Why do people demand unnecessary evidence for a God?

[Night FM]

17 minutes ago, swansont said:

You said “The average person as recently as the early 1900s didn't even read or write” so it’s not at all obvious that that’s what you meant, but I appreciate the tap-dancing.

The point is that literate people in ancient times would have been significantly more well-educated than the average person.

[swansont]

53 minutes ago, Night FM said:

The point is that literate people in ancient times would have been significantly more well-educated than the average person.

But you said IQ, which is intelligence, not education. (actual IQ tests, OTOH…)

Yes, they were better-educated, but there were relatively few of them, because the masses were doing manual labor. They had opportunity and probably family means or a patron. The average person today is much better educated - “developed” countries send their kids to school rather than the mines or to plow a field - plus they have the benefit of accumulated knowledge.

(more than half of US adults >25y.o. have some level of college education 
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Educational_attainment_in_the_United_States#General_attainment_of_degrees/diplomas)

[LuckyR]

On 10/10/2024 at 4:16 PM, Night FM said:

For example, some have asked for physical evidence, which would be unnecessary to provide since God is not a physical being.

Anyone can demand an arbitrary standard of evidence for anything. For example, I could demand that someone provide a video recording that proves Julius Caesar existed, and declare that unless such a recording is provided, that there is "no evidence" for Julius Caesar's existence (while naturally discounting any other types of evidence).

The reality is that people believe in lots of things which don't have or need the types of evidence that one might provide for the existence of gravity, they're just very selective about it, and I think that often selfish or emotional reasons come into play here (such as people simply not wanting to have to mentally tax themselves inquiring about the existence of a God, or what it means about humanity's place in the universe, or their fate after death).

Who are these "people"? The vast majority of humans claim to believe in gods that they have spend very little effort analyzing their rationale for existance, instead because they happened to be raised in a household and a local culture that "believed" in said god. It was a given, no thinking required.

[Night FM]

On 10/13/2024 at 1:59 AM, LuckyR said:

Who are these "people"? The vast majority of humans claim to believe in gods that they have spend very little effort analyzing their rationale for existance, instead because they happened to be raised in a household and a local culture that "believed" in said god. It was a given, no thinking required.

Basically, I believe that if all religions disappeared, people would arrive at the conclusion that there is one God. The debate would be over "which one", or rather what the specific characteristics of God are.

Even "belief in science" is essentially appealing to a higher cosmic principle than oneself, and fills the void.

Edited October 22 by Night FM

[Phi for All]

9 hours ago, Night FM said:

Basically, I believe that if all religions disappeared, people would arrive at the conclusion that there is one God. The debate would be over "which one", or rather what the specific characteristics of God are.

Even "belief in science" is essentially appealing to a higher cosmic principle than oneself, and fills the void.

Who really cares what you think is true? Nobody here. We're looking for evidence that lends our beliefs some validity. For instance, there are more polytheistic religions than monotheistic ones, so it seems more likely that, in your scenario, people are more likely to choose many gods over one. 

Also, we don't believe in science the same way you believe in your one god. We trust the information we glean from our processes and methodologies because we can verify it, rather than simply having faith that it's right.

[swansont]

11 hours ago, Night FM said:

Basically, I believe that if all religions disappeared, people would arrive at the conclusion that there is one God. The debate would be over "which one", or rather what the specific characteristics of God are.

Even "belief in science" is essentially appealing to a higher cosmic principle than oneself, and fills the void.

We’ve run this experiment, and did not arrive at that result.