well, im an atheist to be honest an i was thinking about finding a gud argument against my parents beliefs. But man ur making it so hard. ive visited quite a few sites till now and still im not able to accept god as real but i think ive got once fact clear its sometimes because of people's belief in god they come to do good things. still their are quite a no. of religions so r u saying that they all are talking about the same person? well in my country there are people who consider themselves as god themselves. my point is even if i accept god is real will i get some ...lets say some strength in the saddest or darkest moments of my life, would he get me out of trouble that i got into for helping another person.

I recently used a relative way of concluding the probable existence of a god is directly related to the existence of our own intelligence or ability of self awareness. To have thought or the ability to do what we currently due simply by having an interaction of chemicals or electric signals either causing thought or the result of thought could be in relation to anything although the consciousness might be different depending on the interaction between other matter. Pretty much as humans and other animals there we have thought by these interactions with one another and since there is vastly more knowledge than we are currently able to undertand and of all the possibilities out in the universe who is to say on the macro level all this energy both seen and unseen interacting isnt able to form complex thought through the interaction. This also explains why ancient people worshipped earth then the planets. It directly correlates with our understanding of the universe and as we are able to further step outside the box we have limited our thinking (is there something beyond the universe). So, while i havent been able on deciding or coming to a plausible theory on what or who is able to differentiate between us or even if they truly are indifferent as we have an indifference towards an appendix.. Perhaps the only time it is aware is when the appendix is causing more harm than good... /cough /cough destroying something bigger than ourselves,.e.g. the earth.

Why is this even an issue? With all the hate, crime, indifference, insecurities, etc...don't you think it's important to have something to believe in? What's so wrong with the "something" being a higher power such as God? I'm not trying to convert anyone or persuade people to change their opinions/beliefs (or nonbeliefs), all I am saying is think about all the places where God "used" to be but has since been removed. I have been doing research with a few colleagues of mine and although it's still in the "talking stages," we've all agreed that it's plausible to believe that there could be a dramatic rise in many areas such as hate, crime, etc...since God has been removed from so many places. So the question asks, how can smart people still believe in God? What does that even mean? If you're smart you shouldn't believe in God? Why? Could it be that scientists and many individuals just cannot fathom that a deity created everything. However, it is so much easier to believe in the Big Bang even though there are the missing Laws of Physics (hmmm, how does that work?). I don't want to get into that...my opinion is this if you are smart and believe in God that's fine and if you don't believe in God that's fine also because it's your choice.

I am Martha Happiness Smith, a citizen of the united states of America, A single mom with three kids I wanna write and share this post of mine to the entire world how i was helped by Mr john Allan, A trustworthy and kind heated Man. Before i met Mr john Allan i was in hell going through difficult financial crisis. My business was't moving well and i was unable to pay my rent and my kids school fees. I had no option to get the money i was looking, all my friends couldn't help me. I was surfing through the internet when i saw the post of Mr john Allan how he changed someone life. I contacted him and told him my problem and i said to him that i want to be a member one of them. Mr john Allan went to ahead as an Agent, He told his Grand Master about me and my request to join was granted. After all the necessarily procedures, i was fully initiated as a member of the great Illuminati kingdom. a day after my initiation, i received a message from my Bank that someone just transfer the sum of $500,000.00 USD to my account. I was shocked, Mr john Allan called me immediately and asked if i received the money that was sent to me, i said yes, he said that the money is part of my benefit as a new member. The happiest part was that my business that was almost down was now moving well as well. This was how i was helped.
If you know you reading this and you want to be a member, Kindly email john Allan via illuminaticult0666@gmail.com Or whatsapp hem +2348038253815

Thank you once again Mr john Allan    

As much as I enjoyed the overall contemplation, the core question weighed here is inherently immeasurable to any reasonable degree of agreement, as its nucleus is merely a subjecative label–smart–awash in pure supposition and dataless assumption, and is therefore weightless. No one, and everyone is smart, depending on who you ask. And if you asked me, I would tell you that your question is rather one of degrees—incalculable variables of degrees. To what degree of willingness and desire to believe in the supernatural are knowledge, logic and reason rendered unnecessary and/or irrelevant to one's absolute conviction of faith? To what degree is knowledge and logic available and comprehended in each life to begin with? To what degree is fear, emotional affirmation dependency or wilful ignorance a demonstrable common denominator among the dedicated religious faithful? To what degree of literal biblical interpretation is one's faithfulness determined? To what degree does geographical birthplace and cultural nurturing influence these variables? And on it goes immeasurably, into the immeasurable abyss. For what it's worth, in my own limited experience of 42 years, I can honestly state that I've never met a 'smart' person who believed in gods, demons and/or leprechauns, and I never will. To choose blind faith, is to choose blindness. All gods were made in man's image. Our imagination is a paradox of unlimited boundaries, and limited boundaries. Get smart.

The first page of comments here mostly precedes my experience with and knowledge of Philosophy Talk. Even my reading of philosophy itself. That admitted, I will parrot some of what I have learned and some of what I've deduced from that. I remain in agreement with Davidson's assertions about propositional attitudes. According to his assessment, beliefs are an example of this sort of position. Belief in God seems to qualify, though I can't find any reference where Davidson said so. Perhaps more than this, I think those who believe do so because they want to believe. And, it follows that wanting or desiring something is also propositional. If one wants something badly enough, rationality, facts, logic and the rest become, well, irrelevant...or may as well be. I am further reminded of Pascal's Wager.
If you do not know it, look it up.

My philosophy is this: 1. Smart people have hearts. And hope. 2. It is not my place, nor would I want it to be, to make any judgment regarding anyone's intelligence, faith, hope or lack thereof. 3. If someone claims belief in God, but in their heart and mind it is only Pascal's Wager, that is their business, not mine. 4. All sorts of people, intelligent or not so much, believe. This may be constituent with Davidson's propositional attitudes. Or anything else...it is still not my business. 5. There are some people who believe in faith healing. I believe in modern medicine. THAT is MY business.

Congratulations to Guest on your 4.2 from Harvard. So, here is the answer to the blog question about smart people: Why do smart people ask of smart people why they continue to believe in God? I have already answered that one for myself. Anyone else care to give it a try? Happy Valentine's day to all...

In one comment, I referenced Pascal's Wager. Most folks who read and love philosophy know what that position entailed: damned .if you do; damned if you don't, so , might as well believe, because you have nothing to lose, and, so the story goes, everlasting life---everything to gain. I have also called this hedging one's bets---vulgar, perhaps, but practical ( if not pragmatic) in another sense. Now, moons ago, I also pointed out that God, if God cares, might not look favorably on followers of Blaise Pascal. Should God grasp the notion of disingenuousness, which, theoretically, God does
( because, God knows ALL), God might be pretty peeved (keeping language family oriented). There are, howver, conflicting notions of how God thinks; how God acts. I need not talk about what you already know...need i? There have been copious comments on this post. There is probably no more divisive aspect of civilization than the God issue. And yet, most all people have a view. Or a belief. Took me years to find my way, much of that time considering what others advised or demanded. It all helped me think, and I am indebted. Notice, I have not genderized God. That, too, has created problems. Gender has nothing to do with the concept; everything to do with the characterization. God is a belief. The belief IN God, a ritualization, different for different people(s).

I could have written more here. Could argue other points. But, no. Others have argued enough...thanks.

Getting traction from Dwells' wisdom (October 28, 2021), and my remarks on Professor Perry's notion of levels-of-reality, truth & belief are virtually indistinguishable. Belief is conditional. Truth is not. Insofar as much current belief is conditional,and, after Searle, socially constructed, its' validity is contextual in the extreme. All one need do is 'believe hard enough'. This is what underpins the contextual reality we live-and-breathe.

I will explain why me as an atheist do not thing the kalam proves anything and why i find beliefs in god to be problematic.

For starter's the beginning to time would imply the beginning to existence because you can not have time exist before time.
This is a logical contradiction and if a god existed before this universe you would have a time before time.

Also actual biologist have debunked the argument from design not to mention the human body has many flaws that show it was not intelligently designed.

Plus most atheist do not end up in jail but i know alot of religious people who do end up in jail.

These crimes include drug use pedophilia and violence so religious beliefs do not equal a god person.
This is not to say all religious people are bad but it does show a problem for religion preventing crime.

Atheist prision population are 00.1 percent or something to that effect while religious people make up the majority.

This religious majority includes catholic , and other Christian denomination's , Muslims Hindus Buddhists and so on.

About the argument from design we know watches are made because they do not happen naturally.
The same applies to airplanes computers and so on.

Human's on the other hand happen naturally from what we can tell and seems to be chemicals minerals and other elements that accure in nature.

I am not saying everything is figured out but scientist all ready know plenty of ways life could of happened without a god.

In regards to the universe the full truth may be unknowable but still not be a god.
We do not know therefore god is a god of the gaps fallacy.

We do not know equals we do not know.
Now to clarify most atheist do not use the philosophy definition to atheism.

I like most atheist are an agnostic atheist as in i do not believe in a god but do not know.

Human thought and ideas on their own can and do often lead to the wrong conclusion and manythings in the past were thought to be caused by god or demon's.

These thing's that were once thought to be caused by gods or demon's have now been shown to be natural and this may be the case with everything.

In regards to the universe we know causality applies to thing's inside it but not the universe itself or thing's that may be outside of it.

Assuming an outside to this universe even exist at all.