LHC Forces Bookmaker To Lower Odds On the Existence of God 457
A UK bookmaker has lowered the odds on proving that god exists to just 4-1 to coincide with the switching on of the Large Hadron Collider. The chance that physicists might discover the elusive sub-atomic object called the "God particle" has forced the odds lower. Initially the odds that proof would be found of God's existence were 20-1, and they lengthened to 33-1 when the multi-billion pound atom smasher was shut down temporarily because of a magnetic failure. A spokesman for Paddy Power said, "The atheists' planned advertising campaign seems to have renewed the debate in pubs and around office water-coolers as to whether there is a God and we've seen some of that being transferred into bets. However we advise anyone still not sure of God's existence to maybe hedge their bets for now, just in case." He added that confirmation of God's existence would have to be verified by scientists and given by an independent authority before any payouts were made. Everyone getting a payout is encouraged to tithe at least ten percent.
But then, proof that a proof is proof ... (Score:3, Informative)
At least, that was the case in pre-modern times.
CC.
UK? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Hahaha (Score:5, Informative)
Uh ... what?
They certainly CAN prove that God exists ... if he really does. It would be a rather simple matter. A big bearded guy in a white robe would come strolling into the main research lab of the LHC, wave his hand in the air, and atomize 99% of the scientists in the room. The remaining 1% would then say "Eureka! We have evidence of God's existence!", and then the Paddy Power people would expediently relocate to Mexico as armed mobs stormed their offices.
It's the other bit of your proposition that's rather difficult to handle. Disproving the existence of God is still possible, in theory. Unfortunately, in practice, you can never totally disprove an irrational belief because those who hold it can always change the details in order to get around the evidence. That's why, over time, we've gone from a Pantheon of Gods who controlled pretty much every event in our lives, to a single God who seems to never do much of anything. Over the last few millenia we've chipped away at God's domain until almost nothing remains, and yet at every step of the way the "faithful" of the world have simply modified their definition of God, and then carried on inanely insisting that their current definition is 100% true.
So no, we can't "prove" that God doesn't exist for the same reason that you'll never convince some people that Homeopathy is garbage, or that Psychics are a bunch of jackals and scam-artists. However, for all practical purposes, we've been disproving his/her/their existence for centuries. You just have to be open-minded enough to actually look at the evidence.
Re:Hahaha (Score:2, Informative)
Praying to God for something physically impossible, and then for it to happen. If the sun stopped in the sky if, and only if, the Pope and 100,000 people prayed for it, that would be pretty convincing. A God who existed, and intervened regularly, would be easy to prove. It is the non-existence of God that cannot be prove: there can always be some chink of the Universe where you have not looked.
Universal Cold Death (Score:2, Informative)
Of course you can prove that god doesn't exist.
Dead bodies don't rise from the dead.
People can't walk on top of water without cheating.
No one can ascend to the heavens without cheating by using technology.
Omniscience isn't possible given the speed of "c".
The same goes for omnipresence and omnipotence.
Omnipotence also violates the second law of thermodynamics.
The list goes on and on and on. So many scientific theories and laws of mother nature provide direct testable evidence that no gods are possible in objective reality.
It doesn't even take accurate scientific theories to prove god doesn't exist. Newton's Laws work just fine... Einstein just puts the nail in gods coffin.
Remember valid scientific theories tell you as much about what is possible as they tell you about what is NOT possible.
Newton proves that it's not possible for a human being to jump from the Earth to the Moon without the aid of technology.
Face it, god is a belief stricken faith based delusional myth that has gripped and stolen the lives of a huge portion of humanity.
It's easy to see what happens after death: we rot and are eaten by bugs and scavengers or we are consumed by fire on Earth. No magical ride to the pearly gates. No utopia awaits. Not even blackness for once your bio-electro-chemical brain functions and cell functions cease you're dead and can no longer perceive nada. No magical "soul" that leaves your body... just a cessation of the biological processes that provide you with the illusion that you are you. In fact you are many billions of cooperating cells that simply stop.
Delusional fantasies of an afterlife for each of us after our deaths only provide comfort against the harsh realities of nature.
Live your life to the fullest. Live your life minimizing the harm you do to others - preferably no harm to others. Don't support others who would harm others.
What is your purpose in life? Other than survival life has whatever purpose and meaning that you choose for it, even if it's a delusional fantasy. It's just better - in my humble opinion - to live one's life closer to objective reality than living it with delusional belief stricken delusions that stifle one's thinking requiring one to suspend critical thinking just because on hopes that the universe will spare each of us our own personal universal cold death.
Peace.
Oh, and if you want to have your "faith" - aka stupidity - in magic then fine be stupid and believe all you want in magical invisible non-existent mythological super beings all you want, just don't make anyone else join your death cult.
Remember to kill god if you see him for he has a large list of crimes against humanity stacked up.
Two billion euro turnover - five grand book (Score:2, Informative)
Paddy Power's annual turnover is in the region of two billion euros; they have a huge internet presence and a healthy telephone business; they run 248 betting shops including 187 in Ireland, where gambling is virtually a religion and religion is actually taken seriously.
After two months trading, they have taken only five thousand pounds on this book. They take more than that in five minutes for a low-grade dog race on a wet Wednesday afternoon.
This is just a publicity stunt by a bookmaker known for this sort of thing.
Re:Hahaha (Score:5, Informative)
Your example is not proof that God exists. How do we know that this beardy man in a white robe is not merely a psychotic alien with a destructor ray?
Re:Proving God sucks (Score:2, Informative)
"you can check buddhism : since the world only exists as part of the mind of people, it is not possible for people to cause accidents due to "not knowing" something, since they know about the entire world. So dig a hold in the sidewalk, camouflage it, and if someone falls into it you're sure buddhism is wrong."
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I don't know almost anything about Islam, but I consider myself a Buddhist and I like to study its philosophy. I've never heard any authority claiming that the world exists only as a part of people's mind. Of course claiming that 'it is not possible for people to cause accidents due to "not knowing" something' goes against what is phenomenally evident so no Buddhist authority would ever claim it.
Maybe you have misunderstood some point of the Buddhist philosophy. I sincerely hope you can soon reach understanding of it.
Why Won't God Heal Amputees ? (Score:2, Informative)