Believing in something that does not exist

[Rahn127]

There are many things that I can say do not exist. I could start this discussion off on what we mean by existence, but I'm going to give my reader the benefit of some degree of education.

For instance, the presence of a warm dragon coiled around my engine in the winter time that keeps my engine warm enough so that it can be started does not exist, but if I so chose, I can believe it does.

Believing in things that don't exist can give one a sense of false security. I can believe that a small band of blood thirsty goblins patrol my house and keep away any would be thieves, but does it ? No of course not, but in a crazy insane fashion, I might be able to sleep better at night thinking this. Having this thought might reduce my stress level while I'm away from home, so you might ask, what's the harm ?

The harm is that my beliefs inform my actions. If I don't have the proper amount of anti-freeze in my engine, it could freeze up on a very cold day. Letting people know that my house is protected by goblins and that my doors are unlocked all the time could lead to some unwanted interactions.

How does believing in something that does not exist differ from believing in something that probably doesn't exist ? - IE - God

I use the word probably if only to reinforce the billboard signs that have been used in various parts of the US and the UK.

The difference is really one of semantics.
What is the probability that a human being with around 2000 years of knowledge under it's collective societal belt, most of which has been glimmered in the past 100 years of scientific endeavor, could truly know anything about the existence of a word that we created - the word "god"

I created this thread as much as I created the idea of a warm dragon coiled around my engine in the winter, as much as anyone in the past created the idea of a god as an explanation for anything.

[Mr Woof]

(06-01-2012 05:21 PM)Rahn127 Wrote:  There are many things that I can say do not exist. I could start this discussion off on what we mean by existence, but I'm going to give my reader the benefit of some degree of education.

For instance, the presence of a warm dragon coiled around my engine in the winter time that keeps my engine warm enough so that it can be started does not exist, but if I so chose, I can believe it does.

Believing in things that don't exist can give one a sense of false security. I can believe that a small band of blood thirsty goblins patrol my house and keep away any would be thieves, but does it ? No of course not, but in a crazy insane fashion, I might be able to sleep better at night thinking this. Having this thought might reduce my stress level while I'm away from home, so you might ask, what's the harm ?

The harm is that my beliefs inform my actions. If I don't have the proper amount of anti-freeze in my engine, it could freeze up on a very cold day. Letting people know that my house is protected by goblins and that my doors are unlocked all the time could lead to some unwanted interactions.

How does believing in something that does not exist differ from believing in something that probably doesn't exist ? - IE - God

I use the word probably if only to reinforce the billboard signs that have been used in various parts of the US and the UK.

The difference is really one of semantics.
What is the probability that a human being with around 2000 years of knowledge under it's collective societal belt, most of which has been glimmered in the past 100 years of scientific endeavor, could truly know anything about the existence of a word that we created - the word "god"

I created this thread as much as I created the idea of a warm dragon coiled around my engine in the winter, as much as anyone in the past created the idea of a god as an explanation for anything.

hi Rahn 127.
Welcome to the forum.

While the examples you give are quite extreme the general gist of what you are saying is quite correct.The holding of fantastic notions can lead to all manner of problems, including even killing or torturing someone......"god told me I had to do it".

While science is not the absolute panacea ,this method at least gives us a pretty good idea relevant to our needs and limitations etc . Conversely, in my view, there are quite a lot of atheists who give science a godly persona and this makes debate difficult.


Keep using the antifreeze and let the nutters employ the dragons

[GirlyMan]

(06-01-2012 05:21 PM)Rahn127 Wrote:  How does believing in something that does not exist differ from believing in something that probably doesn't exist ? - IE - God

It's purely practical. As an atheist I'm far more flexible in my beliefs.

[Mr Woof]

(06-01-2012 08:42 PM)GirlyMan Wrote:  

(06-01-2012 05:21 PM)Rahn127 Wrote:  How does believing in something that does not exist differ from believing in something that probably doesn't exist ? - IE - God

It's purely practical. As an atheist I'm far more flexible in my beliefs.

Hey Girly, plese help me! how do I isolate specific paragraphs? i tried scrolling over it and preesing the approopriate button. As it is I always end up with the entire post!!! Yeah I know Aussies are dumb........ Spelling errorsnow.....its driving me crazy*^%!!