For all intents and purposes, this is a religious question, but I felt it would fit more into philosophy? If something such as a God concept is highly improbable, could it be concluded that such a concept is not accurate? Here's another example: If, say, a quantum computer is highly improbable, could one safely conclude that it does not exist? Thanks in advance.
No, Basically.
Improbable =/= Impossible
Expressed mathamatically...
Probability > 0 =/= 0 (a probability greater than zero does not equal zero).
They are not identical on paper, but someone may treat them as the same in practical terms.
In 1600AD I could have said that space travel, man landing on the moon, heavier than air flight, near-instant global communications, travelling faster than the speed of sound, using the same natural forces as occur in lightening to power artificial lights instead of using candles etc were "impossible" based on the sheer improbability at the current level of development at that point. it would be considered a sound and reasonable argument in its day. It would also be wrong.
In 1909 a book known as
the great illusion was published stating that due to free trade, it had become highly irrational and therefore improbable for nations to go to war. In 1914, the first world war broke out. Opps!
The Great Illusion - Wikipedia
In 1912, one of the publicists for the White Star line said their new ship, the Titanic, was "practically unsinkable". It sank.
Winning the lottery is not impossible but highly improbable. So the improbability means you don't play the lottery because you end up spending more money playing than you are likely to get back, or that its not a good investment that the outcome is beyond your control and based on freak chance, etc. Another person could say "you can't win if you don't play"- like saying you can't go to heavan unless you believe in god.
In terms of religion, the improbability of god's existence would have the same practical implications as believing in the impossibility of god BUT they are actually very different arguments. One is about the lack of evidence making god improbable, the other is an argument about the nature of reality, making god impossible. They are quite different and many who say god is improbable will actually say the idea that "god is impossible" is a dogma or unprovable statement.
I think you see what I'm getting at.
