[lbo-talk] Appeal to Ignorance (Rushdie: Just give me that old-time atheism!)

[Shane Mage]

Yoshi wrote:
>...The burden of proof is on those who make an improbable claim, 
>such as "God exists," "gods exist," or "I have a herbal remedy that 
>makes your penis three inches longer and thicker."  Those who fall 
>for an improbable claim, merely because there is no evidence yet 
>that the claim is untrue, are called "suckers."  They are the ones 
>who fuel the economy of spam.  :->

Actually, I don't think any of these is an impropable claim (one counter
to the preponderance of evidence).  The first is a demonstrably
false assertion (proof: the concept of "God" is logically incompatible
with the concept of existence as used in every statement except
for that specific assertion).  The second is an empirically
undemonstrable interpretation of real past and present human
experiences but arguably a poetic truth.  The third is straight-out
bullshit.

Shane Mage

"Thunderbolt steers all things...It consents and does not
consent to be called 
Zeus."                                                         

Herakleitos of Ephesos