You never know if a girl's gonna say 'yes', or if she's gonna laugh in your face and pull out your still-beating heart and crush it into the ground with her heel.

Xander ,'Help'


Natter .38 Special  

Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, duct tape, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.


bon bon - Aug 23, 2005 12:10:50 pm PDT #567 of 10002
It's five thousand for kissing, ten thousand for snuggling... End of list.

( continues...) different probability estimates that will lead to a different outcome.

Hope that helps for now.

Rob


§ ita § - Aug 23, 2005 12:12:14 pm PDT #568 of 10002
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.

the likelihood that God exists to be about 50%, given the evidence we have

That's where it falls apart for me -- it's so far from axiomatic that that's what I need proved.


tommyrot - Aug 23, 2005 12:13:32 pm PDT #569 of 10002
Sir, it's not an offence to let your cat eat your bacon. Okay? And we don't arrest cats, I'm very sorry.

What is the probability that if God exists then it's the Christian God, and not some other God?


bon bon - Aug 23, 2005 12:15:45 pm PDT #570 of 10002
It's five thousand for kissing, ten thousand for snuggling... End of list.

That's where it falls apart for me -- it's so far from axiomatic that that's what I need proved.

Bob says that's proved in _The Existence of God_, another Swinburne book.

He's working on the question about what theologians do.

ETA: (don't take my language too seriously, I mean it's proved insofar as you believe Swinburne's proof)


DavidS - Aug 23, 2005 12:16:40 pm PDT #571 of 10002
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."

I'm more interested in the potential consciousness of tables than whether Jesus rose from the grave.


§ ita § - Aug 23, 2005 12:17:17 pm PDT #572 of 10002
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.

Bob says that's proved in _The Existence of God_, another Swinburne book.

Aha! Crazy like a fox, looking to boost book sales with controversy.


Nutty - Aug 23, 2005 12:17:55 pm PDT #573 of 10002
"Mister Spock is on his fanny, sir. Reports heavy damage."

First, let me say this claim doesn't strike philosophers as oddly as it might strike other people.

This confirms to me that philosopher must test for crackpottery before they admit new members to their guild.

Also, I am thinking, you can start any proof with "Assume for a moment that the Underpants Gnomes have rearranged your dining room furniture without your knowing it..."

But, that's a huge assumption to make! Why on earth would I assume that? You've got to start with assumptions that people will accept, you know? There's "framing the debate", and then there is totally pulling stuff out of your butt and making like it's true just because you put it into the subordinate clause of an introductory sentence.


tommyrot - Aug 23, 2005 12:18:51 pm PDT #574 of 10002
Sir, it's not an offence to let your cat eat your bacon. Okay? And we don't arrest cats, I'm very sorry.

Bob says that's proved in _The Existence of God_, another Swinburne book.

I say that the existence of the Flying Spaghetti Monster is proved in my book, _The Existence of the Flying Spaghetti Monster_.

Although I suppose my case is hurt somewhat by the fact that I have not (yet) written such a book....


Emily - Aug 23, 2005 12:19:51 pm PDT #575 of 10002
"In the equation E = mc⬧, c⬧ is a pretty big honking number." - Scola

given what we know about God's character--namely, that he is all-loving and all-powerful (how do we know that? Read Swinburne's other books)--, how likely is it that he would want to make himself known to humanity in a way that is compatible with faith but not coercive of it? Swinburne again guesses that the answer is about 50%.

Okay, see, this would be the key part that makes it an interesting discussion, and the Netscape article a baffling piece of crap.


tommyrot - Aug 23, 2005 12:19:51 pm PDT #576 of 10002
Sir, it's not an offence to let your cat eat your bacon. Okay? And we don't arrest cats, I'm very sorry.

I'm more interested in the potential consciousness of tables than whether Jesus rose from the grave.

Yes! And what kind of tables can have consciousness? Actuarial? HTML?