God bless america (Richard Dawkins)

a reply to: introvert

Atheists and the religious are kissing cousins.

That's just sick dog!

Once again, atheism is not a belief; it is a lack of belief.

If you were really squinting at it, semantically, you might argue that science is a belief system; you'd be wrong, but there's an argument to be made there.

But atheism? It's just a noun. Means "no gods."

originally posted by: randyvs
a reply to: Ddrneville

535 people who aren't as stupid or as arrogant as Tyson and Dawkins.
Claiming to know something they couldn't possibly know?
Not unreasonable at all.

Tyson and Dawkins are stupid?
Okilly-dokilly!

a reply to: JohnnyCanuck

Well I didn't mean entirely Johnny.

originally posted by: mOjOm
Your source is the examiner??? Seriously???

Not exactly. My aggregator is the Examiner. Every person on the list, their documented IQ, and their statement of Faiths are attributed and linked in the article. The underlying information is sourced from much more credible resources.

(I was trying to avoid a post with a dozen different links embedded to get the point across.)

originally posted by: burdman30ott6
a reply to: Ddrneville

Hey look, a pair of insecure assholes who need to constantly put down people of Faith to make sure they feel more secure in their positions... Further proof that intelligence is a concept entirely independent from however many degrees you have or how many books you have written.

... but uh, aren't you putting Tyson and Dawkins down because of what you say it their belief?

Where does that leave you in the equation?

a reply to: burdman30ott6

Oh and from your aggregated "Top Ten" list ...

Terence Tao - his IQ was estimated to be between 220 and 230 by the Davidson Institute when he was about ten years old. At eight years old, Tao achieved a score of 760 on the pre-1995 SAT, received a Ph.D from Princeton at 20 and at 24 became the youngest ever full professor at UCLA. I couldn't find anything about Tao's metaphysical views. He's obviously a tremendous mathematician, but doesn't seem to post much outside of mathematics

In other words "Couldn't find anything about Tao's religious, I'm sorry, metaphysical views ... but we'll just assume he believes."

Right.

Christopher Hirata - has a verified IQ of 225, calculated when he was in his teens. Hirata skipped middle school, and at 16 was working with NASA on a project exploring the possibility of colonizing Mars. The Daily Princetonian, Princeton's student paper, where Hirata began attending for his PhD in Astrophysics at 18, reported that his IQ is around 225. Hirata posted the following to his Facebook on October 31, 2013: "Today's experience: saying the Lord's prayer with a homeless couple on Colorado Boulevard. It may not feed or shelter them, but I hope that it made a difference in their lives." So he is clearly both a Theist and a Christian.

Emphasis mine. So "clearly" because he spent a few moments with some homeless people, he's a Christian?

As far as Kasparov goes ... here's what he actually said that is partially quoted in the interview referenced in the article:

Rosen: This is a personal question. I was surprised, in reading about you, to learn that Kasparov is not your birth name. And I first want to ask you: Do you identify yourself, do you think of yourself, as a Jew?

Kasparov: No; I'm Russian. My father was a Jew. My mother was an Armenian. But I was born in Baku. It's a multi-ethnic community; it's like melting pot, like New York, and I —

Rosen: But religiously —

Kasparov: No.

Rosen: — what is your religion? No?

Kasparov: No. I, I would call myself a Christian, you know, sort of self-appointed Christian. But I, I'm very indifferent to that.

Fox News - Kasparov Interview

The last one on the list the author admits that he knows nothing about Kenneth Ferrell, last on the list, but he's added because, well, he has a high IQ too ... but the author is really not too sure ...

Kenneth Ferrell - has apparently scored a 190 as an adult. If I have located the right Kenneth Ferrell online, it's abundantly clear from his own words that he's a Christian. Since I'm not sure, I didn't include him in my count of believers.

originally posted by: Metallicus
Atheists are idiots with no proof God doesn't exist. However, many that believe in God have had personal experiences that have proven to them beyond a doubt that God exists. You can discount those because you haven't had those experiences, but as someone who has, I am convinced and as I don't practice any organized religion I don't need to convince anyone else. I am content with my personal relationship with God and I don't need any outside validation. I am just sharing as a courtesy and don't expect or need you to agree.

And I am content with the personal relationship I have with my brain that people who call other people idiots clearly crave some sort of validation, despite their decrying otherwise.

originally posted by: Ddrneville
a reply to: burdman30ott6


Most religious people haven't studied actual facts, but live by what they are taught from birth and follow their religion blind with no questions asked.

Maybe, most.

But I have a counter argument here:

The Qur'an FORBIDS blind faith.

Imagine that!

In more than 100 verses!

It teaches us to not simply and blindly believe in something, but to use our brains and intellect, to examine everything.


That is the absolute antithesis of FAITH and "personal experience" or "holy spirit in me" or what not.

Metallicus makes a vital point…that experience is the best teacher


And faith is just having the belief that one can have the experience of something in the future based on the fact that others claim they have had it.

You either believe those or you don’t


The reality of pre pubescent children doesn’t mean puberty doesn’t exist

originally posted by: woodwardjnr

originally posted by: chr0naut
a reply to: Ddrneville

Honestly, if these guys know so incredibly much, why don't they actually do something?

They are both scientists and authors, what's been you contribution to expanding human knowledge?

Scientists and authors, eh? Add them up and you get Sci-fi......

a reply to: Willtell

How does the fact that people change over time have anything to do with rationalizations for gods?

Are you saying that people sometimes change their minds about things? Well ... sure.

In fact, quite a few atheists were formally religious folks who found that there was no basis for believing in gods.

Some people become believers; some become atheists.

Is that what you're getting at?

a reply to: nwtrucker

I'll take good science fiction over irrational Neolithic beliefs every day of the week.

originally posted by: nwtrucker

Scientists and authors, eh? Add them up and you get Sci-fi......

No. Just because someone is an author doesn't mean they write Fiction. I know you know this so I can only guess that playing dumb is a tactic you use to misinform others. Or were you not playing???

a reply to: Gryphon66

depends on one's tastes.....

originally posted by: nwtrucker
a reply to: Gryphon66

depends on one's tastes.....

Of course it does. How profound.

Let me be a bit more clear ... I would prefer stories set in the context of actual scientific knowledge rather than stories expanded from the remnant traditions and ignorant beliefs of backward desert goat-herders.

Sure, it's a preference.

a reply to: Gryphon66

Tao and Farrel were the two out of 10 who were considered not believers by the aggregator.

originally posted by: Willtell
Metallicus makes a vital point…that experience is the best teacher

There's a difference between "Experience" meaning learning by experiencing something multiple times and having an "Experience" as in a single Paranormal Experience though. How many countless "Personal Experiences" of Paranormal Activity are there in history and how many of them have actually provided anything proven to be useful???

And faith is just having the belief that one can have the experience of something in the future based on the fact that others claim they have had it.

You either believe those or you don’t


The reality of pre pubescent children doesn’t mean puberty doesn’t exist

Actually, Faith is defined as a strong belief in something especially without proof or evidence. It's probably best if when communicating with each other we use words in the way they are defined. If not then you need to redefine them so we can all understand each other.

a reply to: mOjOm

The smile symbol is often used to point out humor.......

originally posted by: Gryphon66
Where does that leave you in the equation?

A lone jackass on the internet with a much smaller audience and less authoritarian impressed clout than Tyson or Dawkins. Then again, I don't sit around flexing and posturing on TV trying to convince a bunch of schleps that I'm among the smartest men in the world.

Opinions: we all have them.