I was just thinking about all of the things I am skeptical about.
I accept the possibility that there may be parallel universes, but in the absence of real evidence for those I presume that they do not exist.
I accept the possibility that God exists, be He a person or not. But, in the absence of real evidence one way or the other, I presume that He does not exist.
I accept the possibility that other intelligent life forms exist in the universe. But if there were a trillion Earth-like planets in the universe capable of supporting intelligent life.... how do I know whether the odds of intelligent life evolving are 1 in a hundred or 1 in a billion or 1 in 10 trillion? In the absence of real evidence (apart from all the trailer park residents who have been anally probed in the name of alien research) I presume that life exists only on Earth.
And so yesterday I was thinking about it. What is the end result of all of my skepticism? That the universe simply sprang into existence without purpose or intelligent design. That by pure coincidence this universe contained planets capable of supporting life. That life somehow sprang into existence, through what means nobody really knows, and evolved into a form of life that considers itself intelligent (us) and aware of its place in this universe. That this brief flash of intelligent life, having existed in some form for (at most) a few million years, will likely snuff itself out before long and there will simply be nobody to know or care that we ever existed at all. Nobody left to care about where the universe came from, whether it will end with a bang or a whimper, nothing. And that seemed like the most far-fetched assumption of all.
I'm skeptical by nature, no point in trying to be or pretend to be something that I am not. But I'm kind of glad that we are in the minority. The world would be pretty drab, and the human race wouldn't get very far, if everyone were as skeptical as me.
I accept the possibility that there may be parallel universes, but in the absence of real evidence for those I presume that they do not exist.
I accept the possibility that God exists, be He a person or not. But, in the absence of real evidence one way or the other, I presume that He does not exist.
I accept the possibility that other intelligent life forms exist in the universe. But if there were a trillion Earth-like planets in the universe capable of supporting intelligent life.... how do I know whether the odds of intelligent life evolving are 1 in a hundred or 1 in a billion or 1 in 10 trillion? In the absence of real evidence (apart from all the trailer park residents who have been anally probed in the name of alien research) I presume that life exists only on Earth.
And so yesterday I was thinking about it. What is the end result of all of my skepticism? That the universe simply sprang into existence without purpose or intelligent design. That by pure coincidence this universe contained planets capable of supporting life. That life somehow sprang into existence, through what means nobody really knows, and evolved into a form of life that considers itself intelligent (us) and aware of its place in this universe. That this brief flash of intelligent life, having existed in some form for (at most) a few million years, will likely snuff itself out before long and there will simply be nobody to know or care that we ever existed at all. Nobody left to care about where the universe came from, whether it will end with a bang or a whimper, nothing. And that seemed like the most far-fetched assumption of all.
I'm skeptical by nature, no point in trying to be or pretend to be something that I am not. But I'm kind of glad that we are in the minority. The world would be pretty drab, and the human race wouldn't get very far, if everyone were as skeptical as me.