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cause-and-effect: "cause" require evidence too

gnostic

The Lost One
From my experiences here at RF, as well as at other forums, I have noticed that some people think they can postulate "cause-and-effect" of some phenomena, without the needs to present empirical physical EVIDENCE of the "cause".

This topic is about the Intelligent Design's faulty uses (and abuses) of "cause-and-effect" scenario.

In sciences, particularly Physical Sciences and Natural Sciences, testing the new hypothesis or existing (scientific) theory require observations of the evidence or of the experiments, regardless if it is the "cause" or the "effect", you would still need evidence for both.

So if you are going to formulate a hypothesis that include "cause-and-effect", then you would need evidence for the "cause" as much as you do with the "effect"...otherwise those advocating for "cause" is nothing more than speculative and highly subjective opinions.

I see YEC creationists do that, and I see Intelligent Design creationists do that too.

They think they can say creation (effect) is created by the Creator (cause), or design (effect) is intelligently designed by the Designer (cause), but are never able show that the cause physically exist, which would require physical evidence to support their claims for some "cause".

Both groups (YEC & ID) frequently used non-scientific sources, and they seemed to love using analogy in their reasoning for the Creator or for the Designer.

But analogy isn't evidence for anything. Using analogy is just comparing one thing to another thing, where they are totally unrelated. Examples, the Watchmaker analogy, the car analogy, computer analogy, the mouse trap analogy, etc.

But in real life, these analogies are faulty, because watches, cars, computer hardware or computer programming, and mouse trap are made by real people, not by some nonexistent invisible spirits, gods or this absurd Designer.

If you want to know who made the design of car's bodywork or the car's engine, then you can actually meet the person, the engineer or the designer, who would have a real job and real place (eg headquarters of car companies), and he or she would have real home, contact number, qualification, family (eg parents), etc.

The Intelligent Designer don't exist physically, so how can something that don't exist be responsible for the design of life on Earth or for the design of the universe?

The "Designer did it", is no better than using the "God did it" adage. It relied on subjective reasoning, which are susceptible to biases.

So if ID creationists cannot produce physical evidence for the "cause" like that of the Designer being the CAUSE, then Intelligent Design is nothing more than pure speculation of some entity that don't exist.

That's my 2-cent on the cause-and-effect. (Or 5-cent, since Australia no longer minted the 1-cent and 2-cent coins.) :D
 

Brian2

Veteran Member
From my experiences here at RF, as well as at other forums, I have noticed that some people think they can postulate "cause-and-effect" of some phenomena, without the needs to present empirical physical EVIDENCE of the "cause".

This topic is about the Intelligent Design's faulty uses (and abuses) of "cause-and-effect" scenario.

In sciences, particularly Physical Sciences and Natural Sciences, testing the new hypothesis or existing (scientific) theory require observations of the evidence or of the experiments, regardless if it is the "cause" or the "effect", you would still need evidence for both.

So if you are going to formulate a hypothesis that include "cause-and-effect", then you would need evidence for the "cause" as much as you do with the "effect"...otherwise those advocating for "cause" is nothing more than speculative and highly subjective opinions.

I see YEC creationists do that, and I see Intelligent Design creationists do that too.

They think they can say creation (effect) is created by the Creator (cause), or design (effect) is intelligently designed by the Designer (cause), but are never able show that the cause physically exist, which would require physical evidence to support their claims for some "cause".

Both groups (YEC & ID) frequently used non-scientific sources, and they seemed to love using analogy in their reasoning for the Creator or for the Designer.

But analogy isn't evidence for anything. Using analogy is just comparing one thing to another thing, where they are totally unrelated. Examples, the Watchmaker analogy, the car analogy, computer analogy, the mouse trap analogy, etc.

But in real life, these analogies are faulty, because watches, cars, computer hardware or computer programming, and mouse trap are made by real people, not by some nonexistent invisible spirits, gods or this absurd Designer.

If you want to know who made the design of car's bodywork or the car's engine, then you can actually meet the person, the engineer or the designer, who would have a real job and real place (eg headquarters of car companies), and he or she would have real home, contact number, qualification, family (eg parents), etc.

The Intelligent Designer don't exist physically, so how can something that don't exist be responsible for the design of life on Earth or for the design of the universe?

The "Designer did it", is no better than using the "God did it" adage. It relied on subjective reasoning, which are susceptible to biases.

So if ID creationists cannot produce physical evidence for the "cause" like that of the Designer being the CAUSE, then Intelligent Design is nothing more than pure speculation of some entity that don't exist.

That's my 2-cent on the cause-and-effect. (Or 5-cent, since Australia no longer minted the 1-cent and 2-cent coins.) :D

But you can still pay in 1 and 2 cent increments using a plastic card.
With regard to cause requiring evidence, if what you are saying is correct that puts everyone in the same boat of philosophical speculation since nobody knows what existed to cause the Big Bang (assuming the BB happened).
It can be speculated that what physically exists now also existed in another form to cause the BB but that is speculation.
 

Ben Dhyan

Veteran Member
From my experiences here at RF, as well as at other forums, I have noticed that some people think they can postulate "cause-and-effect" of some phenomena, without the needs to present empirical physical EVIDENCE of the "cause".

This topic is about the Intelligent Design's faulty uses (and abuses) of "cause-and-effect" scenario.

In sciences, particularly Physical Sciences and Natural Sciences, testing the new hypothesis or existing (scientific) theory require observations of the evidence or of the experiments, regardless if it is the "cause" or the "effect", you would still need evidence for both.

So if you are going to formulate a hypothesis that include "cause-and-effect", then you would need evidence for the "cause" as much as you do with the "effect"...otherwise those advocating for "cause" is nothing more than speculative and highly subjective opinions.

I see YEC creationists do that, and I see Intelligent Design creationists do that too.

They think they can say creation (effect) is created by the Creator (cause), or design (effect) is intelligently designed by the Designer (cause), but are never able show that the cause physically exist, which would require physical evidence to support their claims for some "cause".

Both groups (YEC & ID) frequently used non-scientific sources, and they seemed to love using analogy in their reasoning for the Creator or for the Designer.

But analogy isn't evidence for anything. Using analogy is just comparing one thing to another thing, where they are totally unrelated. Examples, the Watchmaker analogy, the car analogy, computer analogy, the mouse trap analogy, etc.

But in real life, these analogies are faulty, because watches, cars, computer hardware or computer programming, and mouse trap are made by real people, not by some nonexistent invisible spirits, gods or this absurd Designer.

If you want to know who made the design of car's bodywork or the car's engine, then you can actually meet the person, the engineer or the designer, who would have a real job and real place (eg headquarters of car companies), and he or she would have real home, contact number, qualification, family (eg parents), etc.

The Intelligent Designer don't exist physically, so how can something that don't exist be responsible for the design of life on Earth or for the design of the universe?

The "Designer did it", is no better than using the "God did it" adage. It relied on subjective reasoning, which are susceptible to biases.

So if ID creationists cannot produce physical evidence for the "cause" like that of the Designer being the CAUSE, then Intelligent Design is nothing more than pure speculation of some entity that don't exist.

That's my 2-cent on the cause-and-effect. (Or 5-cent, since Australia no longer minted the 1-cent and 2-cent coins.) :D
Physical science is what it is, it does not do spiritual sfaik? So are you asking as a spiritual aspirant or a physical science student?
 

gnostic

The Lost One
Physical science is what it is, it does not do spiritual sfaik? So are you asking as a spiritual aspirant or a physical science student?
No, I am not.

I think Natural Sciences or Physical Sciences should remain with focusing on physical and natural phenomena.

But I am not the one who is claiming that “God did it” or the “Designer did it”, with the creation or design of the universe or of life.

If you or someone is claiming god or Designer being the “cause”, then you do need to present evidence or that “cause”.
 

Jayhawker Soule

-- untitled --
Premium Member
From my experiences here at RF, as well as at other forums, I have noticed that some people think they can postulate "cause-and-effect" of some phenomena, without the needs to present empirical physical EVIDENCE of the "cause" ...
It seems to me that the first question is not whether a particular effect serves as sufficient proof of a particular cause, but whether that effect is sufficient evidence to render the inference of some cause reasonable.

It is only after that question is resolved that the discussion can proceed in any useful manner.
 

gnostic

The Lost One
With regard to cause requiring evidence, if what you are saying is correct that puts everyone in the same boat of philosophical speculation since nobody knows what existed to cause the Big Bang (assuming the BB happened).
It can be speculated that what physically exists now also existed in another form to cause the BB but that is speculation.

You really haven’t read what the Big Bang theory to say, have you, Brian?

There are more to the Big Bang model than just the moment of the Big Bang.

The Big Bang models explained the following:
  • the formations of fundamental forces (strong, weak, EM & gravitation) and fundamental particles, and over time...
  • ...the formation of atomic particles (eg hadron particles, like neutrons & protons, which are made of 3 quarks),
  • the nuclei of atoms (the Big Bang Nucleosynthesis),
  • the stable and neutral atoms (Recombination Epoch, which also included CMBR),
  • the formations of stars and galaxies,
  • and the Universe to this present day.

And sciences that related to the Big Bang theory have done well, explaining what they can, and observing and testing what they can.

So the Big Bang model is about explaining the whole evolution of the Observable Universe, and not just the instance of the Big Bang.
 

Ben Dhyan

Veteran Member
No, I am not.

I think Natural Sciences or Physical Sciences should remain with focusing on physical and natural phenomena.

But I am not the one who is claiming that “God did it” or the “Designer did it”, with the creation or design of the universe or of life.

If you or someone is claiming god or Designer being the “cause”, then you do need to present evidence or that “cause”.
With due respect though, if you are not a spiritual aspirant, you have not the experience to understand the workings of spirit. God is all that is, so all cause and effect are just a natural principle of the universe.

Still, that is no to say that some religious folk make specific outlandish claims that perhaps can be called out, you are welcome.
 

Brian2

Veteran Member
You really haven’t read what the Big Bang theory to say, have you, Brian?

There are more to the Big Bang model than just the moment of the Big Bang.

The Big Bang models explained the following:
  • the formations of fundamental forces (strong, weak, EM & gravitation) and fundamental particles, and over time...
  • ...the formation of atomic particles (eg hadron particles, like neutrons & protons, which are made of 3 quarks),
  • the nuclei of atoms (the Big Bang Nucleosynthesis),
  • the stable and neutral atoms (Recombination Epoch, which also included CMBR),
  • the formations of stars and galaxies,
  • and the Universe to this present day.

And sciences that related to the Big Bang theory have done well, explaining what they can, and observing and testing what they can.

So the Big Bang model is about explaining the whole evolution of the Observable Universe, and not just the instance of the Big Bang.

OK that's fine, but we are talking about speculation of what might have existed before the BB (if that is even a sensible statement)
 

gnostic

The Lost One
It seems to me that the first question is not whether a particular effect serves as sufficient proof of a particular cause, but whether that effect is sufficient evidence to render the inference of some cause reasonable.

It is only after that question is resolved that the discussion can proceed in any useful manner.

Sure, but inference and reasoning can only take you so far.

Reasoning alone on the “cause”, isn’t enough for science. Logic alone don’t satisfy science.

Most people think that mathematics is the ultimate expression of logic. But maths alone don’t determine what model is scientific or isn’t scientific...only verifiable and testable evidence can decide that.

If there is a cause to the effect, then one cannot simply present evidence for the “effect” without presenting evidence for the “cause” too.

Sure, you can deduce and you can infer, but would reasoning alone would satisfy you that your reasoning true or not, probable or improbable.

How would you objectively determine that you have made correct reasoning without evidence?
 

Ben Dhyan

Veteran Member
OK that's fine, but we are talking about speculation of what might have existed before the BB (if that is even a sensible statement)
The adherents to the BB beginning of the universe are eventually obliged to explain either, what existed before, or how the nothing to something creation process works?
 

gnostic

The Lost One
With due respect though, if you are not a spiritual aspirant, you have not the experience to understand the workings of spirit. God is all that is, so all cause and effect are just a natural principle of the universe.
That's okay, if you are believer or mystic, but if you going to include spirit or God as the cause of natural Universe, then you need more than just your personal belief in God, more than just faith in whatever it is that you believe in.

It is why scientists don't pursue the "spiritual" angle, because they have no way to test it.
 

Brian2

Veteran Member
The adherents to the BB beginning of the universe are eventually obliged to explain either, what existed before, or how the nothing to something creation process works?

The BB is based on observation and so is a stand alone idea. I don't think it would be an obligation to explain more. There is always the option of saying that they don't know and have no way to find out.
But that is not the human way, or the way of science and so mathematical calculations and speculation etc etc go on and on and hypotheses abound no doubt.
The sad bit about it is that the best of these hypotheses is usually seen as the more probably true answer until something else is devised.
This is what science does and the communications to the world are about what science thinks and much of the world sees this as the truth because that is the way it is communicated.
There is nothing in the communication that speaks about other possibilities, such as a God just creating everything from nothing.
The naturalistic methodology is treated as the truth of it even though it is just a presumption.
 

Polymath257

Think & Care
Staff member
Premium Member
But you can still pay in 1 and 2 cent increments using a plastic card.
With regard to cause requiring evidence, if what you are saying is correct that puts everyone in the same boat of philosophical speculation since nobody knows what existed to cause the Big Bang (assuming the BB happened).
It can be speculated that what physically exists now also existed in another form to cause the BB but that is speculation.

And it is speculation that *anything* caused the BB.
 

We Never Know

No Slack
From my experiences here at RF, as well as at other forums, I have noticed that some people think they can postulate "cause-and-effect" of some phenomena, without the needs to present empirical physical EVIDENCE of the "cause".

This topic is about the Intelligent Design's faulty uses (and abuses) of "cause-and-effect" scenario.

In sciences, particularly Physical Sciences and Natural Sciences, testing the new hypothesis or existing (scientific) theory require observations of the evidence or of the experiments, regardless if it is the "cause" or the "effect", you would still need evidence for both.

So if you are going to formulate a hypothesis that include "cause-and-effect", then you would need evidence for the "cause" as much as you do with the "effect"...otherwise those advocating for "cause" is nothing more than speculative and highly subjective opinions.

I see YEC creationists do that, and I see Intelligent Design creationists do that too.

They think they can say creation (effect) is created by the Creator (cause), or design (effect) is intelligently designed by the Designer (cause), but are never able show that the cause physically exist, which would require physical evidence to support their claims for some "cause".

Both groups (YEC & ID) frequently used non-scientific sources, and they seemed to love using analogy in their reasoning for the Creator or for the Designer.

But analogy isn't evidence for anything. Using analogy is just comparing one thing to another thing, where they are totally unrelated. Examples, the Watchmaker analogy, the car analogy, computer analogy, the mouse trap analogy, etc.

But in real life, these analogies are faulty, because watches, cars, computer hardware or computer programming, and mouse trap are made by real people, not by some nonexistent invisible spirits, gods or this absurd Designer.

If you want to know who made the design of car's bodywork or the car's engine, then you can actually meet the person, the engineer or the designer, who would have a real job and real place (eg headquarters of car companies), and he or she would have real home, contact number, qualification, family (eg parents), etc.

The Intelligent Designer don't exist physically, so how can something that don't exist be responsible for the design of life on Earth or for the design of the universe?

The "Designer did it", is no better than using the "God did it" adage. It relied on subjective reasoning, which are susceptible to biases.

So if ID creationists cannot produce physical evidence for the "cause" like that of the Designer being the CAUSE, then Intelligent Design is nothing more than pure speculation of some entity that don't exist.

That's my 2-cent on the cause-and-effect. (Or 5-cent, since Australia no longer minted the 1-cent and 2-cent coins.) :D

In short, from what I see on this forum, -god needs a cause
-the big bang just happened
OR
-god always existed without cause
-the big bang had to have a cause


That's it in a nut shell :D
 
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