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Orrex

(64,113 posts)
8. Your question is irrelevant to the discussion at hand
Thu Oct 31, 2019, 01:04 AM
Oct 2019

If you want to make the question relevant, here's how to phrase it:
what evidence do I have that the person I love or loved actually exists or existed?

To answer, I can present things such as photographs, handwriting samples, audio/video recording, and other physical evidence of the person (perhaps including the actual person) sufficient to establish that person's existence with a fair degree of certainty (except to deliberate contrarians, I suppose).

Your question, as phrased, seeks to conflate the actual existence of an unverified, transcendent entity with a mundane human's personal experience of another mundane human, and that's an intellectually dishonest comparison.

Assuming that I exist and am of competent mental faculty, then I am an acceptable judge of my own emotions, and my own perceptions are sufficient to justify my own personal assessment of those emotions.

However, even assuming that I exist and am of competent mental faculty, my own perceptions are simply not adequate to assess the existence of a unique, transcendent divine being for whom no other verifiable evidence exists--and to that end, others' testimony of experience does not add to mine, unless I can evaluate that testimony independent of their experience.

I can choose to believe in such a magical entity, but absent corroborating evidence of that entity's existence, then my belief is not sufficient to demonstrate its existence.


That type of verbal trickery, of equating transcendent phenomena to everyday occurrences, is a favorite tactic of religionists, by the way, but it's a crock.

Not one of them has any better idea about it than I do. Orrex Oct 2019 #1
I have a red phone to the Almighty Major Nikon Oct 2019 #4
He's cool like that. Orrex Oct 2019 #9
What evidence do you have that you ever fell in love with anyone, other than personal revelation? Doodley Oct 2019 #7
Your question is irrelevant to the discussion at hand Orrex Oct 2019 #8
This is no verbal trickery. You ASSUME you are capable of accurately judging if you are/were Doodley Oct 2019 #15
Meh Orrex Oct 2019 #22
"...if you're willing to assume your conclusion, as religionists generally are." I'm an atheist. Doodley Oct 2019 #29
None of that contradicts any of what I wrote Orrex Oct 2019 #31
Neuroscience could probably identify the Voltaire2 Nov 2019 #69
Or a religious experience or the belief of seeing a ghost. Doodley Nov 2019 #81
Sure, but an emotion is an internal Voltaire2 Nov 2019 #85
Love and affection can be detected in brain scans exboyfil Nov 2019 #76
It is still a human construct. A man might have similar physical reactions when praying - not proof Doodley Nov 2019 #80
I can totally agree that "love" and "god" have the same amount of evidence of existing... trotsky Nov 2019 #82
Absolutely. There is no evidence that love is any more real than God. Doodley Nov 2019 #83
Love is an internal brain state, an emotion, Voltaire2 Nov 2019 #86
Faith does not ask for proof. guillaumeb Oct 2019 #19
Then faith is of no value to me. Orrex Oct 2019 #23
Nor is faith of value for the pursuit of knowledge. trotsky Oct 2019 #24
If that is your opinion, and it works for you, good. eom guillaumeb Oct 2019 #27
I appreciate that, but it's not that simple Orrex Oct 2019 #32
Many in the hierarchies of the various religions do advocate for their own views. guillaumeb Oct 2019 #33
'Many' in this case is 'infintestmally small' compared to the population. AtheistCrusader Nov 2019 #56
Shhh! edhopper Nov 2019 #65
On a personal note... Harker Oct 2019 #2
Yes, you may add him. guillaumeb Oct 2019 #28
Quantum physics is changing reality as we 'knew it' alittlelark Oct 2019 #3
Quantum!!! ret5hd Oct 2019 #5
Sounds like u have 'concrete' beliefs alittlelark Oct 2019 #6
LOL. Sure. Orrex Oct 2019 #13
So you got nothin'. ret5hd Oct 2019 #16
No, reality remains constant Major Nikon Oct 2019 #10
I recognize that there is great fear alittlelark Oct 2019 #11
Which is more or less exactly how it should work Major Nikon Oct 2019 #12
But! But! But CERN! Orrex Oct 2019 #14
Never confuse "reality" with one person's perceptions and unprovable assertions. guillaumeb Oct 2019 #17
Yes, the unprovable assertion that gods exist. trotsky Oct 2019 #21
Yes, "we" does not mean all of us Major Nikon Oct 2019 #30
Well, to be honest, it's literally their last, best defense. trotsky Oct 2019 #39
One frequent poster here asked if there are any scientists who are theists. guillaumeb Oct 2019 #18
Who asked that? trotsky Oct 2019 #20
Yes but because quantum reasons gods! Voltaire2 Oct 2019 #25
MM. reply #82 guillaumeb Oct 2019 #26
Technically you're not answering the question that was asked. trotsky Oct 2019 #37
There's no need for you to lie about MineralMan's post, Gil. Mariana Oct 2019 #42
An interesting way of reframing what MM said. guillaumeb Oct 2019 #45
You are wildly misconstruing that thread. AtheistCrusader Nov 2019 #57
Misframing! Major Nikon Nov 2019 #66
Wrong. I asked you to name some. MineralMan Nov 2019 #55
Newton was also an alchemist Coleman Oct 2019 #34
When did Isaac Newton live? guillaumeb Oct 2019 #35
Look at the ages of the 25 you cited. Freeman Dyson is 95 years old. AtheistCrusader Nov 2019 #58
Welcome to DU, and the conversation. guillaumeb Oct 2019 #36
Do you not see how insulting this shit is? Act_of_Reparation Oct 2019 #38
Gil loves to shine attention on the majority. trotsky Oct 2019 #40
Yeah, but you can martyr yourself without directly tearing other people down. Act_of_Reparation Oct 2019 #41
When You're Accustomed to Privilege, Equality Feels Like Oppression. Mariana Oct 2019 #43
A nice slogan. guillaumeb Oct 2019 #47
Tu quoque. Act_of_Reparation Nov 2019 #53
I recognize my own. guillaumeb Nov 2019 #63
If you did, you wouldn't be posting half of what you post. Act_of_Reparation Nov 2019 #71
Do you recognize your own? eom guillaumeb Nov 2019 #74
More than somewhat. Act_of_Reparation Nov 2019 #75
Not at all. guillaumeb Nov 2019 #84
When cold hard busted on employing intellectually dishonest fallacies... Major Nikon Nov 2019 #67
Well, the same staff apparently also runs the parent site "Credible Catholic." trotsky Oct 2019 #44
LOL, did you see what they listed as "secular myths"? Mariana Nov 2019 #59
Ain't straw men grand? n/t trotsky Nov 2019 #60
It would be funny enough if that's all there was to it Major Nikon Nov 2019 #68
Humans are not just like other animals exboyfil Nov 2019 #77
A soul? Please describe the human soul. MineralMan Nov 2019 #78
I can't exboyfil Nov 2019 #79
Nonsense. guillaumeb Oct 2019 #46
Or perhaps we are following Freud. Bretton Garcia Oct 2019 #49
Could Dunning Kruger apply also to Freud's assertion? eom guillaumeb Oct 2019 #50
You still haven't grasped edhopper Oct 2019 #51
I'm sure he meant the Dunder Mifflin effect. Voltaire2 Nov 2019 #61
Some here obviously have not. eom guillaumeb Nov 2019 #62
Especially you edhopper Nov 2019 #64
Swing and a miss. Cuthbert Allgood Oct 2019 #52
Why so many in the.hard sciences among believers? There's a reason. Bretton Garcia Oct 2019 #48
"Scientists" are humans. Act_of_Reparation Nov 2019 #54
Pew says 33% are theists. Voltaire2 Nov 2019 #70
51% Act_of_Reparation Nov 2019 #72
51 some form of higher power, 33 theists. Voltaire2 Nov 2019 #73
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