I havent posted this to the site. I might, but not now.

[firecrest]

Dear Mr Dawkins

Its doubtful you will read or reply to this but I felt I should write it anyway.   ive been a member of this site around 6 months and like many people here, i came looking for a place on the internet where I could discuss atheism and rational thinking.     The forums on this site have been an eye-opener and not for all the right

Comments

Re: "Oh my Science!"

[firecrest]

Also people often forget belief in the supernatural isnt an `irrational` belief.
For instance, if you think you saw a ghost, it is more rational to feel that maybe you did, even if you dont know what it was rather than to imagine you temporarily hallucinated. sometimes science attempts to force a person to chose an option they inherantly feel is irrational. Im not saying the truth is one way or the other though. I was once extremely disapointed to be called a `crackpot` for claiming I saw a UFO. well i DID see a UFO. I never said I saw aliens, but I did indeed see a craft making maneuvres like no aircraft can (stopping and starting dead, going from 0 to 100mph in maybe 2 seconds in mid air. it was even next to an airbase on restricted land so im not mistaken in that I saw somthing mundane and mistook it something extraordinary.
also you often hear extremely compelling stories about the supernatural and if you get them first hand its no easy to dismiss as dillusion. I remember my sisters ex boyfriend said when he was 12 he went on holiday with his family on a boating trip. when they moored the boat he went to town with his friend but he could hear his sister shouting for help right in his ear even though she was back at the boat. He decided to go back because he was so alarmed by it. when he got there the police were there and she had drowned in the water. He insists he heard her, he would not make it up. it is rational therefor , for this person to conclude he somehow heard his sister (again Im not saying he did, though I certainly pull towards saying he may have) the atheist would insist this person conclude they imagined the voice, it was a coincidence , or his subconscious invented the voice because when he left he might have been worried she would fall off the boat and drown. To the person who experienced this, accepting the atheists answer would be a much less rational thing for them to do because it would be accepting second hand information over first hand experience.

Re: "Oh my Science!"

[justreadingct]

I also don't think belief in the supernatural is actually irrational. It's so deeply ingrained in our culture, perhaps even our genes. Humans are social animals and we always try to find common ground to connect to others on. Having some sort of belief in something is often that common ground.

I thought I saw a ghost once. When I was 5, my mother was obsessed with our basement being haunted. One day I was playing down there and I turned around quickly. I saw a woman in a white flowing robe looking at me, so I ran upstairs screaming. My mom, being kind of nuts, told me that she had "felt" the woman too and I must also have the gift.

I don't think I saw an actual ghost. I think I imagined it because people in my family were always talking about things like ghost and I was a creative child. Given the cultural history of ghosts, most people have an idea what a ghost should look like.

Re: "Oh my Science!"

[justreadingct]

I was just thinking I didn't finish this comment.

Anyway, I don't mean to imply anyone that sees something supernatural is crazy. I don't think there is anything outside the natural world, but that doesn't inherently mean us humans understand everything about what is natural and what is not.