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Newton believed in God, ask an LLM what famous scientists believed in God, take a step back and ask if you think you are smarter than those people.
by jack_pp 4mo ago
Newton believed in God, ask an LLM what famous scientists believed in God, take a step back and ask if you think you are smarter than those people.
- throwaway173738 4mo agoJust as OP’s derision isn’t a reason for disbelief, “smart people” expressing belief isn’t a reason to believe.
- jack_pp 4mo agoIt should at least be a reason to not be snarky about the subject.
- dingdingdang 4mo agoYes, it worth aiming for common sense as a bare minimum, chaos and entropy only grows when things we don't understand are casually derided/attacked.
- deleted 4mo ago[deleted]
- NuclearPM 4mo agoIt made more sense to believe this stuff back in the 1600s.
- mullingitover 4mo agoIt also made sense to say you believed in God, because if you did anything else people would do things like burning you alive. Even now, although it’s not usually as violent religion is frequently very coercive.
- stickfigure 4mo agoNewton spent more of his life working on alchemy than math or physics. Shall we all start searching for the Philosopher's Stone? Why not?
- jack_pp 4mo agoHe was also a heretic, but what he was most certainly not, was an atheist. All I'm saying is that if some very smart people strongly believe that we're not just star dust that should at least make you question your own belief that there is no higher power. Maybe put it to the test, even though you feel dumb for doing it, pray for something small that you would not otherwise expect to happen in the immediate future. see what happens
- stickfigure 4mo agoPeople who are otherwise smart often believe dumb things. History is littered with them. Which is why appeal to authority should always be regarded with skepticism. This prayer example illustrates a series of fallacies and human biases. Confirmation bias, survivorship bias, apophenia, post-hoc reasoning... many ways we know our brains trick us. Try this pre-registered, with large numbers and control groups. Or just read the literature from people who did. Prayer does nothing.