Irrationality game—there is a provident, superior entity that is in no way infinite (I wonder if people here would call that God. As a “superman theist” I had to put “odds of God (as defined in question)” at 5% but identify as strongly theist in the last census)
I was brought up Catholic, and quickly decided religion (later updated to human scribes millennia ago and blind faith therein) didn’t really understand the difference between “bigger than I can understand” and “infinite.” I also have a life so cartoonishly awesome (let me know if you have a solution to this, but I honestly believe if I laid down the facts people would think I’m lying), I figured what I called God not only exists but likes me more than everybody else. As I grew up, I “tested” the theory a few times, but never with any scientific rigor, and I think I’d have to call the results positive but not statistically significant. I have no problem assuming no god at the beginning of a discussion, and if I had strong enough evidence I’d like to think I’d admit I’m wrong. I also don’t correlate anything about God with misunderstanding what “death” means—or as many Catholics call it life after death.
I know it’s a minority view here and would never trot it out in normal discourse, but it seemed appropriate for the venue.
I’m intruiged—a life so awesome that it’s implausible for a member of an internet forum with thousands of members (especially this one, which is dedicated to the “science of winning at life” and has an average IQ so high it should be impossible) to actually be living it strikes me as a high bar, and additionally the idea of it being so awesome that it’s (at least subjectively) convincing evidence for the hypothesis “god is real and he loves me”. The only thing that comes to my mind that looks like it meets that criteria and isn’t blatantly supernatural would be winning the lottery, but since lottery winners are often less happy in the end I don’t expect that’s it.
I can’t promise I’ll believe you, but I’d upvote just for sating my curiosity.
Nah, not implausible I exist, but I rarely post, so have no track record. It’s amazing how many people are above average online...
Mentally, I’m materially above average intelligence, but understand that that only goes so far. And I cultivate rationality (I’m here aren’t I?)
Socially, I’m reasonably well liked by everyone I know, people tell me I have a decent sense of humor. I’m engaged to a beautiful blonde doctor, who is eerily similar to the woman I prayed to meet as a teenager, and has been able to put up with my strangeness for four years.
Bodily, I have no known history of any genetic diseases and have never been dependant on prescription drugs. Though I admit the surgeon general would like me to lose a pound or two. Not “Mommy why’s he like that?” fat though.
Financially, I own my own house, and if I (and they) decide to have kids, my kids and grandkids will never have to work, assuming I don’t earn/inherit/win/cetera a penny, and my stocks gain 0% (Admittedly, they could crash). I tell people I have a Forrest Gump approach. “Lt. Dan said I didn’t have to worry about money any more. And I said, well, that’s good. One less thing.”
Attitudinally, I’m hugely optimistic. Not every day, but more often than not, I wake up and am struck by the wonder of how unlikely my good fortune is.
I know it sounds out there, and it is, but it’s also true. Hand to God. Or Bacon, or whomever you’d like, if you dig propriomanual verification.
The only parts of that list that seem out-there are the fiancee-eerily-similar-to-prayers (alternate explanations: The kind of people you actively seek out and the kind of people you pray to meet are going to resemble each other, human memories are fallible to the point that they can be completely fabricated, so a vague similarity might adjust to become an eerily close similarity) and the financial status (I’m not sure what my prior for this is supposed to be, since “rich enough never to have to work for three generations” varies a lot on expenditure, probably more than just the top 1% could get there if they were frugal).
Oh agreed. My awesome life is not a good proof, but while I came with a high IQ out of the box, I hadn’t learned the tools of thinking yet to the necessary degree. It’s loosely confirmatory, but not a silver bullet. I was just saying that prompted me to have the idea a decade or two before (inadequitely still, but I knew it) testing the idea. My confidence may be too high, but really, it hasn’t been a priority to test mostly because I can’t think of a good one that doesn’t come at too high a cost for too little benefit. I’ve never really tried to prove my Fiancé′s aunt who I’ve never met exists either. Open to ideas.
And the grandkids thing is something I came up with to give my fiancé perspective when she was just my girlfriend. Anything with “illion” in it becomes “a bunch” to non math folk. Think about 4 mil. Now think about 8. I’d say (based on nothing but anecdote) if you said each to fifty men-on-the-street, you’d have at least 85 people thinking of pretty much the same pile of gold doubloons.
Commit to not talk to anyone about the results of your test. No hinting, nothing. If you do this the experiment is worthless. Don’t even mention it; if asked about it, say ‘I promised beforehand that I would not give out information’. Take a coin, flip it twenty times or so, record heads and tails. This is not a good test but it’s simple and easy and can at least theoretically provide some information.
I agree with RomanE in that this doesn’t seem all that unusual. I’m an undergrad in college right now so I don’t have the monetary security, fiancee, or house, but everything else applies to me as well. There are a couple of things that could help to explain this, in my cause and probably in yours.
Are you fairly neurotypical in a way that doesn’t interfere with your social life or physical well-being?
Did you grow up with a middle, upper middle, or upper class family?
Do you grow up in a developed nation?
Are you of a racial class that is generally privileged in your area? (E.g., white in America.)
If these are true, or even just the first three, I would say it’s not all that unusual. Not lower than 5%, anyway. I don’t think that, given the above, it is unusual enough to warrant an explanation outside the ordinary.
I figured what I called God not only exists but likes me more than everybody else.
That’s impossible, He likes me more than everybody else. (.000001% confident)
(Seriously though, I do believe there are god-like phenomena, and they seem to be suspiciously favorable toward me. (Excuse me while I knock on wood and stare plaintively at the fourth wall.))
Irrationality game—there is a provident, superior entity that is in no way infinite (I wonder if people here would call that God. As a “superman theist” I had to put “odds of God (as defined in question)” at 5% but identify as strongly theist in the last census)
Edit: forgot odds. 80%
Could you explain your reasoning? I’m very curious about this.
I was brought up Catholic, and quickly decided religion (later updated to human scribes millennia ago and blind faith therein) didn’t really understand the difference between “bigger than I can understand” and “infinite.” I also have a life so cartoonishly awesome (let me know if you have a solution to this, but I honestly believe if I laid down the facts people would think I’m lying), I figured what I called God not only exists but likes me more than everybody else. As I grew up, I “tested” the theory a few times, but never with any scientific rigor, and I think I’d have to call the results positive but not statistically significant. I have no problem assuming no god at the beginning of a discussion, and if I had strong enough evidence I’d like to think I’d admit I’m wrong. I also don’t correlate anything about God with misunderstanding what “death” means—or as many Catholics call it life after death.
I know it’s a minority view here and would never trot it out in normal discourse, but it seemed appropriate for the venue.
I’m intruiged—a life so awesome that it’s implausible for a member of an internet forum with thousands of members (especially this one, which is dedicated to the “science of winning at life” and has an average IQ so high it should be impossible) to actually be living it strikes me as a high bar, and additionally the idea of it being so awesome that it’s (at least subjectively) convincing evidence for the hypothesis “god is real and he loves me”. The only thing that comes to my mind that looks like it meets that criteria and isn’t blatantly supernatural would be winning the lottery, but since lottery winners are often less happy in the end I don’t expect that’s it.
I can’t promise I’ll believe you, but I’d upvote just for sating my curiosity.
Nah, not implausible I exist, but I rarely post, so have no track record. It’s amazing how many people are above average online...
Mentally, I’m materially above average intelligence, but understand that that only goes so far. And I cultivate rationality (I’m here aren’t I?)
Socially, I’m reasonably well liked by everyone I know, people tell me I have a decent sense of humor. I’m engaged to a beautiful blonde doctor, who is eerily similar to the woman I prayed to meet as a teenager, and has been able to put up with my strangeness for four years.
Bodily, I have no known history of any genetic diseases and have never been dependant on prescription drugs. Though I admit the surgeon general would like me to lose a pound or two. Not “Mommy why’s he like that?” fat though.
Financially, I own my own house, and if I (and they) decide to have kids, my kids and grandkids will never have to work, assuming I don’t earn/inherit/win/cetera a penny, and my stocks gain 0% (Admittedly, they could crash). I tell people I have a Forrest Gump approach. “Lt. Dan said I didn’t have to worry about money any more. And I said, well, that’s good. One less thing.”
Attitudinally, I’m hugely optimistic. Not every day, but more often than not, I wake up and am struck by the wonder of how unlikely my good fortune is.
I know it sounds out there, and it is, but it’s also true. Hand to God. Or Bacon, or whomever you’d like, if you dig propriomanual verification.
The only parts of that list that seem out-there are the fiancee-eerily-similar-to-prayers (alternate explanations: The kind of people you actively seek out and the kind of people you pray to meet are going to resemble each other, human memories are fallible to the point that they can be completely fabricated, so a vague similarity might adjust to become an eerily close similarity) and the financial status (I’m not sure what my prior for this is supposed to be, since “rich enough never to have to work for three generations” varies a lot on expenditure, probably more than just the top 1% could get there if they were frugal).
Oh agreed. My awesome life is not a good proof, but while I came with a high IQ out of the box, I hadn’t learned the tools of thinking yet to the necessary degree. It’s loosely confirmatory, but not a silver bullet. I was just saying that prompted me to have the idea a decade or two before (inadequitely still, but I knew it) testing the idea. My confidence may be too high, but really, it hasn’t been a priority to test mostly because I can’t think of a good one that doesn’t come at too high a cost for too little benefit. I’ve never really tried to prove my Fiancé′s aunt who I’ve never met exists either. Open to ideas.
And the grandkids thing is something I came up with to give my fiancé perspective when she was just my girlfriend. Anything with “illion” in it becomes “a bunch” to non math folk. Think about 4 mil. Now think about 8. I’d say (based on nothing but anecdote) if you said each to fifty men-on-the-street, you’d have at least 85 people thinking of pretty much the same pile of gold doubloons.
Commit to not talk to anyone about the results of your test. No hinting, nothing. If you do this the experiment is worthless. Don’t even mention it; if asked about it, say ‘I promised beforehand that I would not give out information’. Take a coin, flip it twenty times or so, record heads and tails. This is not a good test but it’s simple and easy and can at least theoretically provide some information.
I agree with RomanE in that this doesn’t seem all that unusual. I’m an undergrad in college right now so I don’t have the monetary security, fiancee, or house, but everything else applies to me as well. There are a couple of things that could help to explain this, in my cause and probably in yours.
Are you fairly neurotypical in a way that doesn’t interfere with your social life or physical well-being? Did you grow up with a middle, upper middle, or upper class family? Do you grow up in a developed nation? Are you of a racial class that is generally privileged in your area? (E.g., white in America.)
If these are true, or even just the first three, I would say it’s not all that unusual. Not lower than 5%, anyway. I don’t think that, given the above, it is unusual enough to warrant an explanation outside the ordinary.
Yes, upper, yes, and yes. As stated in the other reply, I do not currently count it as strong evidence.
That’s impossible, He likes me more than everybody else. (.000001% confident)
(Seriously though, I do believe there are god-like phenomena, and they seem to be suspiciously favorable toward me. (Excuse me while I knock on wood and stare plaintively at the fourth wall.))
I too am curious.
What are your odds on this?
Oh thanks. Fixed.