> On 16 Jan 2015, at 9:56 am, Platonist Guitar Cowboy
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> That's why all this talk around "agnostics are really atheists" is dubious:
> in assigning to certain ideas fixed literal meaning (God as person or
> whatever), the atheist does and goes beyond what the agnostic refuses to do:
> to believe strongly, with a certainty and confidence, that should be alien to
> scientific practice. PGC
Yes. It takes real coursage to say "I don't know". The true agnostic alone has
this as his logo. Such people are kind of heroes because they cannot be placed
in some Aristotelian box in the blink of an eye but must remain forever outside
the box. The agnostic has the rare gift of uncertainty. This is truly a gift
because the normal human response to a paradox or an irreconcilable conflict of
views is to say "may the strongest win" and to then lunge at each other's
jugular. That's another thing the religulous and the atheists share: a quick
finger on the trigger. Part of being able to think effectively involves the
ability to hold apparent opposites in suspension. This corresponds to all the
different perceptions of each of the heads in the room.
In fact there is a fourth position, the one I take.
1. I believe
2. I don't believe
3. I don't know
4. Maybe
"Maybe" does NOT mean "I don't know." It means "sell the idea to me a bit
harder and make me want it more." It leaves open the possibility that in the
future you may change your position. If you never change your mind - why have
one?
K
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