Posts by cofty

25

A baffling physics question

by FatFreek 2005 in

for several weeks i've been treating myself to a hot chocolate milk (well, soymilk) before bedtime.

some 16 oz soymilk which i heat on high in our microwave oven.

this is just enough time where the liquid begins to bubble along the top edge.. i then take it out of the microwave and place it on my kitchen gram scale, stir it good enough to redistribute the heat, then reset the scale to zero grams.. next, i squeeze in the hershey's sytup, "special dark mildly sweet chocolate" (fat free) into the warmed soymilk till the scale reads some 30 grams.

cofty

Water lost as steam.

147

Scientism - Nothing But a Childish Insult?

by cofty in

it is not uncommon for theists to accuse rational people on this forum of "scientism".. in my opinion it is nothing but a cheap shot from those who know they lack evidence for their beliefs.

if something like "scientism" actually does exist then i have never encountered it.. here is part of an exchange from another thread - i have brought it here as it was off-topic.... scientism = claim of scientific method being universal and the only valid method of knowledge.

followers of scientism always demand scientific evidence to anything.

cofty

Rainbow Troll - Thank you for your answer.

I get the impression that the only example of things that cannot be known through empirical scientific evidence is pure mathematics.

Is that correct?

556

The Watchtower are Right About Blood...

by cofty in

... but, they fail to take note of one important detail.. i believe that if we are going to have any chance of reasoning with a jw about blood, this is the place we need to begin.. don't try to convince them that it was only a dietary law.

it wasn't, and they will never go along with it.. don't tell them that saving a life is more important than obeying a law, even a seemingly trivial one.

they take pride in obedience.

cofty

You seem to have mistaken me for somebody who cares about your opinion of me. Silly mistake.

In your 10,000+ posts have you ever said anything kind to anybody?

Now if you really need to dispense UPPER_CASE insults like a petulant child take it to PM.

147

Scientism - Nothing But a Childish Insult?

by cofty in

it is not uncommon for theists to accuse rational people on this forum of "scientism".. in my opinion it is nothing but a cheap shot from those who know they lack evidence for their beliefs.

if something like "scientism" actually does exist then i have never encountered it.. here is part of an exchange from another thread - i have brought it here as it was off-topic.... scientism = claim of scientific method being universal and the only valid method of knowledge.

followers of scientism always demand scientific evidence to anything.

cofty

Rainbow Troll - Please give me a specific example of something that can be known without science.

Not exactly miracles: - John_mann

Yes that was specifically your claim.

a personal paranormal experience

Which of course can be investigated scientifically.

St. Anselm's ontological argument.

Smoke and mirrors. Even as a christian I knew this was nothing but sophistry.

Pascal's wager

Really? Pretend to believe just in case? How is that a way of knowing anything?

556

The Watchtower are Right About Blood...

by cofty in

... but, they fail to take note of one important detail.. i believe that if we are going to have any chance of reasoning with a jw about blood, this is the place we need to begin.. don't try to convince them that it was only a dietary law.

it wasn't, and they will never go along with it.. don't tell them that saving a life is more important than obeying a law, even a seemingly trivial one.

they take pride in obedience.

cofty

My OP is very concise. It is by a long way the most concise explanation of the blood issue I have ever read.

The verbosity was the work of imbeciles like Fishy & co.

Your arrogance is astonishing. You really are an unpleasant old git.

147

Scientism - Nothing But a Childish Insult?

by cofty in

it is not uncommon for theists to accuse rational people on this forum of "scientism".. in my opinion it is nothing but a cheap shot from those who know they lack evidence for their beliefs.

if something like "scientism" actually does exist then i have never encountered it.. here is part of an exchange from another thread - i have brought it here as it was off-topic.... scientism = claim of scientific method being universal and the only valid method of knowledge.

followers of scientism always demand scientific evidence to anything.

cofty

I want to come back to this statement which seems to me to be deeply hypocritical

If you ask for scientific evidence to God then you are a follower of scientism. - John_Mann

Theists constantly make claims about physical reality.

When a christian claims that there is some feature of living things that is so complex or unlikely it is evidence of a designer, that is a scientific claim.
When a christian prays to god or Mary or the saints with an expectation of it having some effect that is testable by the scientific method.
When people of faith claim that there is something about human consciousness that goes beyond biology that is a scientific assertion.
When believers point to near death experiences to support belief in an afterlife that is something that needs to be investigated by science.
John_Mann has stated that his faith rests in part on three specific Roman Catholic miracles. The details of what actually happened on those occasions is a matter for scientific investigation.

It was Stephen Jay Gould who proposed "non-overlapping magesteria". It will never work. People of faith don't have enough faith to stay on their own turf.

147

Scientism - Nothing But a Childish Insult?

by cofty in

it is not uncommon for theists to accuse rational people on this forum of "scientism".. in my opinion it is nothing but a cheap shot from those who know they lack evidence for their beliefs.

if something like "scientism" actually does exist then i have never encountered it.. here is part of an exchange from another thread - i have brought it here as it was off-topic.... scientism = claim of scientific method being universal and the only valid method of knowledge.

followers of scientism always demand scientific evidence to anything.

cofty

But it takes a pretty stupid person to argue that historical, poetic or political accounts of a river either don't matter or that they can be reduced to science. - SBF

Yes it does. I have never met somebody so stupid which still leaves me wondering why the silly accusations of "scientism" keep getting thrown around.

Cofty's question inevitably implies either:...

No it doesn't imply either of those things.

Rainbow Troll - Science gets around the limitations of our subjective senses. That is kind of the whole point of science.

the exercise of reason has allowed me to solve many longstanding metaphysical question - such as the nature of consciousness and its relationship to matter - that I don't believe scientists will ever be able to arrive at using their methods

Wow. I will be so excited for you when you get your Nobel Prize

147

Scientism - Nothing But a Childish Insult?

by cofty in

it is not uncommon for theists to accuse rational people on this forum of "scientism".. in my opinion it is nothing but a cheap shot from those who know they lack evidence for their beliefs.

if something like "scientism" actually does exist then i have never encountered it.. here is part of an exchange from another thread - i have brought it here as it was off-topic.... scientism = claim of scientific method being universal and the only valid method of knowledge.

followers of scientism always demand scientific evidence to anything.

cofty

I have no interest in links or copy-paste, I can Google like anybody else. I am interested in hearing the personal views of those who frequently resort to this canard in order to avoid the burden of proof. Simple everyday examples would be especially helpful. - Cofty

Immediately followed by two links by John_Mann

If you ask for scientific evidence to God then you are a follower of scientism

That is patently untrue. By definition theists claim that god acts in this physical world. That can be tested scientifically.

147

Scientism - Nothing But a Childish Insult?

by cofty in

it is not uncommon for theists to accuse rational people on this forum of "scientism".. in my opinion it is nothing but a cheap shot from those who know they lack evidence for their beliefs.

if something like "scientism" actually does exist then i have never encountered it.. here is part of an exchange from another thread - i have brought it here as it was off-topic.... scientism = claim of scientific method being universal and the only valid method of knowledge.

followers of scientism always demand scientific evidence to anything.

cofty

It is not uncommon for theists to accuse rational people on this forum of "scientism".

In my opinion it is nothing but a cheap shot from those who know they lack evidence for their beliefs. If something like "scientism" actually does exist then I have never encountered it.

Here is part of an exchange from another thread - I have brought it here as it was off-topic...

Scientism = claim of scientific method being universal and the only valid method of knowledge. Followers of scientism always demand scientific evidence to anything. And deny any existence that cannot be scientifically detected. - John_Mann

So let's talk about that.

Scientism = claim of scientific method being universal and the only valid method of knowledge.

I am interested in examples of ways to know things by means that are not available to the scientific method. I strongly suspect such examples exist but I can't think of any.

One of the problems is that theists keep vacillating on this. If they think any scientific evidence might exist to support their beliefs they are quick to use it. For example I have seen so-called "near death experiences" used as evidence of life after death. This is a scientific claim. It is hypocrisy to resort to accusations of "scientism" when people challenge your evidence.

Followers of scientism always demand scientific evidence to anything.

It is not "scientism" to ask for evidence for extraordinary claims. It is just common-sense. It is how we avoid being duped by charlatans and fraudsters. If you have evidence for something that you don't think fits the description of scientific evidence then just share it and lets scrutinise it. Again it is difficult to imagine what sort of evidence that could be.

If you want to make grand claims for which you admit there is absolutely no evidence whatsoever then don't be offended when rational people decline to take you seriously. This is not "scientism" it is just healthy skepticism.

And deny any existence that cannot be scientifically detected.

Again, if you can provide any reason to accept that entities exist which cannot be detected scientifically then share those reasons. If it turns out your "reasons" are nothing more than appeals to authority and superstitious dogma then don't resort to childish insults when rational people decline to humour you.

Science is the very best tool we have to understand what is objectively true about reality. If you have other tools then I am keen to hear about it.

I have no interest in links or copy-paste, I can Google like anybody else. I am interested in hearing the personal views of those who frequently resort to this canard in order to avoid the burden of proof. Simple everyday examples would be especially helpful. John_Mann is by no means alone in this.

98

Evolution Deniers - An Endangered Species

by cofty in

evolution explains how everything descended from a common ancestor over millions of years.

creationists only seem to want to talk about what came before that common ancestor.

just for the sake of discussion let's pretend that the following is true.

cofty

For example?