pantheory

Yeah, you need a place of your own, keeping the friends that will not be a bad influence on you, and eventually a job that you like. I don't believe you need to tell anyone that you're an atheist excepting for a wife and one or two good friends if you wish. Others will be able to tell you're a changed man and atheist by the good choices you make in life, by your worthy ambitions, and by your friendly and happy disposition It was maybe 5 years after becoming an atheist before I told my parents of my beliefs, and still am not sure it was the right thing to do. If you wish to do so I think it wi

The link did not say that a proven theory would or could be improved upon! But I'll provide some examples anyway. Proven theory Examples. Simple example: (proven theory) The Earth is round. But not exactly round. It's polar radii are about 13+ miles less than its equatorial radii and its circumference varies by about 41 miles. More complicated example: (proven theory) Evolution works via natural selection. But natural selection is not the only known factor of evolution even though the other known factors are believed to be of less importa

I gave you a "like" above because of the effort you put into it which means to me that your intent was good. But our argument was whether a scientific theory can be proven or not. I expect you will find many scientific sources saying, for various reasons, that theories cannot be proven. On the other hand there are other scientific sources asserting that scientific theories can be proven as well as rejected or discarded. Those that believe that they certainly can be proven require that the theory in question, and the proof of it, must meet certain criteria. For instance every aspec

Someday through viable DNA extraction methods maybe one or more of these extinct species might be brought back to existence by such great preservation like this ice-age bear, Jurassic park revisited.

Yea, it's an interesting, almost cartoon-like drawing. Like dogs as protectors of the home and hunting assistants, cats made good pets because they kept the rats and mice away from destroying and bringing disease to food stores, as well as eliminating rodents from the home. Like dogs, they can be house broken. Most are not very good at being trained, but they are cute, affectionate, and can be easily domesticated when raised from a kitten. The first evidence of their domestication was in Mesopotamia about 12,000 BC, and about 4,000 BC in Egypt where they were well loved and someti

I was referring to the aspect of the forum whereby Christians and lurkers might get the wrong impression of some postings providing support for their own religious beliefs. My belief is to present the evidence, or lack thereof, and facts the best that you know of, without having an ulterior motive for one's postings. Let the cards fall accordingly.

Others in the past have mentioned this aspect of the forum which you mention but I think each topic should stand for itself without necessarily interjecting purposeful motives into postings. If one thinks wrong conclusions by readers could occur, then I think more exact postings of clarification might be made, as both of us have done in this thread.

You are epistomologically correct But how about the theory that the Earth is round. Pathagorus about 500 BC proposed the hypothesis that the Earth is round. About 300 BC in Alexandria an experiment was conducted based upon shadows to estimate the diameter of the Earth, adding evidence to the Pathagorian hypothesis making it a theory. Even In the time of Columbus there were still those who believed the Earth was flat. Even though today there are still flat-Earthers, don't you think the Earth Is Round theory has been proven?

Yes, epistemology is more correct language than proof of theory. But as I said before, some theories can be proven, no? When Copernicus came up with his theory that the Earth rotates around the sun instead of the other way around, don't you think that his theory has been proven? --------------And that it is no longer theory but fact?

Of course I could have said that most believe that Einstein has been proven right, or I could have said, most believe that the theory of warped space cannot be verified. Most scientists would say that theories can be falsified but not proven. The statement that a theory has been proven generally correct, generally means that it has not as yet been contradicted. In common language we ask how can that theory be proven? It's just a matter of semantics. Of course in time some theories can be proven such as the theory that the Earth was round and orbited the sun, instead of being the ce

Yes, gravity is not a force according to Einstein's theory of General Relativity. Einstein's related equations have been tested for over a hundred years now and so far there are no accepted contradictions to them. But Einstein's rationale for his equations was the idea that matter warps space. Many believe this idea has not been proven. We know that gravity bends light to some extent. Newton also predicted that gravity bent light, but Newton only predicted half the bending of light that Einstein predicted, and Einstein has been proven right concerning his equations. There is no evidence that s

Thanks Weezer

I think we're generally lucky here in the X-Christ forum in that I've seen few corkscrew type Christians commenting here. We are not an easy flock to shepherd away.

Your link discusses the BGV theorem. Allen Guth, of the BGV theorem, was a founder of Inflation theory. The BGV theorem states that while "eternal inflation" could last forever into the future, it still had to have some type of beginning to it. Not that I understand much of such Inflation theories, or agree with expanding universe theories, I think that Penrose's version is a little different. His idea is that as the universe expands to the point where matter no longer exists, both time, space, and distances would no longer have meanings to them and therefore would not exist. In th

This is a common wide-spread belief, that humans are either not smart enough or presently not knowledgeable enough to figure out the mysteries of the universe in just a century, for instance. IMO humans are smart enough, but the GroupThink undercurrents have F'ed up modern physics theory so much that little of it remains valid. Scientists have not necessarily wasted their time by their research since a number of great discoveries have been made. Technology, for instance, continuously progresses, mostly to the advantage of mankind IMO. It is just that many of the conclusions of scie