An atheists perspective on how the universe came from "nothing"

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Sheldon's picture
@Cognostic

@Cognostic

Well done, what an accolade, forget a Pulitzer or a Nobel, you've really been honoured here, by one of the great thinkers of his own mind.

Meanwhile I'm in the corner wearing a dunce's hat yet again. If it isn't bat shit crazy witches swearing to destroy me utterly, it's self agrandizing theists using appeal to authority fallacies, where they unashamedly cite themselves as the authority, and unsurprisingly are not bashful about telling me how stupid I am.

This reminds of a school report where the maths teacher said Sheldon is not trying, admonished by my parents, I shrugged and indicated the English teacher's comment below which said....at times Sheldon is really trying.

I can't be alone in finding Apollo very trying at times....

Cognostic's picture
@Sheldon: You can't expect a

@Sheldon: You can't expect a chipmunk to appreciate a work of art. On the other hand, when a monkey reaches into his little lair and robs him of a nut, he finds himself in a state of awe. "How in the hell did the monkey figure out where the nuts are at???"

Tin-Man's picture
@NewSkeptic Re: Cog's gold

@NewSkeptic Re: Cog's gold star

...*beaming smile*.... Yes, yes, yes... It was absolutely a proud moment when our furry little smelly scamp got recognized as "not half bad" by our renowned member Apollo.... *wiping tear of joy from eye*... Oh, sure, it was one helluva struggle when Old Man and I wrestled him to the ground to staple the gold star to his forehead, but it was well worth the effort to let him known he is far more than just a simple-minded poo slinger.

Way to go, Cog!... Way to go...!

Cognostic's picture
@TIN: And you were right.

@TIN: And you were right. It doesn't even hurt any more. Well..... except for when I do thi.... OUCH! Or This... OUCH! Or th... OUCH! Is it supposed to turn red like this? Is the hair supposed to fall out? What's that smell?

NewSkeptic's picture
@Cog

@Cog

In normal time, I'd recommend a little hand sanitizer, but well, as we know, none to be found.

Just wait it out, it might heal on its own. In any case, get a line to Appo's god and see if it will fix you up. It's obviously not busy eliminating the pandemic.

Cognostic's picture
@NewSkeptic: Yea. I know

@NewSkeptic: Yea. I know what you mean. I drank my last bottle of hand sanitizer yesterday and I think I am having withdraws. I made tea out of the used containers. Just hacked them up and boiled them down but it just wasn't the same thing. Besides, what am I supposed to do an hour from now? I'm making a wooden box with a hole in it. I wrote "FREE HAND SANITIZER" on the outside of the box. Tomorrow morning I'm gonna go down to the bus station. When people put their hands in the hole to get them sanitized, I'm gonna lick the sanitizer off their fingers. (Problem Solved).

Old man shouts at clouds's picture
@ Cog

@ Cog

HERE IN LIES THE DIFFERENCE - We are asking for evidence support of beliefs, assumptions, preconceptions, and the like --- AND YOU ARE NOT!

Succinctly written, exactly what I have been thinking but unable to cogently express since this thread started. My mind is clogged with expletives like "numpty" that get in the way of a sentence of elegance and refinement. Thanks Cog.

Have a plantain.

boomer47's picture
@Old Man

@Old Man

"Have a plantain."

I don't like plantains. What about a pomegranate or a grape?

Old man shouts at clouds's picture
@ Cranky

@ Cranky

Cog loves plantains apparently they fit everywhere without peeling.... pomegranates and grapes?...well whatever turns you on big boy....I would suggest the grapes go first.

boomer47's picture
@Old man

@Old man

"Cog loves plantains apparently they fit everywhere without peeling.."

Really. I didn't know that. I'll just make a note on my white board.

I think we may be thinking of different plants. To me ,a plantain is shorter and wider than a regular banana . Aka 'lady fingers 'and used mainly for cooking " The plantain actually looks like a rather louche regular banana.

ME? I'm very fond of baked banana custard---you slice your banana into reasonably thin rounds--------

Old man shouts at clouds's picture
@ Cranky

@ Cranky

Yes you got it..."shorter and thicker" is the reason Cog loves them.

I like my Carnarvon bananas with a touch of green.....yum.

Cognostic's picture
@OM: I have a moment now and

@OM: I have a moment now and again.... as do we all... :-)

boomer47's picture
@cognostic

@cognostic

"@OM: I have a moment now and again.... as do we all... :-)"

Indeed, well, most of us. Even I have been known to have one occasionally. My last moment was on August 16 1994.

Nyarlathotep's picture
To be honest, I've lost track

To be honest, I've lost track. Is this the theist who casts spells, or is this the one with the hots for that creepy Krauss guy?

Whitefire13's picture
Krauss ...he thinks that

Krauss ...he thinks that Krauss is the end-all-and-be-all of “origin” hypothesis...

Sheldon's picture
Nyarlathotep "To be honest,

Nyarlathotep "To be honest, I've lost track. Is this the theist who casts spells, or is this the one with the hots for that creepy Krauss guy?"

The second one. Apparently Krauss has made a claim, and he is both a scientist and an atheist, and the claim is not an objective fact, and so Apollo has a hard on for him because he seems to think this implies something about atheism, and science. .

boomer47's picture
@Sheldon

@Sheldon

"Nyarlathotep "To be honest, I've lost track. Is this the theist who casts spells"

Well, the Catholics do a pretty good line in magic peripherals. There's a phrase "Bell, book and candle' which refers to the rite of excommunication and in essence, cursing a person.

There are several ritualistic practices which I think count as magic. Behind them all is the quaint notion that a god of infinite qualities can be influenced by rituals, such as prayer and magic objects such as holy relics. I find it hard to grasp how such a being would have the slightest interest in we talking apes.

OF COURSE I understand the foregoing is an argument from ignorance and I may be quite wrong. I wait on tenterhooks for a theist to prove first there is a god and that he gives a royal flying fandango about us . (***see below; Epicurus on evil)

((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((9)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

"The phrase "bell, book, and candle" refers to a Latin Christian method of excommunication by anathema, imposed on a person who had committed an exceptionally grievous sin. Evidently introduced by Pope Zachary around the middle of the 8th century,[1] the rite was once used by the Roman Catholic Church. In current practice, a simple pronouncement is made to anathematize formally."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell,_book,_and_candle

***“Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent.
Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent.
Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil?
Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?”

― Epicurus

David Killens's picture
@ Nyarlathotep

@ Nyarlathotep

"To be honest, I've lost track. Is this the theist who casts spells, or is this the one with the hots for that creepy Krauss guy?"

This thread is the bromance of Krauss.

Attachments

Attach Image/Video?: 

Yes
Tin-Man's picture
Krauss and Apollo sittin' in

Krauss and Apollo sittin' in a tree
P-I-S-S-I-N-G.
Krauss looks down
Apollo starts blushin'
Krauss says, "Wow, dude, you ain't got nothin'."

David Killens's picture
https://www.youtube.com/watch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujvS2K06dg4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_FUlo8BF9Y

Not that I expect it to actually watch and understand the musings of Penrose.

Sheldon's picture
David Killens

David Killens

I actually found that very interesting, considering my knowledge of physics is virtually nil. A record of gravitational waves caused by colliding black holes travelling from one aeon to another, even past the big bang.

Is he suggesting black holes existed prior to the big bang? Or has my titchy tiny brain lost the plot?

David Killens's picture
@ Sheldon

@ Sheldon

"Is he suggesting black holes existed prior to the big bang?"

My interpretation on his musings (definitely nowhere close to an established theory) is that super-duper massive black holes recycle themselves, they are the end game of a universe, then become the origin of a new one. Which leads to the conclusion that the entire cosmos is "eternal".

I posted this as a counter to the almighty theist brain who (he who shall not be named) proclaims a full understanding of everything, that physicists are diligently exploring the before state of this known universe.

The other video dealt with measurements and accuracy, that such things as distances and time are not subjective.

IMO his strategy is "no one is certain of anything, thus a god is possible". Similar to the strategy of "drag you down to his level and beat you to death with a stupid stick".

Sheldon's picture
David Killens "IMO his

David Killens "IMO his strategy is "no one is certain of anything, thus a god is possible". Similar to the strategy of "drag you down to his level and beat you to death with a stupid stick".

Oh absolutely, Apollo is trying to claim no objective facts exist, a stupidly erroneous position on it's own of course, but even more idioticaly claiming this idiotically erroneous assertion, somehow inexplicably lends credence to a theistic belief he holds, without any objective evidence.

Were his first asinine claim true it would render all claims and beliefs equally unreliable.

The absurdity of his rhetoric is absolutely underpinned by him claiming it is not an OBJECTIVE fact, that the world is not flat, so ipso facto it is mere opinion, while simultaneously claiming he is certain his deity exists and created everything.

The mind boggles, and If there is anything profoundly true in the bible, then it must surely be that the education of fools is folly.

I think university places ought to be refused until a sufficiently high IQ is demonstrated by the applicant.

Or as a friend of mine who is a university lecturer put it when the then labour leader Tony Blair said he wanted 50% of all school leavers to go on to university, "I've no objection at all, I'd just prefer it was the more intelligent 50%."

Cognostic's picture
@Sheldon: Absolute

@Sheldon: Absolute agreement with the analysis. What our friend fails to notice is that "possibility" must be "DEMONSTRATED." God can not be considered a possibility until it is demonstrated to have some sort of existence or affect on existence. A possibility with no demonstration is completely inane.

Sheldon's picture
@Cognostic.

@Cognostic.

You're bang on...

Apollo's rationale will be that's just an objective opinion, and there's no evidence a deity is impossible.

Argumentum ad ignorantiam. Best of all he claims he never uses god of the gaps polemic, even though he started this thread demanding answers about the origin of the universe we don't currently have, from an atheist perspective....ho hum.

Priceless....his rhetoric and demeanour are so like Breezy it's uncanny...

Whitefire13's picture
@Sheldon & Cog...

@Sheldon & Cog...
Just a quick “add” to the conversation. There is also a “foundation” of scientific theory/fact that gets a person to a certain “level” (ie germ theory) - then a stepping “out” via hypothesis to answer more questions or seek solutions.

Apollo would like to reduce this to what?!?! Guesswork?!?! I don’t get it... and to even try to equivocate the idea of some invisible something-or-another with “known human qualities” (maybe the invisible friend should be more dolphin like). NOT one piece of evidence...an unanswered question isn’t “evidence”.

David Killens's picture
@ Whitefire

@ Whitefire

"Apollo would like to reduce this to what?!?! Guesswork?!?!"

That is the reason I posted the first video, because Penrose discusses the insane precision of calculations and the physics. And that is why there are standard reference points, such as the distance from the equator to pole, in determining the length of the meter. Once all parties agree on one reference point, then measurement is accurate and the same for all.

Sheldon's picture
Apollo "One preconception of

Apollo "One preconception of atheists is simply stating disbelief in God. Its a metaphysical unfalsifiable perspective. For example, disbelief in a Creator God implies that the only thing that exists is nature."

Christopher Hitchens

"If there is doubt, don't claim you are certain. It's amazing how relaxing it is not to pretend to know more than you do."

It could have been written for Apollo, but then to be fair it could have been written for any theist.

David Killens's picture
@ Sheldon

@ Sheldon

"It could have been written for Apollo, but then to be fair it could have written for any theist."

Or fool who has read just enough to believe he is suddenly an expert.

When Apollo made claims about physics I had no problem demolishing them, and I am humble and know enough to understand that the more one learns, the more one understands they have more to learn. I do not possess the intelligence and training to pretend I can walk in the footsteps of true physicists.

Sheldon's picture
As Cognostic already pointed

As Cognostic already asked, if Apollo's bizarre claim that no objective facts exist, and everything is presupposition, then what does he use to determine the validity of any claim or belief.

For example Apollo's rationale would mean, the claim the moon is made of cheese would be as valid as the claim the moon is not made of cheese.

Perhaps he can tell us what he uses in place of objective evidence to determine which of those claims is valid? Personal experience is useless, unless he's been to the moon after all.

Personally I'd say it was an objective fact that the moon is not made of cheese. We already know from his previous claims Apollo disagrees, since he claims there are no objective facts.

To me, and I'm not alone here, this seems a lot of trouble to go to, just to pretend your religious beliefs, which are based on faith, and not objective evidence, are as valid as objective facts we accept about reality. Then again I've not had the benefit of a university education like Apollo, and Breezy.

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