It’s a forum where taking atheism for granted is widespread, and the 10% of non-atheists have some idea of what the 90% are thinking. Being atheist isn’t part of the official charter, but you can make a function call to atheism without being questioned by either the 10% or the 90% because everyone knows where you’re coming from. If I was on a 90% Mormon forum which theoretically wasn’t about Mormonism but occasionally contained posters making function calls to Mormon theology without further justification, I would not walk in and expect to be able to make atheist function calls without being questioned on it. If I did, I wouldn’t be surprised to be downvoted to oblivion if that forum had a downvoting function. This isn’t groupthink; it’s standard logical courtesy. When you know perfectly well that a supermajority of the people around you believe X, it’s not just silly but logically rude to ask them to take Y as a premise without defending it. I would owe this hypothetical 90%-Mormon forum more acknowledgement of their prior beliefs than that.
I like your use of “function calls” as an analogy here, but I don’t think it’s a good idea; you could just as easily say “use concepts from” without alienating non-programmer readers.
Since I’m momentarily feeling remarkably empowered about my own life, I’m going to take this chance to officially bow out for a few weeks.
We all knew it was coming—it’s the typical reaction for an overwhelmed newbie like me, I know, and I’m always very determined not to give up, but I really think I had better take a break.
My last week has hardly involved anything except LW and related sites, and we all know that having one’s mind blown is a very strenuous task. I’ve learned a lot, and I will definitely be back after four weeks or so.
I’ve decided I’m not going to let myself be pressured into expressly arguing in favor of religion. I’ve said several times I’m not interested in that, and that I don’t have these supposed strong arguments in favor of religion. If you guys want a good theist, check out William Lane Craig.
When I come back I will, however, explain my own beliefs and why I can’t fully accept the LW way of thinking. Please don’t get misunderstand what I’m saying: I think you guys are right, more so than any group of people I’ve ever met. But for now I’m going to shelve philosophy and take advantage of my situation. In the next four weeks I’m going to a) learn Lambda Calculus and b) study Arabic intensively.
It’s a forum where taking atheism for granted is widespread, and the 10% of non-atheists have some idea of what the 90% are thinking. Being atheist isn’t part of the official charter, but you can make a function call to atheism without being questioned by either the 10% or the 90% because everyone knows where you’re coming from. If I was on a 90% Mormon forum which theoretically wasn’t about Mormonism but occasionally contained posters making function calls to Mormon theology without further justification, I would not walk in and expect to be able to make atheist function calls without being questioned on it. If I did, I wouldn’t be surprised to be downvoted to oblivion if that forum had a downvoting function. This isn’t groupthink; it’s standard logical courtesy. When you know perfectly well that a supermajority of the people around you believe X, it’s not just silly but logically rude to ask them to take Y as a premise without defending it. I would owe this hypothetical 90%-Mormon forum more acknowledgement of their prior beliefs than that.
I regard all of this as common sense.
As part of said minority, I fully endorse this comment.
I like your use of “function calls” as an analogy here, but I don’t think it’s a good idea; you could just as easily say “use concepts from” without alienating non-programmer readers.
I understand it now knowing that it’s a programming reference (I program), but I wouldn’t have recognized it otherwise. Thanks for the clarification.
Since I’m momentarily feeling remarkably empowered about my own life, I’m going to take this chance to officially bow out for a few weeks.
We all knew it was coming—it’s the typical reaction for an overwhelmed newbie like me, I know, and I’m always very determined not to give up, but I really think I had better take a break.
My last week has hardly involved anything except LW and related sites, and we all know that having one’s mind blown is a very strenuous task. I’ve learned a lot, and I will definitely be back after four weeks or so.
I’ve decided I’m not going to let myself be pressured into expressly arguing in favor of religion. I’ve said several times I’m not interested in that, and that I don’t have these supposed strong arguments in favor of religion. If you guys want a good theist, check out William Lane Craig.
When I come back I will, however, explain my own beliefs and why I can’t fully accept the LW way of thinking. Please don’t get misunderstand what I’m saying: I think you guys are right, more so than any group of people I’ve ever met. But for now I’m going to shelve philosophy and take advantage of my situation. In the next four weeks I’m going to a) learn Lambda Calculus and b) study Arabic intensively.
May the Force be with you ’til we meet again.
For the record, I once challenged Craig to a Bloggingheads but he refused.