Is there a god?

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No I don't think there is. The balance of probability is massively against it anyway. I also do think the responsibility of proof lies with the believer. Its akin and no different to me saying I believe in ghosts, pixies or woodland sprites. Any rational person is going to say "You're talking absolute tosh mate, prove it". And I'd be unable to. This is no different whatsoever.

Regardless a lot of people are definitely telling porkies.
  • There are an estimated 10,000 religions worldwide.
  • There is an estimated 8000-12000 gods listed throughout time.
They can't all be right can they.

It really is staggering that 84% of the worlds population believe in one of these 10,000 religions. Some great minds in amongst that contingent too. Why then do people believe in God? My belief is it is human nature to perceive agency in the complexity and unpredictability of the world - hence we get stories about pixies or ghosts etc. Even when actual evidence is absent. Also human existence also depends on cooperation. When we lived in small groups as we did before the advent of religion (yes it hasn't always been around :biggrin:), cheaters are punished by other members, and they quickly learn that they have to get along. But in anonymous societies, it’s easy to take advantage of others, as there’s no way for the rest of the group to punish those who take advantage of the system. The solution was to invent ever-watchful gods who’ll punish cheaters for us. Thus, organised religion grew hand-in-hand with the rise of the city-state. Its about control of behaviour and progress.

But hey, live and let live, whatever gets you through the day.
 
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Reactions: Howe's about that then? and JohnHumbles,tape recorder
Warm Pouch said:
No I don't think there is. The balance of probability is massively against it anyway. I also do think the responsibility of proof lies with the believer. Its akin and no different to me saying I believe in ghosts, pixies or woodland sprites. Any rational person is going to say "You're talking absolute tosh mate, prove it". And I'd be unable to. This is no different whatsoever.

Regardless a lot of people are definitely telling porkies.
  • There are an estimated 10,000 religions worldwide.
  • There is an estimated 8000-12000 gods listed throughout time.
They can't all be right can they.

It really is staggering that 84% of the worlds population believe in one of these 10,000 religions. Some great minds in amongst that contingent too. Why then do people believe in God? My belief is it is human nature to perceive agency in the complexity and unpredictability of the world - hence we get stories about pixies or ghosts etc. Even when actual evidence is absent. Also human existence also depends on cooperation. When we lived in small groups as we did before the advent of religion (yes it hasn't always been around :biggrin:), cheaters are punished by other members, and they quickly learn that they have to get along. But in anonymous societies, it’s easy to take advantage of others, as there’s no way for the rest of the group to punish those who take advantage of the system. The solution was to invent ever-watchful gods who’ll punish cheaters for us. Thus, organised religion grew hand-in-hand with the rise of the city-state. Its about control of behaviour and progress.

But hey, live and let live, whatever gets you through the day.
Click to expand...

There may be a lot of iterations, but that many people can’t all be fundamentally wrong, can they?

Personally I think gods are just human beings having too high an opinion of themselves, as if we matter more than anything else, and we look for answers beyond “you die, the end”.
 
Roland Deschain said:
There may be a lot of iterations, but that many people can’t all be fundamentally wrong, can they?

Personally I think gods are just human beings having too high an opinion of themselves, as if we matter more than anything else, and we look for answers beyond “you die, the end”.
Click to expand...


Essentially life was so gruesome they had to come up with something to keep them motivated enough to eat today's soup of the day.
 
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