The TECK

[Loeln]

I have a book called Atheism: The Case Against God and in the beginning it has the difference between atheism and agnosticism. That is, Atheism is a lack of religion and agnosticism is the belief that you do not or cannot know god or know of god. That being said, both an atheist and a theist can be agnostic. In the same way, you can't just take everything spiritual and slap a religion label on it.

And I don't.

When trying to be scientific, it is generally not recommended of one to use religion's defense to validate their ideas.

Moddex states that "The thing about my system of Kataga is that it's theoretical. Nothing can prove Kataga's existence just yet." yet Moddex also describes his theory as being scientific. So, he seems to be claiming that what he thinks is scientific truth, defended with the arguement that just because he can't actually prove it as true, that doesn't mean that it isn't. -The same defense that numerous religions have used and still use to defend the existance of whatever they believe in a defense which, if you want to be scientific (as Moddex stated this was to be), should never be attempted to be used as a valid arguement.

While neither any of those faiths/lifestyles/etc. nor Moddex's theory are religions, he's still using religion's classic defense as an arguement to why his theory may be correct, rather than using any actual science or scientific method which he should if he wants it to be considered as any existing science and not some faith.

[Tom Flapwell]

Atheism is not a lack of religion so much as a lack of belief in any gods. And while it's true that agnosticism conventionally refers to the belief that one cannot know for sure, it has been used by many to mean simple uncertainty regarding the existence of gods. By that definition, you could be an agnostic who seeks the truth of the matter.

[Dr. Doog]

loeln I was trying to say how things like buddism aren't religion not that the magic this is wrong. ^_^

and while that's true tom, agnostic still isn't what you are if you're neither and atheist or a theist, since you have to be one of those two. it's like picking a number between one and ten to go first in someting. yeah you don't know the number and you would rather know it before you guess, but that doesn't mean you aren't going to guess. I know I don't know 100% if there's a god or not since nothing is impossible, just highly improbable, but that doesn't mean that I'm just going to say that I don't think that gods or higher beings exist.

[Loeln]

loeln I was trying to say how things like buddism aren't religion not that the magic this is wrong. ^_^

Who ever called Buddhism or the like a religion in this thread?

[Dr. Doog]

nobody did. they were saying that some people consider it and other asian philosophies religion, after I asked the difference between religion and spirituality.

Might I mention that religion is not so easily defined. Most Buddhism does not require a belief in a god or gods. Taoism started as a mere philosophy, and Confucianism still straddles the boundary. There have been debates on whether transcendental meditation and even vegetarianism count as religions. And of course, Judaism doubles as something of an ethnicity now.

[Moddex]

I sense a lot of misinterpretation here. The point I was making is that if kataga were to exist, there's nothing that could necessarily reveal the secrets of the source of this power, period. The thing is, if Kataga does really exist as a tappable source of inhuman power, it's only as mysterious as the human mind and how it's capacity of knowledge is limitless. There's no say whether or not science can prove Katag, let alone discover the secrets of the braincell's capacity to store information. I meant not religion to become so strongly involved all of a sudden.

[Gizensha]

except those things aren't religions (well judaism is, and maybe vegetarianism), going on prior knowledge and what you just said. I only know about buddhism, which wasn't intended to be and still isn't a religion. It's about connectivity with the universe for the enlightenment of the whole. It's not neccessarily to become one with god, although you certainly could depending on your religious beliefs. Kind of like the Linux kernel, you just have that foundation and then adjust it to fit your life.

I have a book called Atheism: The Case Against God and in the beginning it has the difference between atheism and agnosticism. That is, Atheism is a lack of religion and agnosticism is the belief that you do not or cannot know god or know of god. That being said, both an atheist and a theist can be agnostic. In the same way, you can't just take everything spiritual and slap a religion label on it.

Spiritualism - A belief about the spiritual world
Religion - An organised, standardised spiritual belief. (Or, as I usually put it - Spirituality in a Can)

[Blue Blur]

Religion - An organised, standardised spiritual belief. (Or, as I usually put it - Spirituality in a Can)

And like all fizzy drinks, it should be used in moderation with much cleansing of the mouth afterwards.

[gen200]

(Or, as I usually put it - Spirituality in a Can)

HEY, you took my line!!

[Moddex]

Or more like spirituality like on train tracks. Don't know where it's going and you can't veer off course...

[Tavis]

The way I see it, if the hypothesis cannot be used to accurately predict anything measurable in our reality, then there is no way you can claim it is supported by science. If you want to be able to use the scientific method, you need to forumate tests for your hypothesis and propose the expected, disctinct outcome that differs from existing scientific knowledge. If you cannot produce one, then the new hypothesis is unnecessary and irrelevant, and you are best leaving it as a curiosity until someone can provide proof to support your claim.

[Moddex]

If I had proof, it wouldn't be a theory...

I can understand critisizm, but in a way, you not only stole my thunder, but you also attacked my whole point in a non-hostile, twist of the tongue way...

[Tavis]

Sorry, but it is a hypothesis, an explanation of existing phonomena. To make a theory you need to come up with something testable based on the hypothesis.

One such theory would be that dark matter could be produced by processing air molecules somehow either by using magical or artificial means. The discovery of dark matter in a laboratory, if it were to ever occur, would indeed verify the theory, and if it was determined to be composed of something else, like, say, gravitational energy, then the theory would be incorrect and need revision.

[Caoimhin]

Wait is this a serious theory or just for fun?

[Dr. Doog]

just for fun.