Why there is almost certainly no god

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Why there is almost certainly no god

• Chris Worfolk

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Rationalist Week 2007

• First of, let me introduce myself
• Were in the tent all week
• Talks and debate in the evening
• Free food and drink
• Webcasts coming soon

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Yes, Im an atheist

• Its ok to believe there is no god
• Being a scientist does not make you agnostic
• After all, its ok for rationalists to be wrong

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Introduction

• Origins of the title
• Why almost certainly
• Other than that, its fact

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The Realm of Science

• Scientific methodology
• Burden of proof
• Otherwise we would believe in everything
• Flying Spaghetti Monster

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Debunking the arguments

• Pascals Wager
• Ontological Argument

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The Uncaused Universe

• Something must have caused the universe, what
  else could it be except God?
• If true, something must have caused God
• The cause and effect laws may only apply inside
  the universe which the creation of the universe
  did not happen in
• As we can't prove they apply outside the
  universe, this clearly isn't evidence of God's
  existence

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The Complex Universe

• The universe is so complex that it must have
  been created
• This statement implies that complexity implies
  design
• If God created the universe, God must therefore
  be more complex than the universe and therefore
  something must have created God

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The Complex Universe

• The universe could have been at this forever
  having Big Bang'ed and Big Crunch'ed forever
  beforehand

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Kicking God when hes down

• The rock problem
• Changing mind problem
• Argument of free will
• The problem of evil
• Argument from poor design

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You should never meet your hero

• God isnt the nicest guy ever
• He sends people to Hell
• Bad, bad things happen in this life

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Lets look at the evidence

• Hes not here
• The 30 second god test
• He only talks to those who accept he believes
  first
• Coherent theories and multiple religions
• Which god is the true god anyway?

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Another explanation for God

• The psychology of belief
• Education up, religion down
• An extension of childhood friends
• The worship of gaps

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Conclusion

• There is no god
• Even if there is, hes going to laugh at theists
• The arguments for a god are debunked
• The arguments against god go unanswered
• Let it go, give it up, and lets make the one
  life we do have, better for everyone