Someone is eating some chocolate pudding of a variety that someone else has never eaten. The person who has never tasted the pudding cannot see the pudding eater, but hears the pudding eater say: "Pudding allows you the freedom of choice to eat it or not." "The proof of the pudding is in the experience, which comes via the process of eating it." "Since Jello has made many types of pudding, Jello eaters are free to chose whatever they like." Those who have issues with God and religion often immediately get their back up when someone makes statements of faith or personal experience, wanting to immediately put them in the category of faith based statements---not science. So what? It doesn't make them any less true, just statements that are not verifiable to one who has a limited science. Why do the non believers get so upset? I have my opinions on the matter......... Never the less, you seem to be saying that it is required to preface everything that cannot be objectively and scientifically proven with the phrase: "It is my opinion that......." By definition, opinion cannot be proven or disproven, it is just a point of view. People can conclude that their opinions were wrong, but to say someone else's opinion is wrong is vanity. Why knows what is right for them? That you didn't understand that I was stating my opinions all along, that you need clarification, seems to me that either you were playing a game, or not understanding of common english language and usage. Of course that which cannot be proven according to your terms of proof will always stand as an opinion in your own mind----the mind is free to determine its own rules of what is real or not. They are your terms of proof, not mine. However, I am not stating what the terms should be for anyone else. The truth is that anyone can do the labwork and find out for themselves.
777, aph, and everyone else.. not that i think you really care, but i'd like to say that no matter how i argue this stuff, in the end i always accept that i do not know. so if i seem jerky sometimes, it's just because either my opinion is intense or i'm trying to get people to respond. i'm really a pretty fair person and it's fine that we don't agree.
Holding a strong bias towards a seemingly unknowable situation is precisely one of the reasons why traders fail. I know I cannot prove god's existence. I also know I don't *need* to prove his existence to anyone else. The reasons for my beliefs are designed to fit my own personal needs in life and not those of anyone else. Projecting my specific faith on another person would be aimless since each of us require something slightly different from religion and faith.
Here is the full quote as taken from Scientific American, Nov 95, p. 85: Quote by Richard Dawkins To this, Dr. William B. Provine from Cornell University, adds: Do those give you an evolutionist woodie?
The believer is eating some chocolate pudding and although it tastes bad insists to the person who has never tasted it before that it is really very good. The non believer can see the pudding eater indeed, he tried to eat the pudding in the past and hears the pudding eater insist that.... "Pudding allows you the freedom of choice to eat it or not." but finds non existent puddings remain to be an Illusory perception and offer little choice by themselves. "The proof of the pudding is in the experience, which comes via the process of eating it." Unfortunately for some iIllusory Puddings offer illusory sustenance. "Since Jello has made many types of pudding, Jello eaters are free to chose whatever they like." Which shall it be Jello or Pudding.? Different types of illusory sweets offer little in the long run by way of nourishment. Those who presume to question whether God and religion is all some make it up to be, cause the religious believer to become very defensive very quickly. Statements of faith in most anything else lead to open discussion and generally speaking, discussion intended to reach some kind of consensus. Examining the weaknesses in a proposition may lead to a strengthening or open other avenues for progress------But not statements of religious faith. They cannot be examined. It's all or nothing, no questions to be asked. Just the blind acceptance of someone else's protestations. One reason alone which makes these statements less true, as truth is there to be examined. Why do believers get so paranoid? I have some opinions on this....... I simply asked , right from the beginning if this was opinion or provable fact. One event of 'In my opinion' would have set the tone, but the religious always assume the dogmatic statement must prevail. Obviously an opinion is just a point of view, a definitive statement is put forward as a fact not a point of view. Getting your knickers in a twist about someone asking if this stuff you are stating is just opinion or fact , suggests you should perhaps question if your obvious requirement for unsubstantive reasoning may be restricting your progress in the understanding of a simple question, let alone your need to make remarks of criticism against the questioner for simply asking it. My terms were not. those of proof of your beliefs, indeed I have no terms laid out . I had a simple proposition that the statements you make as definitive cannot be so. You only had to say once that they were your opinion. I said in my previous post I now had the confirmation. That was that. End of query. But no....Instead you continue to protest. A sure sign of weak faith? You do not know what my terms of proof are for anything, you have never asked. The truth is (and a big problem for the religious)....... doing the lab work requires you to be objective.
Actually, the lab techs usually do that sort of thing for the theorists who don't need to mix chemicals to know what will happen -- they are that smart. In further news, the author of "The Blind Watchmaker" has been proven incorrect about conclusions he drew in his book. Back to square one you die-hard evolutionists!
Aphie I think you will find that is just a phrase, used to illustrate a concept. Taking it literally and breaking these phrases down word for word in the way you keep doing, does not really further a point. Just my opinion......oh look what I just said. How easy was that to do !