Why God Doesn't Exist - Belief
73
Whether God exists is not an issue to be resolved through belief or knowledge, but rather by defining the word exist. The definition of 'exist' contains no provision for faith or wisdom.
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Theists, atheists, and agnostics have been debating the existence of God at least since the days of the Greeks. Have they attained consensus?
Broadly speaking, a theist is an individual who believes that God exists whereas an atheist is a person who believes the opposite. An alleged third party to these discussions, the agnostic, is a person who believes that we can never know for sure whether God exists because there is no experiment that we can run to test the hypothesis. Which of these views is correct?
Perhaps a more objective question is whether any of these views is rational. For instance, does THIS chair disappear if you refuse to acknowledge it? Does it make sense to attempt to prove the existence of a chair by sitting on it? And what does it mean to say that you ‘believe’ that this chair exists, anyway? Doesn’t the chair exist as a standalone object on its own before its light reaches your eyes, irrespective of your faith?
It seems to me that whether this chair or God exists is a question of definitions and has little to do with the nouns chair and God. We define the strategic word ‘exist’. If the noun at the center of our inquiry meets the requirements of the definition, then it exists. Otherwise, it doesn’t.
For instance, let’s propose the following definition:
exist: physical presence
The ‘physical’ part of this definition invokes an object, a word that I will presently associate with shape: an image or contour you can point to. The ‘presence’ part invokes location. An object that has location exists pursuant to this particular definition. ‘Physical presence’ is an objective definition because it enables us to use ‘exist’ consistently (i.e., scientifically) since it contains no provisions for belief or knowledge.
For example, THIS chair is an object (i.e., has shape) as well as location. It meets both requirements of the definition and, therefore, exists. In contrast, a circle has shape, but lacks location. The definition compels us to reject its existence. Concepts such as love or justice don’t even meet the minimum ‘physical’ criterion and need not be analyzed further.
Does God meet the requirements of this definition?
The answer depends on the individuals giving the presentation. Will the presenters introduce God as an object or as a concept for the purposes of their talk? Will they point to the anthropomorphic being of Old Testament fame or will they associate God with abstract concepts such as love or intelligence? The ball is in their court.
Note that I am not arguing that you have to accept this definition of ‘exist’. I am saying that it is premature to debate the existence of God until we first settle the meaning of the word exist unambiguously. If the existence of God depended on subjective opinions, God would be vulnerable to our wildest whims.
So? What is your definition of exist?
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Other articles in this series...
CommentsLoading...
"like one saying they believe in something. Does that mean they accept it as true? Or does that mean they merely acknowledge that it is possible?"
I'm saying that neither belief nor knowledge plays a role in existence. Whether a chair or God exists is an issue we resolve by defining the word exist. The first criterion is that the noun under scrutiny be an object (i.e. has shape). This summarily excludes all concepts (love, intelligence, beauty, justice, energy, mass, time, etc). The second criterion is that the object have location. We can define location as the set of distacnes to all other objects. Thus, THIS chair exists BY DEFINITION if it has shape (which it does) AND location (which it does).
We can test this with any word. For instance, does Big Foot exist? Should we prove BF's existence by taking pictures or collecting tracks?
Neither! Big Foot exists (or doesn't) irrespective of whether we believe or saw him. In Science, it works in reverse.
Example:
Your friend explains his theory to you that Big Foot was the one who ate your candy bar last night while you were away. He begins his presentation. "Assume that Big Foot exists and..."
What did he mean by this?
He meant, "Assume that Big Foot is a physical object and that he has location in the Universe." Certainly, your friend cannot argue that love or justice ate your candy bar: "Assume that love is a physical object and has location in the Universe."
Again, this rigid definition of exist is not for ordinary speech. It is for scientific purposes. If the proponent claims that God made the Universe or that a black hole swallowed an astronaut, he must begin by stating, " Let us assume that... exists."
Well thought out hub, but I would like to respectfully make a few comments. Of course you are entitled to your opinion, as I am mine.
So many want to argue the existence of God based on not actually seeing this entity, and I can understand that mindset. I believe you make the comments about the chair and the statue arms based on two things.
The first one is based on the 5 senses that MOST human beings have "touch, sight, smell, hearing and taste."
The second part of your argument is based on only three dimensions in our universe.
The fact of the matter is that there is more than 5 senses. There is a sixth sense which science acknowledges and so do some government agencies, especially police departments "CSI, missing persons, cold case investigations, etc." Some people have the ability to sense things that you might not be able to see. If you were blind, and didn't have the ability to see what I and others can see, you would have to take our word for it, or dis believe it. If you were deaf and couldn't hear someone talking, would you believe that something was said?
hundreds of years ago it was believed that the world was flat and if you sailed a ship to the edge you would fall off. Of course that was proved as not being accurate. So what I am saying is that seeing is not always what is real.
Let me ask you something. Do you believe in ghosts? Do you think that a spirit will leave the body after it dies and although you can't see it, it's still there.
Do you think it's possible that the people that wrote the books to the bible might have had more than 5 senses, or a spirit allowed them to see more than others? I wasn't there and I certainly can't say yes or no, but I do know that this world didn't just appear out of no where and there had to be something that started it in motion. I'm not saying that it was someone called God, but I am saying that SOMETHING did it.
Do you think that the world just came about somehow all by itself?
Bill you are obviously an intelligent person with your ability to speak and explanations, but you are mistaken about what the word "exist" really means. Just because you can't see something, doesn't mean it doesn't exist.
When someone calls me on a cell phone I can't see the radio frequency that transfers their voice through the air and I can't see them either when I speak to them, but I know they are there as I can hear them talking. I look around and there no wires, nothing that would indicate that there is a real person that I am talking to, however they can answer me when I ask a question.
Years ago we wouldn't have thought it was possible to be able to do this, but it is.
You might want to open you mind up to the possibility that man hasn't discovered every means of how to tell is something is real or not. The dimensions and senses do certainly fit into that argument. If I were to tell you that a spirit talked to me and he told me what color shirt I was wearing or proved to me that he could really see me, yet I couldn't see him, nor could you see or hear him, that doesn't mean its not real. It only means that you don't see or hear him.
I might be able to use my 6th sense and it could as far as you know actually work, and you might not be able to exorcise that ability.
Science agrees that there a many more dimensions that 3, and therefore they don't have all the tools they need to disprove an existence of a God. I am not saying that there is a God so to speak, just that something created the planets, space and matter. It's hear and had to come about somehow. Just saying that it's always been here and always been is not calculating in mine or zillions of others minds
lol
Excellent hub. Although - you are going to come in for some flack for saying anything that sounds like "god does not exist because we cannot define exist."
I agree that we have been unable to define "exist" - we have also been unable to define "god"
That does not seem to stop people from forcefully arguing that He Does Exist! and He Has Some Rules written down for us! lol
But a belief in a god IS irrational......
I am quite happy with a definition of "exist" that involves some sort of physical manifestation.
But - seeing as god chooses not to make any such thing - or at least recently - this means there is no god. Which means some of the religionists are going to be unhappy. Which means you cannot have any morals and do not have any meaning to your life.
What a shame......
dude just read about the string theory , physics science can prove you mathematically the existence of invisible multiuniverses and they are not made from matter like ours , so if don't believe that god's universe is heaven and god the father is spirit(body made by another kind of matter caused by atoms vibrating at a unknown frecuency)not even caring to listen the brighest brains like einstein and others that made this great discovery possible making you change otherwise,I am afraid nothing will, and by the way did you know that quantum mechanics teaches that there are invisible atoms and matter called "dark matter " and it makes up most part of the universe .
conclusion!!!! who says that because you dont see or not understand god he doesn't exist?
you know ,from my personal experience I didn't believe in god,but someone asked once me these questions that made change my mind, and they were:
have you ever been dead before? i answered of course not
then he said since you have not ever been dead can you assert 100% heaven or hell don't exist? I said no , because nobody knows forsure what's on the other side,
and later he told me if by your admission really don't know for sure
why don't you just repent from your sins and start obeying jesus christ commandments on the bible from now on just in case , because you don't have nothing to loose if you have done so and it was all true , but if god forbids you, you die today and later you realize everything i told you was in fact true and you didn't follow it you will regret from it burning in hell forever rather than enjoying an eternity with christ and his father up in heaven.
You've done nothing to disprove the existence of God, and you can't. So, you've created this deflective, Clintonian argument about terminology, which your own rationale dilutes. If you don't care how anyone else defines the word "exists", why should anyone else care how you define it? Your position becomes insipid.
There are many ways to define the word. You state that only one definition, yours, works. Actually, it's the only definition that works for you - that's not the same thing.
In order to make your verbal shell game work, you're actually defining three words: exists, physical and science, but like an illusionist, you attempt to get people to focus on just one. It's a vapid argument, but it's a strong deception, because if anyone falls for it, here's what you've done: drawn a tic-tac-toe grid, placed three "x's" in a row and drawn a line through them. Now you're looking up and asking people to play you.
This guy Richard is making some very good points, and you're not listening to any of them. You're like a little boy, standing in the middle of the road in the path of oncoming traffic. People are trying to get you to move, but you prefer crossing your arms and shouting, "you can't make me". You'd rather get hit, than concede to move, and you'll wait until you're run over, before you believe there is such a thing as a car.
You sound exactly like fatfist Bill.
There is even no need to beleive, we only need to know.
What if I push futher and say; define the word 'physical/shape/location?' will I not conner you?
No no Kirrui, don't sink into post-modernism! :)
Science ultimately only demands rigor (consistency). The MOST consistent definition wins, period. You can go on re-defining every word in the dictionary relative to every other and never scratch the surface before you die. But to form the sentence you just typed, you implicitly accept that language should be (and already is to some degree) used objectively.
I recently read The Grand Design by Hawkings and Mlodinow. String, quarks, what ever, just what are these physicists looking at. Some thing..and then they measure and formulate. Then get into the mathematical explanations for what no one can see..hence dark matter. From here to there doesn't matter to me. Here is the miracle. Prove that it isn't.
So we can explain everything and know nothing. Who cares about science anyway? A subject of no knowledge. Just theories.
Angentmarmite
Yes, when I am doing science I don't bother. But when someone is challenging my personal beleives, yes we will go through the whole dictionary.
Hey Bill, re: an earlier comment... you do indeed sound like Maestro Fatfist! Are you guys friends, colleagues? Or do you use separate IDs for posting different articles, etc?
I'm curious how many other people are out there who are into this rational mode of thought/science. It feels a bit isolating sometimes not knowing others who think like I do. Do you and other thinkers get together to discuss your work, i.e. Thread Theory? I think it'd be really cool to arrange meetups and conferences where people passionate and excited about your (and others') ideas can come together and talk about them over a beer or coffee.
I'm also terrifically excited about the prospect of a new book or new videos about the Rope Hypothesis, Thread Theory and whatnot. I like your other ideas too, about Extinction, etc (although I find the Extinction Theory quite anxiety-provoking or even depressing at times — not that that means anything other than my emotional experience!). But mostly I'm into Physics, and you have inspired me Bill — you have put the joy and wonder back into Science & Physics for me. I wanted to sincerely thank you from the bottom of my heart for that. What you've accomplished is breathtaking.
I feel as if finally my innocent childhood questions, that those asshole "teachers" in the public schools ridiculed and attacked me for asking, were not only valid but PERFECT scientific questions to ask! And they knew squat! "But... HOW does a magnet attract the other?", I gasped in frustration, "What's you know... pulling on it?"
So I finally feel vindicated. There's not a single state-funded Physicist assclown on Earth, or in his or her Ivory Tower of Academia, that has a bloody clue what light, gravity, an atom, or magnetism is.
I second Robotix's sentiments. We need a Bill Gaede/rational science forum to congregate and coordinate on. I feel like I'm following you and altonhare all over the net to find out where the action is. Lesswrong com is a possible site, as is Mises org, but there would still be a ton of opposition. Why not set up a new forum? Contact me at docomocaves at gmail com if anyone wants to try to get something going.
An Atheist Professor of Philosophy was speaking to ...his Class on the Problem Science has
with GOD, the ALMIGHTY. He asked one of his New Christian Students to stand and . . .
Professor : You are a Christian, aren't you, son ?
...
Student : Yes, sir.
Professor: So, you Believe in GOD ?
Student : Absolutely, sir.
Professor: Is GOD Good ?
Student : Sure.
Professor: Is GOD ALL - POWERFUL ?
Student : Yes.
Professor: My Brother died of Cancer even though he Prayed to GOD to Heal him.
Most of us would attempt to help others who are ill.
But GOD didn't. How is this GOD good then? Hmm?
(Student was silent )
Professor: You can't answer, can you ? Let's start again, Young Fella.
Is GOD Good?
Student : Yes.
Professor: Is Satan good ?
Student : No.
Professor: Where does Satan come from ?
Student : From . . . GOD . . .
Professor: That's right. Tell me son, is there evil in this World?
Student : Yes.
Professor: Evil is everywhere, isn't it ? And GOD did make everything. Correct?
Student : Yes.
Professor: So who created evil ?
(Student did not answer)
Professor: Is there Sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness?
All these terrible things exist in the World, don't they?
Student : Yes, sir.
Professor: So, who Created them ?
(Student had no answer)
Professor: Science says you have 5 Senses you use to Identify and Observe the World around you.
Tell me, son . . . Have you ever Seen GOD?
Student : No, sir.
Professor: Tell us if you have ever Heard your GOD?
Student : No , sir.
Professor: Have you ever Felt your GOD, Tasted your GOD, Smelt your GOD?
Have you ever had any Sensory Perception of GOD for that matter?
Student : No, sir. I'm afraid I haven't.
Professor: Yet you still Believe in HIM?
Student : Yes.
Professor : According to Empirical, Testable, Demonstrable Protocol,
Science says your GOD doesn't exist. What do you say to that, son?
Student : Nothing. I only have my Faith.
Professor: Yes,Faith. And that is the Problem Science has.
Student : Professor, is there such a thing as Heat?
Professor: Yes.
Student : And is there such a thing as Cold?
Professor: Yes.
Student : No, sir. There isn't.
(The Lecture Theatre became very quiet with this turn of events )
Student : Sir, you can have Lots of Heat, even More Heat, Superheat, Mega Heat, White Heat,
a Little Heat or No Heat.
But we don't have anything called Cold.
We can hit 458 Degrees below Zero which is No Heat, but we can't go any further after that.
There is no such thing as Cold.
Cold is only a Word we use to describe the Absence of Heat.
We cannot Measure Cold.
Heat is Energy.
Cold is Not the Opposite of Heat, sir, just the Absence of it.
(There was Pin-Drop Silence in the Lecture Theatre )
Student : What about Darkness, Professor? Is there such a thing as Darkness?
Professor: Yes. What is Night if there isn't Darkness?
Student : You're wrong again, sir.
Darkness is the Absence of Something
You can have Low Light, Normal Light, Bright Light, Flashing Light . . .
But if you have No Light constantly, you have nothing and its called Darkness, isn't it?
In reality, Darkness isn't.
If it is, were you would be able to make Darkness Darker, wouldn't you?
Professor: So what is the point you are making, Young Man ?
Student : Sir, my point is your Philosophical Premise is flawed.
Professor: Flawed ? Can you explain how?
Student : Sir, you are working on the Premise of Duality.
You argue there is Life and then there is Death, a Good GOD and a Bad GOD.
You are viewing the Concept of GOD as something finite, something we can measure.
Sir, Science can't even explain a Thought.
It uses Electricity and Magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one.
To view Death as the Opposite of Life is to be ignorant of the fact that
Death cannot exist as a Substantive Thing.
Death is Not the Opposite of Life: just the Absence of it.
Now tell me, Professor, do you teach your Students that they evolved from a Monkey?
Professor: If you are referring to the Natural Evolutionary Process, yes, of course, I do.
Student : Have you ever observed Evolution with your own eyes, sir?
(The Professor shook his head with a Smile, beginning to realize where the Argument was going )
Student : Since no one has ever observed the Process of Evolution at work and
Cannot even prove that this Process is an On-Going Endeavor,
Are you not teaching your Opinion, sir?
Are you not a Scientist but a Preacher?
(The Class was in Uproar )
Student : Is there anyone in the Class who has ever seen the Professor's Brain?
(The Class broke out into Laughter )
Student : Is there anyone here who has ever heard the Professor's Brain, Felt it, touched or Smelt it? . . .
No one appears to have done so.
So, according to the Established Rules of Empirical, Stable, Demonstrable Protocol,
Science says that You have No Brain, sir.
With all due respect, sir, how do we then Trust your Lectures, sir?
(The Room was Silent. The Professor stared at the Student, his face unfathomable)
Professor: I guess you'll have to take them on Faith, son.
Student : That is it sir . . . Exactly !
The Link between Man & GOD is FAITH.
That is all that Keeps Things Alive and Moving
******************************?**************************
Believe it or not, the student here was the world's most genius man--Albert Einstein
here is an additional article...
An Atheist Professor of Philosophy was speaking to ...his Class on the Problem Science has
with GOD, the ALMIGHTY. He asked one of his New Christian Students to stand and . . .
Professor : You are a Christian, aren't you, son ?
...
Student : Yes, sir.
Professor: So, you Believe in GOD ?
Student : Absolutely, sir.
Professor: Is GOD Good ?
Student : Sure.
Professor: Is GOD ALL - POWERFUL ?
Student : Yes.
Professor: My Brother died of Cancer even though he Prayed to GOD to Heal him.
Most of us would attempt to help others who are ill.
But GOD didn't. How is this GOD good then? Hmm?
(Student was silent )
Professor: You can't answer, can you ? Let's start again, Young Fella.
Is GOD Good?
Student : Yes.
Professor: Is Satan good ?
Student : No.
Professor: Where does Satan come from ?
Student : From . . . GOD . . .
Professor: That's right. Tell me son, is there evil in this World?
Student : Yes.
Professor: Evil is everywhere, isn't it ? And GOD did make everything. Correct?
Student : Yes.
Professor: So who created evil ?
(Student did not answer)
Professor: Is there Sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness?
All these terrible things exist in the World, don't they?
Student : Yes, sir.
Professor: So, who Created them ?
(Student had no answer)
Professor: Science says you have 5 Senses you use to Identify and Observe the World around you.
Tell me, son . . . Have you ever Seen GOD?
Student : No, sir.
Professor: Tell us if you have ever Heard your GOD?
Student : No , sir.
Professor: Have you ever Felt your GOD, Tasted your GOD, Smelt your GOD?
Have you ever had any Sensory Perception of GOD for that matter?
Student : No, sir. I'm afraid I haven't.
Professor: Yet you still Believe in HIM?
Student : Yes.
Professor : According to Empirical, Testable, Demonstrable Protocol,
Science says your GOD doesn't exist. What do you say to that, son?
Student : Nothing. I only have my Faith.
Professor: Yes,Faith. And that is the Problem Science has.
Student : Professor, is there such a thing as Heat?
Professor: Yes.
Student : And is there such a thing as Cold?
Professor: Yes.
Student : No, sir. There isn't.
(The Lecture Theatre became very quiet with this turn of events )
Student : Sir, you can have Lots of Heat, even More Heat, Superheat, Mega Heat, White Heat,
a Little Heat or No Heat.
But we don't have anything called Cold.
We can hit 458 Degrees below Zero which is No Heat, but we can't go any further after that.
There is no such thing as Cold.
Cold is only a Word we use to describe the Absence of Heat.
We cannot Measure Cold.
Heat is Energy.
Cold is Not the Opposite of Heat, sir, just the Absence of it.
(There was Pin-Drop Silence in the Lecture Theatre )
Student : What about Darkness, Professor? Is there such a thing as Darkness?
Professor: Yes. What is Night if there isn't Darkness?
Student : You're wrong again, sir.
Darkness is the Absence of Something
You can have Low Light, Normal Light, Bright Light, Flashing Light . . .
But if you have No Light constantly, you have nothing and its called Darkness, isn't it?
In reality, Darkness isn't.
If it is, were you would be able to make Darkness Darker, wouldn't you?
Professor: So what is the point you are making, Young Man ?
Student : Sir, my point is your Philosophical Premise is flawed.
Professor: Flawed ? Can you explain how?
Student : Sir, you are working on the Premise of Duality.
You argue there is Life and then there is Death, a Good GOD and a Bad GOD.
You are viewing the Concept of GOD as something finite, something we can measure.
Sir, Science can't even explain a Thought.
It uses Electricity and Magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one.
To view Death as the Opposite of Life is to be ignorant of the fact that
Death cannot exist as a Substantive Thing.
Death is Not the Opposite of Life: just the Absence of it.
Now tell me, Professor, do you teach your Students that they evolved from a Monkey?
Professor: If you are referring to the Natural Evolutionary Process, yes, of course, I do.
Student : Have you ever observed Evolution with your own eyes, sir?
(The Professor shook his head with a Smile, beginning to realize where the Argument was going )
Student : Since no one has ever observed the Process of Evolution at work and
Cannot even prove that this Process is an On-Going Endeavor,
Are you not teaching your Opinion, sir?
Are you not a Scientist but a Preacher?
(The Class was in Uproar )
Student : Is there anyone in the Class who has ever seen the Professor's Brain?
(The Class broke out into Laughter )
Student : Is there anyone here who has ever heard the Professor's Brain, Felt it, touched or Smelt it? . . .
No one appears to have done so.
So, according to the Established Rules of Empirical, Stable, Demonstrable Protocol,
Science says that You have No Brain, sir.
With all due respect, sir, how do we then Trust your Lectures, sir?
(The Room was Silent. The Professor stared at the Student, his face unfathomable)
Professor: I guess you'll have to take them on Faith, son.
Student : That is it sir . . . Exactly !
The Link between Man & GOD is FAITH.
That is all that Keeps Things Alive and Moving
******************************?**************************
Believe it or not, the student here was the world's most genius man--Albert Einstein
here is an additional article...
(http://www.faithfacts.org/evolution-or-creation/bi
You are an intelligent person Bill, but we have to recognize that everything was in the state of "Absence" and that everything that surrounds us did not randomly existed. but believe me there is someone up there that you yourself one day will kneel before him. For his power you are sustained, for his power you are put to LIFE.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/exist
Now cut the crap. God does not exist.
Hilarious nonsense about Free Will and Determinism. Bill, listen to this Quantum Mechanic loonie:
'You're conflating two issues, here. The evolution is deterministic in QM -- the state of a closed system at t1 evolves to a unique state at t2. It is the process of breaking up an entangled composite system ("observer" and "observed subsystem") that necessarily involves probabilities, due to the properties of quantum information. This is quite a subtle issue, but the distinction is quite important. It is not time evolution which is probabilistic in quantum mechanics -- it is the information which is available to the observer which is probabilistic.'
http://board.freedomainradio.com/forums/t/34264.as
What a nut-job. Hilarious!













Chef Jeff 2 years ago
I think you've covered the definition pretty clearly, there, Billgaede, and it's like one saying they believe in something. Does that mean they accept it as true? Or does that mean they merely acknowledge that it is possible?
Cheers!
Chef Jeff