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There might be...

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Interbane

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There might be...

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I always enjoy the sentiment that because something is possible, it's okay to believe it. So I made a list of things that are possible. The total list is infinite, of course. But I wanted to share it, to see what comments it would gather.

I'll point out that not all of these are the same. The list can be filtered, sorted, etc. Some border on the "plausible". So does that mean people who believe the more plausible items are "more justified" in their belief than the people who believe the crazier items?

Without further ado:...

There might be a fifth force of nature that may eventually be harnessed for telepathy.

There might be a loch ness monster.

There might be an earth sized planet on the other side of the sun in a perfect mirror image orbit of our own.

There might be a type of energy existing at the center of the planet that is responsible for gravity.

There might be a force that is the carrier of the human soul.

There might be a place where this force can gather when the body dies.

There might be aliens watching us from a distance and we don’t even know it.

There might be aliens among us, able to remain undetected due to super-technology.

There might be aliens living under us, in Earth’s mantle.

There might be aliens who gave birth to the first humans, and our genealogy traces to another planet.

There might be aliens who have interbred with us, and some humans are half alien.

There might be aliens who are so intelligent, they can experience an entirely separate reality in their dreams, and we reside within such a dream.

There might be a force that links the conscious minds of all similar living organisms.

There might be some organisms who can transmit and receive through this force.

There might be a type of energy that only certain people have the ability to see.

There might be a type of energy that only certain people have the ability to influence.

There might be an actual bigfoot species living in the northern latitudes that is so intelligent it evades detection.

There might be a conspiracy where 9/11 was caused by the US government.

There might be a force that allows us to bend spacetime and travel into the past.

There might be a type of energy that could power the entire earth for the rest of time.

There might be a unicorn in a Chinese zoo, created by genetic tinkering.

There might be intelligent life living under the ice sheets of Europa.

There might be a universe parallel but overlapping our own based on a different supersymmetric string vibrational frequency at the foundation of all its particles.

There might be a universe above our own, where our entire universe is one component of a quark of the higher order universe.

There might be a computer so powerful it could simulate an entire universe, and we exist within it.

There might be a race of transformers somewhere in the detectable universe.

There might be an as yet undiscovered force that we will eventually harness through microlife symbiosis, and some will turn to the dark side.

There might be a teacup orbiting the moon.

There might be a teacup orbiting Europa.

There might be a teacup orbiting Haley’s comet.

There might be a teacup at the bottom of the Mariana trench.

There might be a teacup carved from a single diamond.

There might be a teacup made by aliens travelling at near-light speeds about to hit the Earth just after you read this.

There might be a teacup made by aliens travelling at near-light speeds about to hit the Earth in exactly one day.

There might be a teacup made by aliens travelling at near-light speeds about to hit the Earth in exactly one year, 20 hours.

There might be a teacup made by aliens travelling at near-light speeds about to hit the Earth sometime in the future.

There might be an object made by aliens about to hit the Earth, or that has already hit the Earth.

There might be a god.
In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move.” - Douglas Adams
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ant

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Re: There might be...

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I see it's back to new atheism boilerplate amateur "gotcha" hour.
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Chris OConnor

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Re: There might be...

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Ant, can you reword that so it actually says something meaningful?
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ant

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Re: There might be...

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Yep. All the "arguments" new atheism has popularized over the past 14 years (in facimilie or similar form therefore) intended to either falsify or make seem foolish the existence of an intelligence responsible for all that exists are..., stupid and fallacious.

At best, some actually argue for agnosticism, not A-theism.

Thanks.
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Interbane

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Re: There might be...

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Per ant's request, I've added "There might be a god" to the list, so that he may vilify atheists.

I'd like a more thoughtful response, if possible. There is some epistemological wisdom to be found in analyzing the above list.
In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move.” - Douglas Adams
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ant

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Re: There might be...

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Ps

As an exemplar would you like me to pick one of the more idiotic "arguments" listed on the aforementioned and dismantle it for your enjoyment?

That is, after ive had my evening vodka cranberry.
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Interbane

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Re: There might be...

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ant wrote:As an exemplar would you like me to pick one of the more idiotic "arguments" listed on the aforementioned and dismantle it for your enjoyment?
Yes please. Tear it apart.
In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move.” - Douglas Adams
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Re: There might be...

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Interbane wrote:I always enjoy the sentiment that because something is possible, it's okay to believe it.
It seems that we are sort of wired to come to some beliefs and then dig our heels in to defend it. Religious belief is sometimes irresistible because it puts us in a community with others who share the belief. With such beliefs, skepticism goes out the window and we're not so interested any more if it's actually true, only how we can rationalize it to make it sound good. And so it goes with some beliefs that it's suddenly up to others to prove its NOT true. Or to attempt to disparage the evidence against our belief and state the equivalence argument, which goes something like this. Their (science-based) belief is just an opinion too. it has the same weight as my opinion. But this is far down the rationalization path.

Is my belief an opinion and how informed is it and why do I hold it? More importantly, is it true or not and what's the evidence? I think these should be our guiding principles, not whether we want something to be true.
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Re: There might be...

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There might be a multiverse and not just a universe. There might be dark matter making up over ninety per cent of the universe.
There might be minds that are not physical things. There might be real design in nature,real linear time and real choice.

There might be a reason there are natural physical laws,laws of logic, and mathematical laws and equations that can describe the material universe.

There might be a real rationale behind these things including our moral sense of right and wrong.

There might be a reason beyond chance chemical combinations in the past,that explains why we are rational and can think and imagine and remember and create language to communicate.

There might be objective beauty,in nature,music,literature and art.There might be real love and hate and not just evolutionary adaptations.

There might be a flying spaghetti monster who purposed and created all this.

It might be that reductionism,and deterministic materialism are philosophically false.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZsFTjW7mvs
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Re: There might be...

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How could any thought of depth and revolutionary proportion have emerged without out a "there might be"?
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