I tend to think that the Bible and the Koran are sufficient evidence to draw our attention to the Jehovah and Allah hypotheses, respectively. Each is a substantial work of literature, claiming to have been inspired by direct communication from a higher power, and each has millions of adherents claiming that its teachings have made them better people. That isn’t absolute proof, of course, but it sounds to me like enough to privilege the hypotheses.
This is in fact the general problem here. If there is a large group of people claiming that some religion is true, that is quite enough evidence to call your attention to the hypothesis. That is in fact why people’s attention is called to the hypothesis: paying attention to what large groups of people say is not remotely close to inventing a random idea.
I tend to think that the Bible and the Koran are sufficient evidence to draw our attention to the Jehovah and Allah hypotheses, respectively. Each is a substantial work of literature, claiming to have been inspired by direct communication from a higher power, and each has millions of adherents claiming that its teachings have made them better people. That isn’t absolute proof, of course, but it sounds to me like enough to privilege the hypotheses.
This is in fact the general problem here. If there is a large group of people claiming that some religion is true, that is quite enough evidence to call your attention to the hypothesis. That is in fact why people’s attention is called to the hypothesis: paying attention to what large groups of people say is not remotely close to inventing a random idea.