Rise of atheism: 100,000 Brits seek 'de-baptism'

[appolose]

donathos said:

appolose said:

 

 But you said it was the only one we could take justifiably, which would mean the only one.  And what makes it the best, anyways?

EDIT: Oh, just a second, donathos.  I didn't see you're other reply.

EDIT 2: Nevermind, this will be fine.

"Justifiably" not "possibly."  And "best" seems to be the word that you've used (But I do not see why the one that best explains the situation), but beyond that, my reply to you does attempt to address the standard of "best" here:

donathos said:

But Occam's Razor is concerned with what is "best" to do:

We live in a world with competing theories on various subjects, and we must choose which of those theories to adopt as our own.  The reason we must so choose is because 1) there are things that we want, and 2) we must make decisions.  When confronted with a situation in which we must make a choice, generally one choice will bring us closer to that which we want, others less so.

The choices we make will ultimately depend on what we believe to be true--the theories we've selected, whether consciously or unconsciously.  We are able to make "good" choices (leading us closer to what we want) in so far as our theories accurately describe reality.  The better our theories, the better our chances of making the right decisions.

Is this unsatisfactory?

Though, really, my mission here wasn't to prove Occam's Razor to you (because, like I said, Occam's Razor will rely on certain principles that I already know that you disavow... as will claims that the sky is blue or the earth is round ;), just to make clear what Occam's Razor is and how it operates.

But you did say, "...the most simple solution is the only one we're justified in adopting".

In any event, I understand the need to make a choice, it's just that I don't think Occam's razor is any help.  Of course, if you say Occam's razor depends on things I've denied, then I guess I shouldn't bother arguing this specifically.

...you know there's a sky? ;)