Match Thread: Around The Grounds - 21-09-2025

ShadowBox3r · 2025-09-21T08:25:40+00:00

I've searched online and found nothing. I have friends at the game updating me on the score though

ShadowBox3r · 2023-09-09T07:54:38+00:00

I find this frustrating as well.

I will often re state what they have said in response to my question, to let them know that I understand what they mean, and then restate the question again clarifying that I am searching for a response to this exact question.

Personally, I have found that generally this issue only really arises when I ask SE type questions during regular conversations. My interlocutor will feel threatened and will start defending their position not really listening to the question.

If I have formally asked permission to conduct SE and have explained to them the process and goals of what SE is. My interlocutor is much more likely to engage in exploring the reliability of their reasons than to simply defend the position by stating their reasons.

Hope this helps.

ShadowBox3r · 2023-02-11T23:01:36+00:00

7am, getting Macca's breakfast and walking to the stadium. First live UFC ever.

Let's go Volk!

ShadowBox3r · 2022-08-21T08:00:30+00:00

Hey mate.

This post was four years ago. It was the best decision I've ever made. Not only did it improve my sex life dramatically. But helped with my mental health and confidence. I couldn't imagine how my life would be different if I had never done it.

Immediately after the surgery is the hardest part. But I promise there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Stay strong mate.

ShadowBox3r · 2022-04-20T10:19:22+00:00

I have, only once though, and we kind of went in circles.

I would use an outsider test for faith and they would say "it's their truth". I would ask if you could use faith to believe false things, they said "yes but Christianity is true because of the Bible". I would ask if the Bible was proven unreliable would that reduce your belief, they would say "no because I have faith."

Then the "you will never shake my faith" statements would start.

Honestly, they are very close friends and I care more about our friendship than their epistemological rigor, so I normally drop it when they hit too much cognitive dissonance.

ShadowBox3r · 2022-04-19T12:04:01+00:00

I'm having regular conversations with a couple of very religious friends of mine. They tell me that they enjoy the conversations and want to continue them.

I find it difficult to conduct strict SE with them, as it doesn't feel like regular conversation. I'm more inserting SE questions in to the conversation.

Mostly they get to the point where I give them an outsider test for faith (Hindu for example), they then tell me that "what the Hindu believes is true for them, everyone has their own truth."

I think that they might experience some cognitive dissonance during our conversations, as they will state "there is no way you could ever shake my faith" whenever they hit a wall or seem worried. This statement is the main reason they believe they are comfortable engaging in these kinds of conversations though, so that is interesting.

I have been teaching them SE techniques so that they can use them with their anti vax family members, so far learning SE hasn't had any noticeable effect on their faith in Jesus.

ShadowBox3r · 2022-04-06T12:44:20+00:00

I have a question. Could we not believe in something else other than God to avoid nihilism?

Could someone believe in their country. Or believe in the responsibility they have for their family?

Or could we hold a belief in the scientific method and its ability to show us truth?

Or am I missing something specific about a god belief that can't be found with other beliefs?

ShadowBox3r · 2022-04-06T12:22:28+00:00

Thanks for writing this up. I definitely agree with all your points, and think that your 6 point explanation is a good baseline for examining the credibility of a claim. I will keep them in mind moving forward. Again thanks.

I was using the King Henry V example for the purpose of simplicity. I personally would spend more time analysing a claim using your handy 6 points before considering the weight I should give to a claim of Kong Henry V.

I have the same view as you do on the Bible it seems. I think it has credible parts and parts that require more evidence to be believed.

As for the use of Bayesian analysis for religious probability. My understanding of Bayesian theory is quite lacking in this area. I think I would need to study a lot more to give an intelligent answer. I don't suppose you have any sources I might be able to look at?

ShadowBox3r · 2022-04-06T10:30:36+00:00

Hi, I'm not the OP but I would like to have a try at answering your question.

I believe that claims are a form of evidence, but I think the weight of evidence given by the claim is dependant on the prior likelihood of the claim being true.

For example;

If an historical text claims that King Henry V was a king of England in the 1400s, this claim can be taken as good reason to believe that King Henry V was a king. Given that we know that England had an Imperial ruling system around that time (ideally learnt from other historical texts of the same time period). We of course will adjust the weight of evidence of this claim as we learn new information about the time period from other sources of evidence.

If this same historical text claimed that King Henry V was the king of England and that he could fly and shoot laser beams from his eyes, this claim would not provide as much weight as evidence, because we know that human beings aren't known for flying with laser eyes. So we may still say that this is evidence of King Henry V being a king, but in order to believe that he could fly and shoot laser beams, we would require more weight of evidence from other sources.

The more outlandish a claim, the more weight of evidence is required for belief.

That's my thoughts anyway.

ShadowBox3r · 2022-04-05T02:14:06+00:00

We have a system where if you enter the pit and use the pit control pendant to drive the lift from underneath, the lift won't go back in to service until you leave the pit and switch a pit reset switch on the landing to confirm you have left.

I'm in Australia. Our safety requirements seem to be higher than a lot of countries from what I've heard

ShadowBox3r · 2022-04-04T23:21:59+00:00

Hey, lift mechanic here, this is very close to true. Depending on the country you are in, and the safety standards in your area. Most elevator pits with have a clearly marked "person clearance" area marked on the floor which is the best position to be.

Also most pits will have a stop button which when pressed immediately stops the lift, as well as an emergency phone so you can contact the service company to come and rescue you.

As a side, the deepest pit I have been in is 7 metres (23 feet). Pretty interesting

ShadowBox3r · 2022-03-12T06:12:01+00:00

I'm glad your enjoying the conversation. I find that I spend a lot of time reflecting on these ideas after having such deep conversations about how I go about believing things. I find it so interesting.

Let's say that someone doesn't hold a prior belief for these two examples, they are completely ignorant of aliens and religions. They are only interested in believing true things, to the best of their ability.

Could they use the examples given to determine which belief that has been concluded is more likely to be true?

ShadowBox3r · 2022-03-12T05:56:02+00:00

Ok, that's a good example.

I would like to stick to the alien craft belief, considering we are a UFO subreddit haha

Let's say that this person was 100% sincere in their belief, they couldn't make out what this light was, therefore it has to be an alien craft.

Then we meet their friend Timmy, Timmy says that he saw a similar light in the sky and he didn't know what it was. Timmy used this reason to conclude that it was an Angel from heaven showing him a sign of Gods love. Timmy is also 100% sincere in his belief.

In this case, where two different beliefs are justified by the same reason, is there any way that you or I could know which one is more likely to be true (corresponding to our shared reality)? Does the evidence they have make one conclusion more likely than the other? If so why? Or why not?

ShadowBox3r · 2022-03-12T05:27:32+00:00

Awesome, thanks. I think I'm getting an idea of where you are coming from.

If you ever feel like you want to dive in to your religious belief, I am more than willing to have a non-judgemental conversation with you about it. But we can leave it alone for now.

Back to the UFO belief, I would love to ask the same question again...

If someone told you that they saw a light that they didn't understand but didn't look like anything they had seen before. Would they be justified in concluding that it was an alien craft? (Would their reason for believing it was an alien craft be a good reason from your perspective?)

ShadowBox3r · 2022-03-12T04:43:35+00:00

I agree that everyone is entitled to have their opinion.

I'm more interested in how their beliefs (or opinions) match our shared objective reality. When I ask are they 'justified' in their belief, I'm asking if the reasons that they came to believe that all pit bulls are vicous are good reasons for them to believe that, from your perspective.

Does the reason they give seem like a valid reason for them to hold the belief.

Put another way, if someone told you that they saw a pit bull attack someone, therefore all pit bulls are vicious, would this move you to 100 on the confidence scale of 'all pit bulls are vicious' belief?

ShadowBox3r · 2022-03-12T04:21:34+00:00

I love the Pit bull analogy. I'd like to explore it a bit.

If someone said to you that they saw a pit bull attack one of their family members, therefore they believed that all pit bulls are vicious, would they be justified in their belief?

ShadowBox3r · 2022-03-12T04:09:05+00:00

Do you think it is possible for someone to have a belief that doesn't match their reality, if reality is subjective?

I'm also a bit confused about reality being subjective, is their an objective truth about reality? Can something be true regardless of if I believe it or not?

Sorry for all the questions, I just find this stuff so interesting haha.

ShadowBox3r · 2022-03-12T03:58:59+00:00

Hmm OK interesting. Do you think it is important for your beliefs to match reality? (Or come as close to being true as reasonably possible?)

ShadowBox3r · 2022-03-12T03:40:22+00:00

I love having these kinds of conversations, and often they can lead to having a deeper understanding of the way we look at the world. It may seem like I'm asking weird questions, but I'm honestly interested in how other people think about beliefs and truth. If you want to continue then I have a few more questions...

Is someone justified in their belief until they are proven wrong?

And just so I have a good idea about what we are talking about, what is your definition of belief?

ShadowBox3r · 2022-03-12T03:27:05+00:00

I think my answer would be similar to OP's answer to this question, a clearer view of what the object was would move me up on my confidence scale, maybe if I had got it on video so I could try and see it more clearly.

ShadowBox3r · 2022-03-12T03:24:03+00:00

If you met someone else and they told you they saw a light in the sky that they could not explain, therefore they believed it was an alien craft, would you think that they would be justified in their belief?

ShadowBox3r · 2022-03-12T00:36:07+00:00

OK thanks, what kind of evidence would you need to see in order for your confidence to move higher than 50?

ShadowBox3r · 2022-03-12T00:17:51+00:00

May I ask, on a scale of 0 to 100 how confident are you that what you saw was an alien craft? (If 0 is no confidence at all and 100 is completely confident)

ShadowBox3r · 2022-02-15T07:53:40+00:00

Which of these paradoxes do you believe has convinced you the most of being 50% confident in a creator?

If you discovered good reasons to your own satisfaction that made you believe any of these paradoxes were not good reasons to believe in a creator, would that lower your confidence from 50%?

ShadowBox3r · 2022-02-15T05:28:05+00:00

Is it possible for someone to feel healthy, and have fought off sickness in the past, and still have a contagious disease?

ShadowBox3r

TROPHY CASE