domnic fernandes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >THE ATHEIST PROFESSOR >
The arguments presented in this fictitious anecdote are flawed. I point out below some of the logical and scientific flaws in these arguments. > >"Yes, son, there's cold too." "No, sir, there isn't." > False! There indeed is such a thing as cold. It is not just the absence of heat. Please see below. > >The second Christian continues. "You can have lots of >heat, even more heat, super-heat, mega-heat, white >heat, a little heat or no heat but we don't have >anything called 'cold'. > False! Cold and hot are simply sensations felt by us, both of which have special sensory receptors in the skin, which generate brain activity that underlies the hot and cold sensations. > >We can hit 458 degrees below zero, which is no heat, >but we can't go any further after that. There is no >such thing as cold, otherwise we would be able to go >colder than 458. > False! It is possible to have a negative absolute temperature, i. e. below absolute zero (-273 degrees Celsius or 460 degrees Fahrenheit). And as I said above, cold is simply a sensation. > >You see, sir, cold is only a word we use to describe >the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. > False on both counts! As I said above, cold is simply a sensation, not the absence of heat. We can measure cold by recording the activity of cold receptors in the skin. > >Heat we can measure in thermal units because heat is >energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just >the absence of it. > False! Something that is cold, as sensed by us, still contains thermal or heat energy. So cold cannot be absence of heat. > >"So you say there is such a thing as darkness?" >"Yes..." "You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is not >something, it is the absence of something. > False! Darkness is a sensation just like brightness. Darkness is indeed something. Please see below. > >if you have no light constantly you have nothing and >it's called darkness, isn't it? > No. Darkness is simply a sensation, which is produced by a specific pattern of electrical activity in the brain. Also, when we sense darkness, there is still non-visible light in our environment e.g. radio waves, microwaves and infrared waves. > >Can you...give me a jar of darker darkness, >professor?" > He cannot give you a jar of brightness as well. > >Sir, science cannot even explain a thought. > False! Science can. > >It uses electricity and magnetism but has never seen, >much less fully understood them. > Science has observed and measured both electricity and magnetism quite precisely, and it understands them quite well. > >To view death as the opposite of life is to be >ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a >substantive thing. > Neither does life exist as a substantive thing. For vertebrates it is just a term to describe a beating heart, perceptible breathing, measurable brain activity and certain types of biochemical and cellular processes. > >Death is not the opposite of life, merely the absence >of it." > False! Death does not just involve the cessation of the above processes, but also the beginning of other kinds of biochemical and cellular processes. > >"Wrong again, sir. You see, immorality is merely the >absence of morality. Is there such a thing as >injustice? No. Injustice is the absence of justice. Is >there such a thing as evil?" The Christian pauses. >"Isn't evil the absence of good?" > False! Morality and immorality are asymmetrical in some cases and symmetrical in others. This is because both can be characterized by acts of commission and omission, in which sometimes one is the absence of the other while other times not. For example, if you post a true story, you are moral. If you dont post anything, you still remain moral. So here absence of a morality is not immorality. Now, on the other hand, if you post a fake story you are immoral. If you dont post anything, you remain moral. So here morality is the absence of immorality. Regarding justice and injustice, they can also be symmetrical in many cases. For example, if one fights to get rid of discrimination based on caste, race, religion or place of origin than one is fighting for justice, i. e. in this case justice is the absence of injustice. Similarly good can be the absence of evil. > >"I would have thought that the absence of God's moral >code in this world is probably one of the most >observable phenomena going," > Unconvincing assertion! Where and how can we observe this code? How do we know it is Gods code? > >"Professor, since no-one has ever observed the process >of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this >process is an on-going endeavor, are you not teaching >your opinion, sir? Are you now not a scientist, but a >priest?" > False premise! Scientists have indeed observed the process of evolution at work in their laboratories as well as in the field. > >"It appears no-one here has had any sensory perception >of the professor's brain whatsoever. Well, according >to the rules of empirical, testable, demonstrable >protocol, science, the professor has no brain." > This is childish nonsense. Professors brain can be seen by structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Its activity can be observed by functional MRI, positron emission tomography, magnetoencephalography, electroencephalography and event related potentials. > >Without Christ is a hopeless end. > An obviously false statement. There are more non-Christians than Christians in this world. Very few diehard fanatics would believe that the situation of these non-Christians is hopeless. Cheers, Santosh
