[quote]anonym wrote:
OK, so here’s something I am curious about then: what is wrong with admitting uncertainty? What are the ramifications of someone saying, “well, based on the millions of tests conducted over thousands of years, we can certainly assume that 2+2=4. We can’t PROVE it with absolute, 100% certainty, but to date we have ABSOLUTELY NO EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER of 2+2 adding up to anything else, so we are pretty friggin’ sure that’s the answer.”
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Nothing, but that’s not really what atheists do. They aren’t sure how it all works but they are damn sure no God had anything to do with it. That is expressing certainty, not uncertainty.
2+2=4 has nothing to do with a lack of evidence to the contrary. That’s empirical reasoning, which is what science is based on, but deductive reasoning, which is what math is, is true by definition. It’s not that we have not seen it be something else, it’s logically impossible that it can be anything else.
[quote]
Is it because once we admit to uncertainty in one thing, we admit to uncertainty in EVERYTHING, which puts a dick in the ass of (divinely-inspired) moral authority, leading to the issues associated with moral relativism? I’ve only skimmed the moral authority thread, but is THAT why it keeps getting brought up there?[/quote]
Again, that directly means you are not implying uncertainty, but complete certainty. You may not know much, but you know there is no God. Again, that proposition is one of certainty.
Further, why be uncertain when you can be certain?
I am not saying be religious or Christian or anything of the sort. I am saying there is logic there that is deductively certain, true by definition. Ignoring it doesn’t make it not true.
Uncertainly is an epistemological state, you choose it. There are many things you cannot know and somethings you can. Because you are uncertain about one thing does not mean that all things are indeterminable.
Moral relativism doesn’t put a dick in the ass of anything except the victims of evil. It’s a logically invalid proposition. You don’t need any divine authority to make this true, it’s true by fact. To break it down into simple terms, it’s fucking stupid and even the most ardent atheists have abandoned it because it’s fucking stupid and completely illogical.