Sunday School

[Reg the Fronkey Farmer]

Ex-Kentucky clerk who refused to issue same-sex marriage licenses must pay $260,000.

White Christian nationalist hate their neighbors and call for the death penalty for all non-Christians.

An Iowan asked Vivek Ramaswamy how he’d appeal to atheists. The answer was awful.

Families with trans kids flee to Colorado as other states ban gender-affirming care.

How Christian fascists became the heart of the MAGA movement.

10 Tips for debating religion as an Atheist.

World of Woo:  Duke University expands its reiki pseudoscience program.

Environment:  Future possible: a day in the life of 2040.

The Zoo Paradox, a Plato’s Cave parable for the 21st century?

Determinism versus free will, a false dichotomy.

Bayes’ Theorem and Bullshit.

Richard Dawkins talks to ChatGPT.

Long Reads: It is the best of times. The problem of thinking in straight lines. To the detriment of the public, scientists and historians don’t engage with one another. The law that changed religious freedom forever. Imagine getting more than 49 presents! Why Iran is the key to peace in the Middle East. Mariupol. Russia’s new model city in Ukraine.

Sunday Book Club:  Nobody’s Fool.

Some photographs taken last week.

While you are waiting for the kettle to boil……

Coffee Break Video: Is Religion even about Truth? Surprising statistics about Gen Z’s religious views. 10 Questions atheists can’t answer…easily answered! Blood Cult: The Weird, Wild World of Christian Rituals.

[Reg the Fronkey Farmer]

Have a great week everyone!

[Strega]

Thanks, Reg!

[Unseen]

Reg, I think you missed a good one:

[Unseen]

I will check out the article on free will. Looks interesting. And I may comment on it if so moved.

One of the best arguments against free will came from Sam Harris when he asked an audience (I paraphrase), to pick a city, any city. That done, what process did you use to arrive at that city?

So, that’s about as free a decision as one can make and how we do it is in a black box.

Even a decision as seemingly premeditated as choosing where to go on vacation ultimately ends in a decision that just happens. We can give reasons, but why those reasons and not others? And ultimately they go back to processes happening behind the scenes we’re unable to identify or control.

Next, this occurred to me recently: Okay, so if I have free will, does my cat? Does a mouse? A snake? A goldfish? An amoeba? A virus?

If only humans have free will, that’s an argument for God.

[Reg the Fronkey Farmer]

Thanks Unseen. Not a trace of a Russian accent to be detected 🙂

[Reg the Fronkey Farmer]

Yes, the “pick a city” is a good exercise. I am determined to have free will.

[Unseen]

@ Reg

Yeah, we don’t know what it is but we all want it. Why? So we can engage in our of our favorite activities: praise and (more importantly) blame.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 3 months ago by Unseen.

[jakelafort]

I heard Sam do that exercise naming three movies.

I indicated we posit free will and that is an artificial way to think of it. It is implicit.

And as i am writing i see myself doing it calling politicians who want war hawkish assholes. It is simply unavoidable unless your some kind of freaky Buddhist sitting naked and unafraid in the snow in the Himalayas.

[Unseen]

jakelafort wrote:

I indicated we posit free will and that is an artificial way to think of it. It is implicit.

What do you mean “implicit.” That free will is implied somehow? That doesn’t make it exist. It doesn’t make nonsense sensible.

[jakelafort]

posit…implicit…automatic…unspoken…assumed…unavoidable…but utterly consequential

[TheEncogitationer]

Reg and Fellow Unbelievers,

“I will choose freewill.”. Final answer.

Neither “Blame It On Midnight, Shame on the Moon” nor “I Believe I Can Fly.”. Marienmette strings not found in evidence and the song is certainly proof that affirming free will, like everything else, does not require a God.

As for picking a city, you could always easily give a different answer every time you are asked or answer “none of the above.”

• This reply was modified 2 years, 3 months ago by TheEncogitationer. Reason: Misplaced punctuation. And I chose to correct that

[unapologetic]

HOLY SHIT! God made Tramp.
Unseen, where that ad air? did the Tramp campaign pay for it?

[unapologetic]

Reg the Fronkey Farmer wrote:

10 Tips for debating religion as an Atheist.

In Godless Mom’s 10 Tips for debating religion as an Atheist.
“2. Define Your Ground … Atheism, in its basic form, is a lack of belief in gods. It’s not a belief in ‘no gods.’ … ”

I object. I am firmly convinced there is no such thing as gods. And I will always state as much in any debate I get into.
I understand I do not represent all atheists. But neather does Mom. And in ‘defining your ground’ you must be true to yourself,
and not just following an atheist party line, as Mom is really suggesting.

[Unseen]

jakelafort wrote:

posit…implicit…automatic…unspoken…assumed…unavoidable…but utterly consequential

“Implicit,” “implied.” Both come from the same basic meaning. Assuming something doesn’t make it true. Assumption is an act, not a conclusion.

Probably the most fundamental problem with free will is defining it, and defining it so that doesn’t give goldfishes free will. If free will is just voluntarily making things happen, what does that mean in a sense that excludes goldfish?

It’s a nonsensical concept which is why it’s so easy to ridicule.

[Author]

Posts