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Author | Topic: The "science" of Miracles | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
ringo Member (Idle past 442 days) Posts: 20940 From: frozen wasteland Joined: |
Percy writes:
How is it a false equivalence?
Your Bigfoot what-if contributes pretty much nothing to this discussion since it represents a false equivalence and has nothing to do with the topic. Percy writes:
With tentative explanations.
How would science react? Percy writes:
We're talking about a story that you made up. The "scientific evidence" is made up. We're not talking about something that someone just happened to see and who happened to have an opinion about whether it was a miracle or not. We're talking about scientific evidence of an event that violates known physical laws. The Wikipedia article that contains your tweaked definition gives examples that don't support your definition. The real-life observations are not "inexplicable" to scientists.
Percy writes:
How can you have evidence for miracles?
Should enough scientific evidence accumulate for miracles then a consensus would build around the concept of miracles (regardless of the term actually adopted within science). Percy writes:
The statements you quote are not me claiming to know something independently. They're about what we know about scientists. If I say the "we" have a pretty good understanding of how evolution works, that is not a statement about my personal level of knowledge. ringo writes:
Sure you have, repeatedly, plenty of times, here's a partial list: I have never claimed to know what scientists think. We do know that scientists don't use "insert miracle here", don't we? I've asked for evidence of scientists invoking miracles and got none, so I'm assuming that you do understand that they don't. Feel free to correct that assumption.
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ringo Member (Idle past 442 days) Posts: 20940 From: frozen wasteland Joined: |
Tangle writes:
I've already said it's a stupid game. That's my move. If you don't like it, throw the game board on the floor and run away.
As you know, we're playing the what if game, if you don't want to, just say so. Tangle writes:
That's the observation. No gods have been detected. No flying pigs have been detected. No miracles have been detected. How can it be an observation, no miracles have yet been detected? If flying pigs, etc. are detected, scientists will offer explanations. That's what they do.
Tangle writes:
According to all of our observations, they always can.
But what if they can't? Tangle writes:
Actually, no. We don't agree on that. Miracles have been found - by people who believe in miracles, not by scientists. It's a case of you gotta believe it to see it.
We agreed about a thousand posts ago that so far no miracles have been found.
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ringo Member (Idle past 442 days) Posts: 20940 From: frozen wasteland Joined: |
NoNukes writes:
Have you ever heard of analogies? If folks think that the ships are piloted by beings from another planet using technology they do not understand, they are not calling those things miracles. I'm saying that attributing UFOs to alien technology is equivalent to attributing miracles to magic. In both cases, the attributor is drawing a different conclusion than scientists would. I am not in any way, shape or form suggesting that the two different examples should be mixed together. If I say that dogs prefer meat in the same way that rabbits prefer lettuce, I am not saying that dogs prefer lettuce.
NoNukes writes:
Indeed. And scientists don't like to use the same terminology as people who are habitually wrong.
And it turns out that some of those folks are just flat out wrong.
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Percy Member Posts: 22505 From: New Hampshire Joined: Member Rating: 5.4 |
ringo writes: Percy writes:
How is it a false equivalence? Your Bigfoot what-if contributes pretty much nothing to this discussion since it represents a false equivalence and has nothing to do with the topic. Because it wasn't miraculous like the other scenarios that have been presented. So Bigfoot turns out to be real with political aspirations, what's miraculous about that? But your frying pan "what if"? Pure miracle!
Percy writes:
With tentative explanations. How would science react? You're getting repetitive again. What if no explanations are forthcoming? How would science react?
Percy writes:
We're talking about a story that you made up. The "scientific evidence" is made up. We're not talking about something that someone just happened to see and who happened to have an opinion about whether it was a miracle or not. We're talking about scientific evidence of an event that violates known physical laws. More repetition. Of course it's made up. That's the nature of a "What if..."
The Wikipedia article that contains your tweaked definition gives examples that don't support your definition. The real-life observations are not "inexplicable" to scientists. You don't say what particular examples you're referring to, but this just repeats your argument that no scientific miracle has ever been found to occur. We're asking what if an event occurred leaving behind scientific evidence that *was* inexplicable to scientists?
Percy writes:
How can you have evidence for miracles? Should enough scientific evidence accumulate for miracles then a consensus would build around the concept of miracles (regardless of the term actually adopted within science). You're repeating yourself again. The evidence is part of the "What if..."
Percy writes:
The statements you quote are not me claiming to know something independently. ringo writes:
Sure you have, repeatedly, plenty of times, here's a partial list: I have never claimed to know what scientists think. You didn't claim "to know something independently." You said you "never claimed to know what scientists think," yet it was easy to find tons of statements of you claiming knowledge of what scientists think.
They're about what we know about scientists. "What you mean we?"
If I say the "we" have a pretty good understanding of how evolution works, that is not a statement about my personal level of knowledge. In the excerpts from your 12 messages you only used the word "we" twice.
We do know that scientists don't use "insert miracle here", don't we? Where in this thread is anyone arguing that scientists would merely "insert miracle here"? It's been described many times how hard scientists would work to understand the phenomena and develop explanations.
I've asked for evidence of scientists invoking miracles and got none,... This is just another way of saying what you just said, that it's being suggested that scientists would "insert miracle here" - it's still false. And as already told to you many times, the "what ifs" describe unprecedented events, so of course there are no miraculous events in the history of science.
...so I'm assuming that you do understand that they don't. We do understand that they *haven't* found any miracles. But what if one of the described scenarios occurred? Should we assume you'll just repeat your non-answer of, "With tentative explanations," which doesn't address the actual question posed by the scenarios?
Feel free to correct that assumption. Consider yourself corrected. --Percy
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Phat Member Posts: 18350 From: Denver,Colorado USA Joined: Member Rating: 1.0 |
I say that it would truly be a miracle if ringo agreed with anything said in this discussion by his opponents.
He apparently never knows when to stop arguing. Reminds me of this:
Chance as a real force is a myth. It has no basis in reality and no place in scientific inquiry. For science and philosophy to continue to advance in knowledge, chance must be demythologized once and for all. —RC Sproul "A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes." —Mark Twain " ~"If that's not sufficient for you go soak your head."~Faith Paul was probably SO soaked in prayer nobody else has ever equaled him.~Faith
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Percy Member Posts: 22505 From: New Hampshire Joined: Member Rating: 5.4 |
ringo writes: Tangle writes:
I've already said it's a stupid game. That's my move. If you don't like it, throw the game board on the floor and run away. As you know, we're playing the what if game, if you don't want to, just say so. The true puzzle is why you believe no one's allowed to play a game you find stupid.
Tangle writes:
That's the observation. No gods have been detected. No flying pigs have been detected. No miracles have been detected. How can it be an observation, no miracles have yet been detected? Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. Though science has not yet encountered a miracle, that does not mean it never will.
Tangle writes:
According to all of our observations, they always can. But what if they can't? You mean according to past experience, not observations, and past experience shows that while many phenomena can be understood and explained, some scientific phenomena have resisted explanation for a very long time. Why is there something instead of nothing? What explains quantum behavior? What explains entanglement? How do we unify Einsteinian and quantum physics? What is dark matter? What is dark energy? Now of course none of these questions concern miracles because they don't involve violation of known laws of nature.Science has not as yet encountered any miracles, but what if it did encounter an event that violated known natural or scientific laws? How would science react? And again, please, don't ignore the true question being asked with non-answers like, "With tentative explanations." Tangle writes:
Actually, no. We don't agree on that. Miracles have been found - by people who believe in miracles, not by scientists. It's a case of you gotta believe it to see it. We agreed about a thousand posts ago that so far no miracles have been found. How many times do you have to be told this is a science thread? A lot, apparently. Look at the top of the page. See where it says "Science Forums"? That tells you that this thread is in one of the science forums. We shouldn't have to pepper the adjective "scientific" all over the place just so you remember that we're talking science here. Tangle was obviously stating that we only agree that science has found no miracles thus far. Your frequent return to old already-addressed arguments and refusal to address actual points seems purposefully obtuse. --Percy
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Tangle Member Posts: 9516 From: UK Joined: Member Rating: 5.1 |
ringo writes: I've already said it's a stupid game. That's my move. If you don't like it, throw the game board on the floor and run away. Ok. 'bye for now.Je suis Charlie. Je suis Ahmed. Je suis Juif. Je suis Parisien. I am Mancunian. I am Brum. I am London.I am Finland. Soy Barcelona "Life, don't talk to me about life" - Marvin the Paranoid Android "Science adjusts it's views based on what's observed.Faith is the denial of observation so that Belief can be preserved." - Tim Minchin, in his beat poem, Storm.
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ringo Member (Idle past 442 days) Posts: 20940 From: frozen wasteland Joined: |
Percy writes:
Are you seriously suggesting that scientists would propose no explanations at all?
What if no explanations are forthcoming? How would science react? Percy writes:
I thought I mentioned the Miracle of the Sun.
You don't say what particular examples you're referring to... Percy writes:
No, it repeats my argument that scientists don't call something a miracle and they're not at a loss for explanations.
... this just repeats your argument that no scientific miracle has ever been found to occur. Percy writes:
In Message 266 you said:
Where in this thread is anyone arguing that scientists would merely "insert miracle here"?quote:There's no equivocation about terminology there either. If you say, "They would certainly call their daughter Suzan," there's no implied, "or something else." So, what's the difference between, "no explanations are forthcoming," and "insert miracle here"?
Percy writes:
Everything is unprecedented until it happens. There are no miraculous events because scientists don't consider anything inexplicable.
... the "what ifs" describe unprecedented events, so of course there are no miraculous events in the history of science. Percy writes:
Of course it does. It would be business as usual for scientists. Do you seriously not know that?
But what if one of the described scenarios occurred? Should we assume you'll just repeat your non-answer of, "With tentative explanations," which doesn't address the actual question posed by the scenarios?
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ringo Member (Idle past 442 days) Posts: 20940 From: frozen wasteland Joined: |
Percy writes:
What puzzles me is that you think I can prevent somebody else from playing. Is there a "Suppress Other Posters" button that I'm missing? The true puzzle is why you believe no one's allowed to play a game you find stupid. I don't see a lot of people rushing to discuss your flying bridges. You can't blame that on me.
Percy writes:
Sometimes it is. That has been discussed in other threads.
Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. Percy writes:
Are you suggesting that scientists have not proposed explanations for all of those things?
Why is there something instead of nothing? What explains quantum behavior? What explains entanglement? How do we unify Einsteinian and quantum physics? What is dark matter? What is dark energy? Percy writes:
I'm sorry if you don't like the answer but that is the answer. You're the one who is making the positive claim that scientists would react differently, so you are the one who needs to back up your position. I'm saying that if pigs were confronted by an entirely new kind of mud, they'd react as they always do and wallow in it. You're saying that they'd put on suits and ties or some such thing. You have to back up your claim.
How would science react? And again, please, don't ignore the true question being asked with non-answers like, "With tentative explanations."
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ringo Member (Idle past 442 days) Posts: 20940 From: frozen wasteland Joined:
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Phat writes:
I say that it would truly be a miracle if ringo agreed with anything said in this discussion by his opponents.He apparently never knows when to stop arguing. quote:And also something about, "cold dead hands."
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Percy Member Posts: 22505 From: New Hampshire Joined: Member Rating: 5.4 |
Responding to your last two messages to me...
Regarding your Message 488:
ringo in Message 488 writes: Percy writes:
Are you seriously suggesting that scientists would propose no explanations at all? What if no explanations are forthcoming? How would science react? By "no explanations are forthcoming" I obviously meant explanations that worked out. For example, the scientists that hauled a magnetometer and a gravimeter about a helicopter obviously had some ideas for areas to explore (which is what I think you really mean by "explanations"), but what if nothing panned out? Percy writes:
I thought I mentioned the Miracle of the Sun. You don't say what particular examples you're referring to... We already discussed the Miracle of the Sun, and it doesn't support your contention. Are there any examples in the Wikipedia article on miracles that do?
Percy writes:
No, it repeats my argument that scientists don't call something a miracle and they're not at a loss for explanations. ... this just repeats your argument that no scientific miracle has ever been found to occur. This is like Hicks walking back a Trump tweet, but you're seriously responding to someone noting that you're only repeating old already rebutted arguments by saying it wasn't that old rebutted argument but this other one?
Percy writes:
In Message 266 you said:
Where in this thread is anyone arguing that scientists would merely "insert miracle here"?quote:There's no equivocation about terminology there either. If you say, "They would certainly call their daughter Suzan," there's no implied, "or something else." How many times are you just going to forget or ignore the many descriptions of how hard scientists would work to understand things. Obviously during a discussion no one's going to repeat their entire argument in every post, and you're seizing upon this with false "Aha!" moments as if what's not said in a particular post was never said in any post. Bad on you.
So, what's the difference between, "no explanations are forthcoming," and "insert miracle here"? You have to ask? "Insert miracle here" is from a comic and implies no effort was made to study the phenomenon. "No explanations are forthcoming" means that the phenomenon was studied and none of the ideas and hypotheses panned out.
Percy writes:
Everything is unprecedented until it happens. ... the "what ifs" describe unprecedented events, so of course there are no miraculous events in the history of science. Obviously false. The sun will rise tomorrow. Unprecedented? I don't think so.
There are no miraculous events because scientists don't consider anything inexplicable. Scientists don't follow some set of rules, and in particular they don't follow the set of rules you're laying down for them. They follow the evidence where it leads. The scenarios we've described leave behind evidence that when scientists follow it they are led to the inexplicable according to natural and scientific laws.
Percy writes:
Of course it does. But what if one of the described scenarios occurred? Should we assume you'll just repeat your non-answer of, "With tentative explanations," which doesn't address the actual question posed by the scenarios? Of course it doesn't, and this is just another repetition of "tentative explanations" with the same answer. The "tentative explanations" don't pan out. Now what.
It would be business as usual for scientists. Do you seriously not know that? Do you seriously not know that your inability to move beyond your original arguments makes clear how bereft your position is? Regarding your Message 489:
ringo in Message 489 writes: Percy writes:
What puzzles me is that you think I can prevent somebody else from playing. Is there a "Suppress Other Posters" button that I'm missing? The true puzzle is why you believe no one's allowed to play a game you find stupid. My, aren't we literal. What do you care whether people discuss things you think stupid?
I don't see a lot of people rushing to discuss your flying bridges. You can't blame that on me. Tangle, Phat, Stile and I are discussing this. And it's all your fault. If you were doing your job right no one would be discussing this.
Percy writes:
Sometimes it is. That has been discussed in other threads. Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. Well, sure, but staying on topic about miracles, is that what you think, that absence of evidence is evidence of absence?
Percy writes: Why is there something instead of nothing? What explains quantum behavior? What explains entanglement? How do we unify Einsteinian and quantum physics? What is dark matter? What is dark energy? Are you suggesting that scientists have not proposed explanations for all of those things? Obviously from context (see the sentence preceding your cut-n-paste) I was not.
Percy writes:
I'm sorry if you don't like the answer but that is the answer. You're the one who is making the positive claim that scientists would react differently, so you are the one who needs to back up your position. I'm saying that if pigs were confronted by an entirely new kind of mud, they'd react as they always do and wallow in it. You're saying that they'd put on suits and ties or some such thing. You have to back up your claim. How would science react? And again, please, don't ignore the true question being asked with non-answers like, "With tentative explanations." Your analogy has a couple flaws. First, without defining how the new mud is different from the old mud, how do you know pigs would wallow in it? And second, your analogy doesn't really fit. A more fitting analogy would be to ask what pigs who only knew mud would do were they one day confronted by snow? As already explained many times, scientists would react differently because they have evidence of something unprecedented in the history of science, violations of known natural or scientific laws. --Percy
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ringo Member (Idle past 442 days) Posts: 20940 From: frozen wasteland Joined:
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Percy writes:
As you seem to understand, there is no point at which scientists stop. Nothing panned out yesterday but they keep looking today.
... but what if nothing panned out? Percy writes:
Explain why you think it doesn't support my contention. It's called a miracle by the Catholic Church but it's explained by scientists. My contention is that scientists don't call events miracles.
We already discussed the Miracle of the Sun, and it doesn't support your contention. Percy writes:
I'm not ignoring it. I'm trying to figure out why you don't understand your own words. You say that scientists would work very hard to understand the phenomenon and than you say that they would stop working and call it a miracle. How many times are you just going to forget or ignore the many descriptions of how hard scientists would work to understand things. Or are you saying that they would call it a miracle and go on working anyway? in that case, why call it a miracle at all? Why not just call it something they're working on?
Percy writes:
No it doesn't. The comic shows a lot of figures on the blackboard which clearly took a lot of effort.
"Insert miracle here" is from a comic and implies no effort was made to study the phenomenon. Percy writes:
Huh? The sun rising is not unprecedented.
ringo writes:
Obviously false. The sun will rise tomorrow. Unprecedented? I don't think so. Everything is unprecedented until it happens. Percy writes:
When they come to the end of the trail, they don't just stand there. They ask, "Where to now?"
They follow the evidence where it leads. Percy writes:
More tentative explanations. The "tentative explanations" don't pan out. Now what. Please make up your mind. Do they stop looking or not?
Percy writes:
It indicates my inability to move you forward. But you're the guy who denied that the word "attributed" was there, even though you quoted it. And you're the guy who refuses to acknowledge that attribution is important in miracles even though it's mentioned in virtually every definition. And you're the guy who doesn't see that actual events are called miracles by believers but not by scientists.
Do you seriously not know that your inability to move beyond your original arguments makes clear how bereft your position is? Percy writes:
That's exactly the point. I don't care. The people who aren't discussing you flying bridge scenario decided on their own to not discuss it.
What do you care whether people discuss things you think stupid? Percy writes:
I'm like the janitor here. I clean up your mess. If you make the same mess tomorrow, I have to clean it up again tomorrow. That's the nature of the job. Like the scientists, I don't at some point decide that the mess is a miracle and can't be stopped. Like the scientists, I just keep going.
If you were doing your job right no one would be discussing this. Percy writes:
Absence of evidence for fairies, absences of evidence for the Loch Ness Monster, absence of evidence for UFO abductions, etc. Yup, sometimes.
... is that what you think, that absence of evidence is evidence of absence? Percy writes:
Then why are you suggesting that scientists would run out of possible explanations for your flying bridge?
ringo writes:
Obviously from context (see the sentence preceding your cut-n-paste) I was not. Are you suggesting that scientists have not proposed explanations for all of those things? Percy writes:
From previous experience with pigs. They see mud and they wallow. They don't need a definition. First, without defining how the new mud is different from the old mud, how do you know pigs would wallow in it? Scientists see questions and they propose answers.
Percy writes:
I would expect them to wallow in that too. I would not expect them to care whether it was "unprecedented" or whether it violated any pig laws.
A more fitting analogy would be to ask what pigs who only knew mud would do were they one day confronted by snow?
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Phat Member Posts: 18350 From: Denver,Colorado USA Joined: Member Rating: 1.0
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Lets review the Bridge Analogy and fill in some details.
Percy writes: I consider myself science-minded, but even if I happened to be driving north on the New Jersey Turnpike and approaching the bridge when the miracle occurred, I don't think my observations would be worth much. New York City has a population of about 9 million, more during a weekday, so there would be plenty of people to see it, but scientifically verifying it was a miracle (an event inexplicable by natural or scientific laws) and not just the work of a mad scientist or some DARPA program gone wrong would require scientific study. Indeed. There would be loads of data to consider. The moorings where the seperation occurred would be examined to determine how the break occurred. Any and all witness testimony would be taken into consideration in order to see if any additional facts, such as a low flying aircraft could be found. The atmosphere and the weather would be reviewed at the time of the event. The bridge itself would be thoroughly examined and likely even dismantled for further study from its new location. The media would of course go nuts, and there would be a lot of fake news among the real news reports on the event. The media interviews with qualified scientists with appropriate credentials would likely have most of them cautious as to what they would say on the record. They likely would say that they were baffled and explain why it was that they arrived at this conclusion. Ringo is correct in that they likely would not go on record publically using the word Miracle but that the media would freely use it as the reality became apparent that there were no natural scientific explanations for what had occurred. As for off-the-record, it would be likely that the scientists involved with the ongoing two+ year study and followup on the event would have individual opinions as to what they would call this unprecedented event. Chance as a real force is a myth. It has no basis in reality and no place in scientific inquiry. For science and philosophy to continue to advance in knowledge, chance must be demythologized once and for all. —RC Sproul "A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes." —Mark Twain " ~"If that's not sufficient for you go soak your head."~Faith Paul was probably SO soaked in prayer nobody else has ever equaled him.~Faith
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Phat Member Posts: 18350 From: Denver,Colorado USA Joined: Member Rating: 1.0 |
ringo writes: Following up on my last post, the study would likely take no longer than a few months or at most a couple of years. There is only so much that can be studied.
As you seem to understand, there is no point at which scientists stop. Nothing panned out yesterday but they keep looking today. some scientists would state that they were baffled and at a loss for any explanation. Others would, as you likely would, say that if it took them their entire career they would eventually solve the mystery. You must concede, however, that a fair number would actually give up further research and go on with their lives. What they privately chose to call the event would be as unique and individual as their very different lives and experiences. Chance as a real force is a myth. It has no basis in reality and no place in scientific inquiry. For science and philosophy to continue to advance in knowledge, chance must be demythologized once and for all. —RC Sproul "A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes." —Mark Twain " ~"If that's not sufficient for you go soak your head."~Faith Paul was probably SO soaked in prayer nobody else has ever equaled him.~Faith
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ringo Member (Idle past 442 days) Posts: 20940 From: frozen wasteland Joined: |
Phat writes:
There's only so much that can be invented, so let's close the Patent Office? There is only so much that can be studied. Or, as we often tell creationists, questions usually produce more questions than answers.
Phat writes:
Or their grandchildren would solve the mystery.
... if it took them their entire career they would eventually solve the mystery. Phat writes:
It isn't as if every scientist on earth would be studying the phenomenon in the first place. The vast majority of them would leave it to somebody else to figure out - which is another reason why there could never be a consensus calling it a miracle.
You must concede, however, that a fair number would actually give up further research and go on with their lives. Phat writes:
They could privately call it Pinocchio. That has nothing to do with the topic.
What they privately chose to call the event would be as unique and individual as their very different lives and experiences.
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