Agnosticism & Rationality

'People only see what they are prepared to see.'

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

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• Agnosticism
• Gnosticism
• atheism
• theism
• Christianity
• God
• philosophy
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• Dawkins
• Jesus

[willowtreephoto]

If I can say the sun will rise and there are no dragons in Asia, then I can claim there is no god.

I am an Atheist.

I will live my life as if there is no god. I ascribe a possibility of god existing as <1%

[onotheo]

Almost all theist I've meet think that atheists thinks there is 100% possibility that god doesn't exist. Otherwise, they'd just think you're just an agnostic.

[Clutchology]

It's tough even explaining it to the atheists sometimes. They're so used to having to combat that argument that when they see a video such as this they immediately jump to the conclusion that I'm putting that argument forth.

In reality, I'm putting forth the "With everything I know I can say that there is no god, but I could be wrong and am willing to accept that with the presentation of new information." It's a position a lot of atheists (if not most) actually take with me.

[Clutchology]

I am also an atheist, but I am also aware that I do not know everything regarding this debate. While with the knowledge I have the possibility of a god existing is minimal at best, I am also aware that with new information new possibilities are presented. Most comparisons such as "the sun will rise" are shallow at best.

I believe there are no gods, but I'm also open to new information and willing to accept that there is a reasonable chance that I could be wrong.

[mikepeare]

My point = I think you are a weak atheist. Still open to new info, but have no reason to believe in an unfounded claim. For example, assume I came to work and said "an angel flew me to work today". Agnostic = "I don't know, I wasn't there and can't make a decision either way". Weak atheist: "if they cannot prove this with the current info provided, I do not believe this happened". Strong atheist = "you can't prove it, it didn't occur". I would bet you chose weak atheism. Am I right?

[Clutchology]

You are, and I call myself an atheist. I wasn't trying to argue that I was an agnostic. Those who define themselves as agnostics are people who feel they do not or cannot have enough information to make a decision, and atheism and theism are the respective decisions one can make.

But I think we are all 'agnostics' in the colloquial sense. At least, we should have that approach to knowledge, namely, that there is always more information out there that could change how we see the issue.

[notfadeaway05]

Your intelligence is absolutely the sexiest thing on youtube, followed closely to your physical hotness

[TheMogulmonster]

There's always a possibility you're wrong... unless your a Christian in which case there is no possibility you can be wrong. That's the usual argument.

[skoockum]

Nice video... probably too much for most atheists to swallow, but the best medicine usually is.

[ThinkerNinja]

Very close to my first comment:

I don't believe you can prove a deitys existence. (But this isn't the point)

I neither believe nor disbelieve in the existence of a deity. Therefore I choose to call myself an agnostic, and again I'm far from the only one. Others are probably more proficient at explaining.

That's all it is, and if you disagree that there isn't a third position besides atheism or theism then let's agree to disagree.

[Politicimo]

@ThinkerNinja Holy cow. Agnosticism has to do with knowledge: "I either believe or disbelieve that it is possible to know whether god exists or not" whereas theism v. atheism is "I believe / do not believe that god exists."

I'm simply confused by what you're saying: how about you just make it clear by avoiding labels and simply stating: what you think about the possibility of knowing whether or not god exists, AND whether or not you actually believe that one DOES exist?

[ThinkerNinja]

@Politicimo

Obviously you can be of another sexuality and race - the point was to show from my perspective how ridiculous it seemed. 'Saying you have two options is like..' blah blah. Again and again people have misunderstood people who call themselves agnostic and it can be quite frustrating, especially if it's the same argument.

As I've already stated, I'm not undecided. I'm sure in my position of my thoughts on the existence of a god. I'm an agnostic along with many other people.

[Politicimo]

@ThinkerNinja

Right, and my feeling was that they were bad analogies. That said, it's certainly possible to be unsure of one's own feelings towards the existence of God. There've been times in the past where I simply wasn't sure what to call myself, as I didn't believe, but wasn't sure if unbelief made any sense either.

[ThinkerNinja]

@Politicimo

Comparing sexuality and colours with this was an analogy.

I'm not implying that a god can be and not exist at the same time. Plain and simple, ruling out knowledge and just focusing on belief, I don't deny the existence of a god, yet I don't believe there is one necessarily. But I'm not undecided, I just don't find any reason currently to believe either way. Don't confuse true agnostics with agnostic atheists and agnostic theists.

[Politicimo]

@ThinkerNinja

This is completely wrong. There are more colours than black or white on the colour spectrum, as there are more options for one's sexuality than being straight or gay (there are bisexuals, asexuals, and more).

But there are only two options for whether one actively believes God exists or not. God can not "be" and not "be" at the same time, so therefore there are really only two positions we can take in terms of our beliefs about God. (Our knowledge of that is another matter).

[ThinkerNinja]

@Politicimo

I've seen this a lot on youtube..

You're implying that you have to either believe in a deity or disbelieve in a deity.

That means I don't exist apparently, because I don't agree with either view. There IS a mid point connecting the two extremes. Saying you only have two options is like saying you have to be black or white, or you have to be gay or straight.

[GorgeGeorg]

yawn yeah, sure, maybe god does exist. but so you could also say, maybe unicorns exists maybe pink elephants can fly maybe the Martians live beneath their surface maybe the flying spaghetti monster exists maybe the lochness monster exists maybe ... This list is infinite, sure don't count out those other 'myths' but is is really worth spending/wasting your life worrying (or even thinking about) such unlikely events.