Belief And Unbelief

Is it possible to prove or disprove the existence of God- or indeed of any supernatural entity? Of course not. Human beings have been trying all through history- and have yet to come up with anything that holds water- which doesn't stop us- believers and unbelievers alike- from parading our certainties and pouring scorn- or worse- on the opposition.

A belief in God is ridiculous. So is atheism. Because in the final analysis it is ridiculous that anything exists. Even if the Hadron collider eventually establishes the "how" of the Big Bang, it won't be telling us "why". Did Mind produce Matter or did Matter produce Mind?  Both positions are equally plausible/implausible. You choose- if you do choose and your position isn't simply inherited or indoctrinated-  on grounds of intellectual fashion or aesthetic preference,  but not on grounds of  reason or evidence. Reason doesn't stretch that far and there is evidence- unsatisfactory, inconclusive evidence- on both sides. Mary saw a ghost; John says she can't have done because ghosts don't exist. Which of them should you trust? 

I think belief in God (don't ask me to define the word) makes life more interesting. And I notice that Richard Dawkins makes exactly the same claim for his disbelief. 

A Footnote To The Previous Post

Tony Robinson was investigating the paranormal on TV last week. At one point a professional sceptic offered to show  how spiritualist seances were worked. A bunch of stooges sat round a table in total darkness, the "medium" called for a spirit to manifest itself  and the "medium"'s assistant came in- soundlessly-  and moved some objects around.

This was supposed to prove that the famous, physical medium, Helen Duncan- who sat in semi darkness and produced ectoplasmic manifestations of actual, dead people- was a fake. 

When Robinson pointed out there was a certain disparity between knocking things over in the dark and producing walking, talking spooks, he was told that Duncan's sitters were obviously imagining things. 

Ah, but of course.