that answers your question. You fact asserter.
I furthered the discussion with the following concern:
binnyboy wrote:Frank Apisa wrote:And I might reiterate that I do not come up with enough evidence upon which to make a guess to the question of "What is the nature of REALITY?"
fact (fakt)
n.
1. Something known with certainty.
2. Something asserted as certain.
3. Something that has been objectively verified.
4. Something having real, demonstratable existence.
Definition 5 is the def. of fact in regard to law.
Source:
Reader's Digest Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary
Sounds to me that any time you assert a fact, you are making a guess (and asserting it as fact) to the question of "What is the nature of REALITY?" You fact asserter.
As far as I can see, you have not addressed the question above or the concern delineated here.
And to accuse me of filibustering or dropping red herrings in the face of this complete avoidance of the discussion at hand is unethical (by your standard of ethics... your BELIEFS, since I'm not too big on ethics) and childish.
So clearly, you have seen that I am ready and willing to bring this discussion forward, but you are just stalling. I even wasted a bunch of time LINING OUT THE WHOLE ARGUMENT so you could be sure to understand... I don't want to accuse you of copping out when you actually are having a hard time understanding what we each have said and where we are.