On Mon, 24 Sep 2018 12:03:48 +0200, Paul Schlyter
wrote:

I'm not assuming it's an intellectual decision at all. It is an
intellectual decision to learn critical thinking and apply it, which
naturally leads one to become an atheist. But I make no supposition
as
to the nature or quality of the evidence involved in reaching some
state of belief. It may be academic, it may be emotional, it may be
programmed childhood dogma. The point is, in our culture we are all
exposed to some combination of these, and that makes it extremely
unlikely that anybody can honestly have no opinion at all on the
question of the existence of gods.

Why is it unlikely to have no opinion about something you've realized
is unknowable?

Why should knowability influence opinion? I think it is likely that
the true nature of reality, the underlying "why" of universal laws are
unknowable. It does not stop me from believing with high confidence
that the mechanisms we can observe accurately describe these things.
Theologically, I can easily argue that the existence of gods is likely
unknowable (unless they reveal themselves), but nevertheless believe,
on the face of the available evidence, that they do not exist.

Compared to that bowl with sand and the question about whether the
number of grains of sand in that bowl is an even number or an odd
number. That too is, in practice, unknowable, and it would be quite
natural to have no opinion about that.

The answer in that case is perfectly knowable. I can count the grains
and know for certain. I cannot examine the Universe for a god that has
the power to hide itself.

For those who have realized that the question about the existence or
nonexistence of deities also is unknowable it would be just as
natural to have no opinion about that question. After all, your
opinion about it would say something about you but not anything about
our universe.

I've certainly never met anybody who had no opinion on the question of
gods. Pretty much for the same reason I've never met anybody with no
opinion on the shape of the Earth. Nobody is that poorly informed on
either issue.