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Recent content by Augustus

  1. Augustus

    Shifting more towards atheism

    If I have a friend who is delusional and keeps telling me to watch out for invisible trucks though, I learn to dismiss it without effort. We are predisposed to assuming things said to us make some kind of sense in context though. So, if someone says "watch out for the invisible truck" then I'd...
  2. Augustus

    Shifting more towards atheism

    I agree in general. We automate responses to save effort with things we are familiar with. We don't need to calculate 2+2=5 to know it's wrong, and a mechanic might be able to tell you what is wrong with your car based on the sound it makes as you drive in. We have to learn these initially, but...
  3. Augustus

    Shifting more towards atheism

    Etymology is traditional by definition, it is the origin and history of word meanings. The one I gave matches the one you gave. That definition is a more traditional one anyway, and the OED is generally considered the most authoritative dictionary of the English language. All dictionaries are...
  4. Augustus

    Shifting more towards atheism

    https://www.oed.com/dictionary/atheism_n?tab=factsheet#35179934 The site is paywalled, I have access from my work so not sure how much you will be able to see.
  5. Augustus

    Lets solve Free will once and for all!!

    My definition of free will is the ability to have chosen differently. I don’t think we are blank slates acting without constraints. But if I prefer a food for taste or because it is quicker to make and I want to watch football is a choice I can make.
  6. Augustus

    Shifting more towards atheism

    this is the OED entry: atheism, n. Pronunciation: /ˈeɪθiːɪz(ə)m/ Forms: Also 15 athisme. Frequency (in current use): Etymology: < French athéisme (16th cent. in Littré), < Greek ἄθεος : see atheal adj. and -ism suffix.Compare Italian atheismo and the earlier atheonism n.(Show Less)...
  7. Augustus

    Lets solve Free will once and for all!!

    If I'm hungry, I can cook a steak or a pizza. The food I like is, in part, influenced by where I grew up, what I was fed as a child, etc. The options available to me for cooking depend on the ingredients and so forth. I am constrained by certain parameters, but I can still choose a steak or a...
  8. Augustus

    Shifting more towards atheism

    The etymology is: Atheos + ism - so the doctrine/beleif (ism) of being without gods (atheos). Unless you are going to insist we must hold all beliefs with absolute certainty in their correctness, it is therefore possible to be an atheist while accepting a degree of philosophical doubt. Even...
  9. Augustus

    Shifting more towards atheism

    That is the rhetorical purpose. I’m more interested in the best way to describe reality than what is best to win arguments with theists. Disbelief in a theist’s claims is a cognitive stance, not the absence of one. This could be shown via fMRI. Yes, that there is absolutely no reason to...
  10. Augustus

    Shifting more towards atheism

    Intuitive judgement is still judgement. The process of comprehension still requires thought, even if minimal cognitive effort. Thought and judgement are ultimately a kind of neural activity that can be roughly seen to happen on fMRI. You comprehending a statement about invisible trucks...
  11. Augustus

    Shifting more towards atheism

    And we live in a reality where people have done exactly that since time immemorial. So we adopt a position as to their claims. Not for me. There is no functional or cognitive difference imo. Some people want to create a grammatical difference for rhetorical purposes, but it’s not...
  12. Augustus

    Shifting more towards atheism

    Of course it requires judgement and belief, that is how you dismiss it as absurd.
  13. Augustus

    Shifting more towards atheism

    Yes, of course I believe they don’t exist.
  14. Augustus

    Shifting more towards atheism

    Can you find a single dictionary that states atheism is the knowledge that gods don't exist? I've only seen definitions related to the belief, disbelief or lack of belief gods don't exist. Unlike most of my fellow atheists on RF, I consider atheism to be a specific belief not simply a 'lack of...
  15. Augustus

    Shifting more towards atheism

    Not guilty and innocent are different to exists/does not exist though. Yes, and thus there is no practical difference as, for you, that truck does not exist. If someone asks me "Is there an invisible truck that is about to kill you?" I believe that there is not because there is no reason to...
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