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Old September 23rd 18, 03:07 PM posted to sci.astro.amateur
Chris L Peterson
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Default Neil DeGrasse Tyson headed down same loony road as Carl Sagan?

On Sun, 23 Sep 2018 12:22:48 +0200, Paul Schlyter
wrote:

Nevertheless, agnosticism is unrelated to theism or atheism. It
measures something different. Everyone who is informed is either an
atheist or a theist, it's just a matter of how strong their belief

is
either way.


Why is it mandatory to "choose side" here?


We don't have much control over what we believe. Could you "choose a
side" when it comes to believing in Santa Claus? Our beliefs develop
from our choice of analysis and a great many unconscious processes we
have little or no access to.

Excluding those with some sort of intellectual defect or profound lack
of knowledge about our society, who will not have a belief about the
likelihood that deities are real? How many people will so perfectly
straddle the line of uncertainty that they can't be called either
theists or atheists? It's not like there isn't evidence to evaluate on
the matter.

Imagine a bowl filled with fine grsined sand. How many grains of sand
are there in the bowl? Undoubtedly a very large number - but is that
large number an even number or an odd number? You will never know -
but what do you **believe**?


The question isn't one where the word "belief" makes any sense.

Do really everyone have to be an "evenist" or an "oddist"? If not,
why do everyone have to be a theist or an atheist? Why exclude the
alternative of refraining from choosing a belief here?


Because we don't choose beliefs.