Atheist Religiphobia #1: Fear of Believing Anything At All About Gods

[intaglio]

62. Yes, I completely disagree

The author is attempting to confuse and muddy the waters about knowledge using philosophical concepts.

Let's start with "perfectly good" which does not mean what it says, it actually means "good enough to work with on a day to day basis". Next comes "knowledge beliefs", two words that should not be used together because you either know because something has been demonstrated to you or you believe; if it cannot be demonstrated, your knowledge is a belief.

I can demonstrate that a solution of salt in water will evolve 2 gases when electrolysed. Those 2 gases will have the characteristics of hydrogen and chlorine; I can also show that the remaining liquid will have become more alkaline and that alkali has the properties associated with sodium hydroxide. I can demonstrate that falling bodies are accelerated at 9.8 m/s and that sweet peas follow Mendelian laws. It is possible for me to demonstrate that the tides follow a pattern associated with the orbit of the moon and that a heliocentric solar system is simpler to predict than a geocentric one.

On the other hand I have only had it demonstrated to me that relativity and quantum mechanics are effective theories, I cannot demonstrate it to you. If you choose my unsupported word about those theories then they become a belief with the caveat that it is entirely possible for you to seek out demonstrations of those effects.

Then there is the contention

Our knowledge of mathematical truths is even more certain than scientific beliefs

Which is wrong in every single respect. The term "mathematical truth" is a deception because mathematics does not define "truth", it shows postulates are either provable, unprovable or false within the system of rules used for the mathematics concerned. Similarly "science" does not deal with beliefs, it deals with propositions that become hypotheses that become the theories; every stage involves tests for consistency and verification.

Beliefs cannot be tested or demonstrated - that is why they are beliefs. You might believe that there is a deity but you cannot demonstrate it. People have asserted to me that there is a deity and I have made quite a search for verification over the years and never have I found one iota of such verification.