Do demons exist? Can that be tested?

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John Human
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Do demons exist? Can that be tested?

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Post by John Human »

When I lived in Bali, I couldn't help observing the pervasive evidence of belief in demons. And of course demons put in an appearance in the Bible, not to mention in the gargoyles of old cathedrals.

On the other hand, modern science would seem to categorically reject the existence of demons, without a clear reason why, unless it has to do with the axiomatic presuppositions of science's governing ideology of reductionist materialism.

Question: Do demons exist? What evidence is there, for or against?

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Re: Do demons exist? Can that be tested?

Post #431

Post by Kylie »

brunumb wrote: Mon May 23, 2022 7:32 pm
Sherlock Holmes wrote: Mon May 23, 2022 3:08 pm
brunumb wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 7:46 pm [Replying to Sherlock Holmes in post #426]

Your signature stood out at the bottom of that clip and it does not appear to be correct or logical.

"When one has eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."

When one has eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be possible. There may be many things possible for a particular circumstance. How does that identify what must be the truth?
Seriously?
Absolutely. You haven't refuted it. Think about for a while and the penny might eventually drop.
Seems to me that it's saying this:

If you eliminate all the impossible explanations, then somewhere in the explanations that have not been eliminated is the correct explanation. How do we eliminate explanations? By gathering evidence. The more evidence we gather, the more explanations we can eliminate. Eventually we will be left with just one, once we've gathered sufficient evidence.

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Re: Do demons exist? Can that be tested?

Post #432

Post by brunumb »

Kylie wrote: Mon May 23, 2022 8:09 pm Seems to me that it's saying this:

If you eliminate all the impossible explanations, then somewhere in the explanations that have not been eliminated is the correct explanation. How do we eliminate explanations? By gathering evidence. The more evidence we gather, the more explanations we can eliminate. Eventually we will be left with just one, once we've gathered sufficient evidence.
I agree with what you are saying about the intentions. Having the word truth at the end implies that you will be left with only one valid explanation. That's the bit that I am at odds with.
George Orwell:: “The further a society drifts from the truth, the more it will hate those who speak it.”
Voltaire: "Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities."
Gender ideology is anti-science, anti truth.

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Re: Do demons exist? Can that be tested?

Post #433

Post by Kylie »

brunumb wrote: Mon May 23, 2022 8:24 pm
Kylie wrote: Mon May 23, 2022 8:09 pm Seems to me that it's saying this:

If you eliminate all the impossible explanations, then somewhere in the explanations that have not been eliminated is the correct explanation. How do we eliminate explanations? By gathering evidence. The more evidence we gather, the more explanations we can eliminate. Eventually we will be left with just one, once we've gathered sufficient evidence.
I agree with what you are saying about the intentions. Having the word truth at the end implies that you will be left with only one valid explanation. That's the bit that I am at odds with.
I see it more like this...

There is a box, with small balls of all different colours, but only one black one. You can go through and remove all the red ones, and whatever remains contains the black one.

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Re: Do demons exist? Can that be tested?

Post #434

Post by brunumb »

Kylie wrote: Mon May 23, 2022 8:29 pm I see it more like this...

There is a box, with small balls of all different colours, but only one black one. You can go through and remove all the red ones, and whatever remains contains the black one.
OR, there is a box, with small balls of many different colours. You can go through and remove all the black ones, and whatever remains will be different colours, just not black.
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Voltaire: "Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities."
Gender ideology is anti-science, anti truth.

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Re: Do demons exist? Can that be tested?

Post #435

Post by JoeyKnothead »

brunumb wrote: Mon May 23, 2022 10:43 pm
Kylie wrote: Mon May 23, 2022 8:29 pm I see it more like this...

There is a box, with small balls of all different colours, but only one black one. You can go through and remove all the red ones, and whatever remains contains the black one.
OR, there is a box, with small balls of many different colours. You can go through and remove all the black ones, and whatever remains will be different colours, just not black.
brunumb's on it.

When you eliminate the improbable, you're left with the probable.

Truth ain't bound to the probable.
I might be Teddy Roosevelt, but I ain't.
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Re: Do demons exist? Can that be tested?

Post #436

Post by Kylie »

JoeyKnothead wrote: Mon May 23, 2022 11:51 pm
brunumb wrote: Mon May 23, 2022 10:43 pm
Kylie wrote: Mon May 23, 2022 8:29 pm I see it more like this...

There is a box, with small balls of all different colours, but only one black one. You can go through and remove all the red ones, and whatever remains contains the black one.
OR, there is a box, with small balls of many different colours. You can go through and remove all the black ones, and whatever remains will be different colours, just not black.
brunumb's on it.

When you eliminate the improbable, you're left with the probable.

Truth ain't bound to the probable.
If the improbably is still possible, how can you eliminate it?

Anyway, there are some things that are most definitely impossible.

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Re: Do demons exist? Can that be tested?

Post #437

Post by brunumb »

JoeyKnothead wrote: Mon May 23, 2022 11:51 pm When you eliminate the improbable, you're left with the probable.

Truth ain't bound to the probable.
I think you should have stuck with possible and impossible Joey. Probable and improbable leaves too many options open on either side.
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Re: Do demons exist? Can that be tested?

Post #438

Post by JoeyKnothead »

brunumb wrote: Tue May 24, 2022 1:43 am
JoeyKnothead wrote: Mon May 23, 2022 11:51 pm When you eliminate the improbable, you're left with the probable.

Truth ain't bound to the probable.
I think you should have stuck with possible and impossible Joey. Probable and improbable leaves too many options open on either side.
Preciate the correction, I reckon I misread it.
I might be Teddy Roosevelt, but I ain't.
-Punkinhead Martin

Sherlock Holmes

Re: Do demons exist? Can that be tested?

Post #439

Post by Sherlock Holmes »

brunumb wrote: Mon May 23, 2022 7:32 pm
Sherlock Holmes wrote: Mon May 23, 2022 3:08 pm
brunumb wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 7:46 pm [Replying to Sherlock Holmes in post #426]

Your signature stood out at the bottom of that clip and it does not appear to be correct or logical.

"When one has eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."

When one has eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be possible. There may be many things possible for a particular circumstance. How does that identify what must be the truth?
Seriously?
Absolutely. You haven't refuted it. Think about for a while and the penny might eventually drop.
When one has eliminated the impossible (hypotheses), whatever (hypothesis) remains, however improbable (the hypothesis might appear), must be the truth (because all alternative hypotheses have been eliminated).

See; elementary my dear fellow.

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Re: Do demons exist? Can that be tested?

Post #440

Post by brunumb »

Sherlock Holmes wrote: Tue May 24, 2022 9:56 am When one has eliminated the impossible (hypotheses), whatever (hypothesis) remains, however improbable (the hypothesis might appear), must be the truth (because all alternative hypotheses have been eliminated).

See; elementary my dear fellow.
You are just digging a deeper hole for yourself. Eliminating the impossible whatevers does not necessarily leave you with one possible whatever, so you are still not at the truth. Actually, using hypothesis makes things even worse if you think about it for a bit.
George Orwell:: “The further a society drifts from the truth, the more it will hate those who speak it.”
Voltaire: "Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities."
Gender ideology is anti-science, anti truth.

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