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(Continued …)

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Having said that, AJ, I do not exclude the possibility that my intellectual capacity may be inadequate for the task in hand. But please don’t worry. I am used to wallowing in my ignorance.

As for your question :

« You have implied here that there is a group out there who are simultaneously ‘not theists’, and not ‘not theists’.

How is this possible? »

I guess the “logical” answer to that, based on what I have just written, is that I refuse the “tyranny” of the “logical absolutes” concept and choose to exercise my free will.

I see no “logic” in defining myself by reference to something which I consider does not exist.

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poirot: For someone who doesn't believe something exists, it's always puzzling to me why you assign "Him" a gender (and a capital "H")?

No, that is a Grammatical & accepted Traditional Convention, no more & no less. Cheap shot, missed. Anyway, at least he doesn't believe in some Wacko trouble maker called allah.

JayB, You don't have to worry about what God, Allah or Jehovah are doing up there. Its their fanatical followers down here you got to worry about, and I mean all of them, fanaticism breeds hatred. Like my old man told me "Son, never trust a bloke who thinks God is on his side, because no matter what he does, he believes he can do no wrong."

Jayb,

If someone who routinely tells us he doesn't believe something exists, finds a means to assign it a gender, then the "something" must exist as a concept at least.

Even the concept of "nothing" is a concept.

Dear Poirot,

Isn't the tooth-fairy a female?

Creating concepts for our convenience cannot change Reality.

God is not a concept and anyway, I don't know anyone who believes that God exists, but is a concept, as in "a concept created heaven and earth"...

Our minds cannot grasp God, so a concept of God is useful in helping us to focus our feeble minds on worship. Whether our concept is male or female, human or animal, is personal - whatever works best. Hinduism has many concepts of gods to choose from, many of those having four arms: does it actually mean that God has four arms? What nonsense! But if one concentrates better on their worship when they imagine a 4-armed deity, then that's probably the best for them.

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Dear George,

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I am sorry to have taken so long to get back to you.

Thank you for your explanations.

What I think is relevant in the case of Einstein, which you mention, is that while he is reported to have been a fairly average student during his youth, it is reported that his fascination for physics and mathematics incited him to study at the prestigious Zürich Polytechnic, resulting in his later scientific achievements.

I do not see this, as you suggest, as being “ … irrelevant to the usefulness or “truthfulness” of his relativity theory”. Quite the contrary. I see a distinctive evolutionary “time line” drawn from his early elementary studies as a youth to his brilliant scientific achievements later in life. The latter would certainly not have been possible without the former.

I see a similar evolutionary “time line” between the animist religions of primeval man, five to seven million years ago, and our far more sophisticated religions of the 21st century.

Naturally, there is a huge difference between the two, just as there was between Einstein, the turbulent, dissipated pupil, and Einstein the scientific genius.

As regards conceptual errors, or errors of conception, I am afraid they are very common in everyday life. They are to be found in all human activity: the construction industry, the pharmaceutical industry, the automobile industry, manufacturing industries. Everywhere where there is creation, design, research and development, consultancy, professional advice and representation, etc.

Conceptual errors and the corresponding responsibilities generate considerable activity in the legal professions, the judiciary, and the insurance and risk management industries.

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