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Thread: The atheist argument of 'you can't prove a unicorn doesn't exist'.

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05-07-2024, 01:54 AM
#1

The atheist argument of 'you can't prove a unicorn doesn't exist'.

There are 8 billion people on Earth - let's say half of those are religious.

That means 4 billion people believe in an unseen realm of spirits, that influences our life every day - that's the basis of pretty much every single religion in the world.

Let's say that only 1% of those 4 billion have had a real and tangible expeirence of the spiritual and are not operating on blind faith - that's still 40 million people.

Now how many people claim to believe in unicorns or that they've seen a unicorn?

The typical redditor will say that this is a 'ad populum' fallacy - but even if 0.5% of the population has had a tangible spiritual experience, then that's significant.
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05-07-2024, 02:13 AM
#2
It's a stupid poo-poo argument.

We can prove that unicorns don't exist, and more generally, we can prove a negative and show things don't exist. We know for a fact that unicorns are intentionally made up, mythical creatures from fantasy. Their existence is incompatible with the laws of nature and evolution. Unless you want to include something like a woolly rhinoceros which was a real creature.

We know there are no living dinosaurs. We know there is no 50 ft statue of Wincel constructed from alabaster orbiting Jupiter. We know there are no pregnant males. We know there are no Armenians on the Supreme Court. We know there are no triangles with internal angles that don't add up to 180 degrees.


There's even a law of logical inference which is literally proving negatives, it's called Modus Tollens: A implies B. Not B. Therefore, not A. There are loads of logical and mathematical proofs which rely on proving negatives.


REgardless of whether spiritual experiences are legitimate, we can prove negatives.
Back off, Warchild.

Seriously.
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05-07-2024, 02:17 AM
#3
Originally Posted By Bodhy⏩
It's a stupid poo-poo argument.

We can prove that unicorns don't exist, and more generally, we can prove a negative and show things don't exist. We know for a fact that unicorns are intentionally made up, mythical creatures from fantasy. Their existence is incompatible with the laws of nature and evolution. Unless you want to include something like a woolly rhinoceros which was a real creature.

We know there are no living dinosaurs. We know there is no 50 ft statue of Wincel constructed from alabaster orbiting Jupiter. We know there are no pregnant males. We know there are no Armenians on the Supreme Court. We know there are no triangles with internal angles that don't add up to 180 degrees.


There's even a law of logical inference which is literally proving negatives, it's called Modus Tollens: A implies B. Not B. Therefore, not A. There are loads of logical and mathematical proofs which rely on proving negatives.


REgardless of whether spiritual experiences are legitimate, we can prove negatives.
That's exactly what i am saying - nobody actually believes in any of the examples that you made up. Please read my post again to understand my argument.
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05-07-2024, 03:41 AM
#4
Is there any evidence of the .5 % or did you just pick a number? Because if you just picked a number then it seems meaningless to me.
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05-07-2024, 03:43 AM
#5
Originally Posted By IPoopStandingUp⏩
Is there any evidence of the .5 % or did you just pick a number? Because if you just picked a number then it seems meaningless to me.
I'd say that even more people than that have experienced something strange on a routine basis - I know I personally have.

Don't doubt that many people have and they just don't post about it - and when they do, no one believes them.
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05-07-2024, 03:49 AM
#6
Originally Posted By WiseOldApe⏩
I'd say that even more people than that have experienced something strange on a routine basis - I know I personally have.

Don't doubt that many people have and they just don't post about it - and when they do, no one believes them.
My guess is that 0% of the 4 billion have had a real and tangible experience of the spiritual or whatever you claimed. If you can prove you're .5% is more accurate I'd be interested.
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05-07-2024, 04:07 AM
#7
Originally Posted By IPoopStandingUp⏩
My guess is that 0% of the 4 billion have had a real and tangible experience of the spiritual or whatever you claimed. If you can prove you're .5% is more accurate I'd be interested.
So why do 4 (more like 6 or 7) billion of the 8 billion people believe in the spiritual?

You're saying that every single on of those people is wrong and that you're right?
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05-07-2024, 04:18 AM
#8
Just because people believe something doesn't mean it's true. Everyone thought the earth was flat not that long ago. People can cope all they want but at the end of the day, there's no actual evidence of religion being anything more than mythology
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05-07-2024, 04:23 AM
#9
When people claim to have real, tangible proof of spiritual beings, how is that proof verified? Is it just as conceivable that that supposed spiritual awakening could be nothing more than mental illness, drug interactions, or hallucinations? They could also just be dreams that seemed so real that the person believes it actually happened.
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05-07-2024, 04:38 AM
#10
Originally Posted By Omnivium⏩
Just because people believe something doesn't mean it's true. Everyone thought the earth was flat not that long ago. People can cope all they want but at the end of the day, there's no actual evidence of religion being anything more than mythology
Yes, but they thought the Earth and the heavens were, which they still are - now we just have different perspective.

Originally Posted By Narrator02⏩
When people claim to have real, tangible proof of spiritual beings, how is that proof verified? Is it just as conceivable that that supposed spiritual awakening could be nothing more than mental illness, drug interactions, or hallucinations? They could also just be dreams that seemed so real that the person believes it actually happened.
How can thoughts and emotions be verified? They can't. You rely on the fact that other people experience them.

Hence what I said about God and the spiritual realm - people believing in it because they've experienced it.
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05-07-2024, 04:42 AM
#11
My point is 4 billion people don't believe that a unicorns exist - if they did, you'd be smart to take their beliefs seriously.
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05-07-2024, 04:50 AM
#12
Originally Posted By WiseOldApe⏩
So why do 4 (more like 6 or 7) billion of the 8 billion people believe in the spiritual?

You're saying that every single on of those people is wrong and that you're right?
No not really claiming anything but even if it's billions of people I wouldn't put much stock in their beliefs if they don't have any proof.
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05-07-2024, 04:52 AM
#13
Originally Posted By IPoopStandingUp⏩
No not really claiming anything but even if it's billions of people I wouldn't put much stock in their beliefs if they don't have any proof.
Don't you think that just means you have an arrogant personality? You thinking you're above pretty much everybody else?
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05-07-2024, 04:56 AM
#14
Originally Posted By WiseOldApe⏩
Don't you think that just means you have an arrogant personality? You thinking you're above pretty much everybody else?
Ok buddy I'm arrogant for not believing something you can't prove. Sure
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05-07-2024, 04:59 AM
#15
Originally Posted By IPoopStandingUp⏩
Ok buddy I'm arrogant for not believing something you can't prove. Sure
So because you're deficient in some way, everybody else is stupid?

Because you can't see what others can, everyone is blind?

Like I said before, you can't prove a thought is real, either.
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05-07-2024, 05:02 AM
#16
Originally Posted By WiseOldApe⏩
So because you're deficient in some way, everybody else is stupid?

Because you can't see what others can, everyone is blind?
The number of people who believe something isn't as important as how compelling the evidence is. Does that make sense to you?
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05-07-2024, 05:04 AM
#17
Originally Posted By IPoopStandingUp⏩
The number of people who believe something isn't as important as how compelling the evidence is. Does that make sense to you?
If half of the world's population thought that the sky was red, you'd have to sit there and wonder why they think that way - it would be arrogant not to.
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05-07-2024, 05:16 AM
#18
Someone "having an experience" doesn't mean jack chit, so the whole premise of this arguement is stupid. Anyway, you're equating belief in any given religion as belief in the same sort of higher power or whatever, while isolating what you compare it against (unicorns). False equivalency.
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05-07-2024, 05:18 AM
#19
Originally Posted By FelixTheCat1919⏩
Someone "having an experience" doesn't mean jack chit, so the whole premise of this arguement is stupid.
That's like saying somebody's thoughts feelings and emotions don't matter - it's a fair stance, but it's ignorant.
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05-07-2024, 05:23 AM
#20
Originally Posted By WiseOldApe⏩
That's like saying somebody's thoughts feelings and emotions don't matter - it's a fair stance, but it's ignorant.

Eyewitness accounts are well known to be notoriously prone to inaccuracy, and I'm supposed to trust you because you feel like you had an experience? Get over yourself.
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05-07-2024, 05:25 AM
#21
Originally Posted By FelixTheCat1919⏩
Eyewitness accounts are well known to be notoriously prone to inaccuracy, and I'm supposed to trust you because you feel like you had an experience? Get over yourself.
Why would anybody lie to you about Jesus? There's litirally no incentive to lie.

Also if you read the OP carefully, you'd notice I was talking about the unseen realm of spirit - that pretty much every Christian, Hindu, Muslim, buddhist, taoist, and jain believe in.

You really sound so arrogant, telling me to get over myself.
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05-07-2024, 05:32 AM
#22
Originally Posted By WiseOldApe⏩
Why would anybody lie to you about Jesus? There's litirally no incentive to lie.

The collection baskets passed around church say hello
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05-07-2024, 05:34 AM
#23
Originally Posted By FelixTheCat1919⏩
The collection baskets passed around church say hello
There would be no church without donations.

Also, faith costs nothing - you don't really even need the bible to believe in Jesus.
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05-07-2024, 05:39 AM
#24
Originally Posted By WiseOldApe⏩
There would be no church without donations.

Also, faith costs nothing - you don't really even need the bible to believe in Jesus.

You're wasting your time trying to spread religion on the misc.
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05-07-2024, 05:45 AM
#25
Do you ever turn that average IQ brain off boyo?
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๐•ฌ๐–Š๐–˜๐–™๐–๐–Š๐–™๐–Ž๐–ˆ๐–†๐–‘๐–‘๐–ž ๐•ฎ๐–š๐–™ ๐•ธ๐–†๐–˜๐–™๐–Š๐–— ๐•ฝ๐–†๐–ˆ๐–Š ยฎ
แ—ชIแ”•แ‘•แ–‡Iแ—ฐIแ‘Žแ—ฉTIOแ‘Ž Eแ™ญแ‘•แ’ชแ‘Œแ”•IOแ‘Ž Iแ‘Žแ—ชOแ‘•Tแ–‡Iแ‘Žแ—ฉTIOแ‘Ž
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05-07-2024, 05:47 AM
#26
No one bases their beliefs on absolute proof. We use evidence to come to a conclusion.
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05-07-2024, 05:47 AM
#27
Originally Posted By FelixTheCat1919⏩
You're wasting your time trying to spread religion on the misc.
I do recognise the fact that even if Jesus slapped most of you on the face, you still wouldn't believe.

Originally Posted By DesiredUser****⏩
Do you ever turn that average IQ brain off boyo?
nope

Originally Posted By Soonerjohn⏩
No one bases their beliefs on absolute proof. We use evidence to come to a conclusion.
Do you think that there are some spiritual and religious people that believe due to proof?
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05-07-2024, 05:58 AM
#28
Oh look, another religious troll thread from OP.
I only read thread titles and my own posts.

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05-07-2024, 06:00 AM
#29
Originally Posted By Omnivium⏩
Just because people believe something doesn't mean it's true.
This is the problem I have with OP's argument. I'm sure there are people that believe in their heart of hearts that an event they experienced was spiritual when it most likely wasn't. For example, the people that see the face of jesus in a piece of burnt toast or the cork of a wooden plank, or the people that claim to have seen heaven after a near death experience when its just their body releasing a bunch of DMT into their brain.

Originally Posted By WiseOldApe⏩
How can thoughts and emotions be verified? They can't. You rely on the fact that other people experience them.

Hence what I said about God and the spiritual realm - people believing in it because they've experienced it.
"taking someones word for something" is not proof. If you can't replicate the event among skeptics, then the argument immediately falls a part.
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05-07-2024, 06:01 AM
#30
There have been a lot of bigfoot sightings where I live but I've never seen one. Does that mean it is real?
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