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Ricky
SFN Die Hard
USA
4907 Posts |
 Posted - 01/31/2005 : 09:16:08
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quote:
Siberia: Nothing is impossible? Well, if you like, I can provide you an example of the impossible. Heh, I will do it anyway. There was a debate a while back between Ricky (who held your position on this matter) and another SFN member. To the claim that "nothing is impossible!" came the reply, "So, it is possible to change an elephant into a butterfly by rubbing coconut oil on it's testicles? Because, if nothing is impossible, then that must be possible."
I have changed my position to nothing is impossible as long as it does not go against a given premise:
A = B
Show A does not = B
The premise directly contradicts the conclusion, and it is therefore, by definition, impossible.
In you example, the hidden premise is that we are dealing with the common elephant found on Earth. Along with this premise is the fact that you can not do such a thing.
However, if you remove the premise, then the entire thing becomes possible, although still no where near probable.
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Why continue? Because we must. Because we have the call. Because it is nobler to fight for rationality without winning than to give up in the face of continued defeats. Because whatever true progress humanity makes is through the rationality of the occasional individual and because any one individual we may win for the cause may do more for humanity than a hundred thousand who hug their superstitions to their breast.
- Isaac Asimov |
Edited by - Ricky on 01/31/2005 09:23:12
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astropin
SFN Regular
USA
970 Posts |
Posted - 01/31/2005 : 10:05:15 [Permalink]
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| So, is it possible that one of these days I will crap a full sized Lincoln Navigator out my ass? |
I would rather face a cold reality than delude myself with comforting fantasies.
You are free to believe what you want to believe and I am free to ridicule you for it.
Atheism:
The result of an unbiased and rational search for the truth.
Infinitus est numerus stultorum |
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 01/31/2005 : 10:34:25 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by astropin
So, is it possible that one of these days I will crap a full sized Lincoln Navigator out my ass?
If you do, I'd like to place an order for a new S-10 Chevy Blazer (the small one; not the SUV piece of shit).
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist! 
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Dude
SFN Die Hard
USA
6891 Posts |
Posted - 01/31/2005 : 10:49:45 [Permalink]
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There are impossible things. To claim otherwise is a denial of reason.
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Ignorance is preferable to error; and he is less remote from the truth who believes nothing, than he who believes what is wrong.
-- Thomas Jefferson
"god :: the last refuge of a man with no answers and no argument." - G. Carlin
Hope, n.
The handmaiden of desperation; the opiate of despair; the illegible signpost on the road to perdition. ~~ da filth |
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furshur
SFN Regular
USA
1536 Posts |
Posted - 01/31/2005 : 11:19:39 [Permalink]
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Quantum physics has made us all gun shy on absolutes. But fear not there are lots of things that are impossible. The whole "crapping a car" seems to fit this category.
Filthy did you really say you want Astropin to crap you a car out of his ass because you don't want a piece of shit???? This is rather ironic.
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If I knew then what I know now then I would know more now than I know. |
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astropin
SFN Regular
USA
970 Posts |
Posted - 01/31/2005 : 11:36:36 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by furshur
Filthy did you really say you want Astropin to crap you a car out of his ass because you don't want a piece of shit???? This is rather ironic.
Oh my furshur,you are really on a role today. LMAO!!! |
I would rather face a cold reality than delude myself with comforting fantasies.
You are free to believe what you want to believe and I am free to ridicule you for it.
Atheism:
The result of an unbiased and rational search for the truth.
Infinitus est numerus stultorum |
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Siberia
SFN Addict
Brazil
2322 Posts |
Posted - 01/31/2005 : 12:23:50 [Permalink]
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lmao!
Well, yeah. It's quite illogical to admit everything is possible. |
"Why are you afraid of something you're not even sure exists?"
- The Kovenant, Via Negativa
"People who don't like their beliefs being laughed at shouldn't have such funny beliefs."
-- unknown
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Ricky
SFN Die Hard
USA
4907 Posts |
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Siberia
SFN Addict
Brazil
2322 Posts |
Posted - 01/31/2005 : 12:53:59 [Permalink]
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Well. I'd say it's pretty much unlikely that I'll ever crap out a car (but wouldn't that be cool? ), UNLESS we were living in an illusion, like SP claims that we are, and everything we know is false.
Not saying that I actually believe that, but it's a possibility, isn't it? Unlikely/unreasonable, but possible. |
"Why are you afraid of something you're not even sure exists?"
- The Kovenant, Via Negativa
"People who don't like their beliefs being laughed at shouldn't have such funny beliefs."
-- unknown
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astropin
SFN Regular
USA
970 Posts |
Posted - 01/31/2005 : 12:57:19 [Permalink]
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| I disagree Ricky. There are "some" truths which we will never know with 100% accuracy. Other truths I think we do know 100%. My example for one. I do not believe that falsifiablity means that ALL things are possible. That is not a reasonable assumption. The known laws of physics will NEVER be falsified to the point of allowing me to crap an SUV....ever. |
I would rather face a cold reality than delude myself with comforting fantasies.
You are free to believe what you want to believe and I am free to ridicule you for it.
Atheism:
The result of an unbiased and rational search for the truth.
Infinitus est numerus stultorum |
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Ricky
SFN Die Hard
USA
4907 Posts |
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Isaiah
Skeptic Friend
USA
83 Posts |
Posted - 01/31/2005 : 13:09:22 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Ricky
If there is a god who is all powerful, then it is very possible to change the laws of physics.
You might as well say, "If there is a god who is all powerful, then anything is possible." This does seem to prove your point to anyone who doesn't assume an omnipotent god is 100% impossible. |
For Real Things I Know - http://solomonj.blogspot.com
"My point is, that you cannot use lack of evidence for one possibility as proof for another." - Dude
“I would rather delude myself with comforting fantasies than face a cold reality” - Isaiah, altered from astropin |
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Shacal
Skeptic Friend
USA
51 Posts |
Posted - 01/31/2005 : 13:16:32 [Permalink]
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If nothing was impossible, then the statement "it is impossible for something to be impossible" would be true, invalidating itself paradoxically...
Paradoxes hurt my head. |
"The problem with communication is the illusion that we have accomplished it" |
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26022 Posts |
Posted - 01/31/2005 : 13:24:23 [Permalink]
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I'd like to suggest that it's impossible to have a banana which is also a watermelon. I mean, you could have a fruit which has some banana-like qualities and some watermelon-like qualities, but you can't have a fruit which encompasses all qualities of both a banana and a watermelon simultaneously.
Similarly, you can't have a Lincoln Navigator (rectally generated or not) which is also a martini. Sure, you can have an automobile which contains a martini, but that's not the same thing. And you might (at a very long stretch) be able to build an SUV from frozen martini, but that's not the same thing, either. (And if you did, you might be able to piss out a Navigator, stopping only to poop out the olive.) |
- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too. |
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Isaiah
Skeptic Friend
USA
83 Posts |
Posted - 01/31/2005 : 13:25:35 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Shacal
If nothing was impossible, then the statement "it is impossible for something to be impossible" would be true, invalidating itself paradoxically...
Paradoxes hurt my head.
I'm sure that this falls under Ricky's "A=B, show A does not = B" exception given that this is just a semantic paradox. |
For Real Things I Know - http://solomonj.blogspot.com
"My point is, that you cannot use lack of evidence for one possibility as proof for another." - Dude
“I would rather delude myself with comforting fantasies than face a cold reality” - Isaiah, altered from astropin |
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astropin
SFN Regular
USA
970 Posts |
Posted - 01/31/2005 : 13:56:23 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Ricky
If there is a god who is all powerful, then it is very possible to change the laws of physics. Or the laws of physics might not even exist, you could be living in a false world. Or we could be completely wrong about the laws of physics.
That Way Madness Lies.
If you believe this (and I'm not saying you do) then what is the point of even seeking truth? Could we all be inside "The Matrix" right now, sure it's possible, but there is no reasonable point in believing it. Hence there is no logical reason to believe in an omnipotent being.
You must have a basis of reality to work from. That's why most of us are here. Seeking truth, logic and reason to explain our reality. Unfortunately we seem to be the minority.
Now, is there really Free Will?
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I would rather face a cold reality than delude myself with comforting fantasies.
You are free to believe what you want to believe and I am free to ridicule you for it.
Atheism:
The result of an unbiased and rational search for the truth.
Infinitus est numerus stultorum |
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