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technothrashertoday at 12:14 PM4 repliesview on HN

I don't think you've thought through what you're trying to assert. A god could make you believe anything they wanted to about the earth. So if you cannot disprove a god, then you cannot disprove the theory that the earth is flat.


Replies

virgilptoday at 1:06 PM

You can still believe that the scientific method works; and might leads you to 2 conclusions:

(a) "I can prove earth is not flat" (using this methodology) (b) I cannot prove there is no God, though I may believe the prevalence of evidence does not support the hypothesis, there's no scientific test that I can design.

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detourdogtoday at 12:25 PM

I’m not sure you thought this through. Why would G-d want to or care to make one have thoughts.

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hnfongtoday at 2:12 PM

Don't know why you're downvoted so much, but your observation is spot on.

This is essentially Descartes evil demon issue. If you can't disprove that an evil demon (with god-level powers) is deceiving you at everything you perceive, then how are you going to be sure about anything? (including that the Earth is not flat?)

It has always been a difficult philosophical issue about how much we can trust reality itself.

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Forgeties79today at 1:13 PM

Just because you think I am wrong does not mean I have failed to think through the various components/implications of my statement.

I can disprove that the Earth is flat with the incredibly varied, concrete, observable evidence that it is not. It comes in many forms and is undeniable, hence the lengths flat earthers have to go to to “prove” the evidence is all just a collection of lies that serve some nebulous, nefarious purpose (they don’t even agree on what that is) that serves some faceless evil group they prop up (usually “the deep state” or Jewish people). On the other hand, I do not have concrete, observable evidence that God does not exist. That’s the thrust of my point.

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