So have I. This isn't from personal experience, but from people like Richard Dawkins and others who have likely met a great deal more Atheists than you or I, and have dedicated much more time finding out just what the most common "trends" in thought are.



The point I'm making is that there are a lot of things that haven't been "ruled out" by scientists. They haven't ruled out that the Flying Spaghetti Monster didn't create the Universe, or that there isn't a small china teapot orbiting the sun. Nothing has to be ruled out unless it is determined to be an option. There is no evidence FOR Intelligent Design, so why should anyone HAVE to rule it out?

I never said that science has all the answers. They do, however, have many of them, and they have the most accurate method for finding them: The Scientific Method.



And you quote only the first paragraph of two because...? We are drawn to mate. You admit it yourself. I know we have the power to overcome our instincts, and evidently should have stated so. I never said we are mechanical, and HAVE to follow our baser instincts, but simply that they ARE our baser instincts, because they have to be.



pur⋅pose
  /ˈpɜrpəs/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [pur-puhs] Show IPA noun, verb, -posed, -pos⋅ing.
–noun
1. the reason for which something exists or is done, made, used, etc.
2. an intended or desired result; end; aim; goal.

By definition 1, we have no purpose other than that which I stated. We exist because our parents (respectively) mated. We exist to do the same.

By definition 2, there is no ultimate purpose, and your statement is correct. Only we as individuals can determine our own purpose.

However, we've addressed two different definitions in our respective posts, and the disagreement is one of semantics rather than philosophy.

As would I. I never said, nor meant to imply, that we HAVE to follow our instincts. I was stating that they are what they are.

I don't want to get into all of that AGAIN. I have been posting about that on the other thread for days.

But I assert that there is evidence for intelligent design at work in this universe. I will go so far as to say I presented proof of that.

But then there was also a question of what is 'evidence' and what constitutes 'proof.'

But you had to be there. It is all in the other thread.

..personally i think we are her by happenstance,and nothing more,the conditions were right,and we were formed like anything and everything else..
..as far as beliefs,they have differed over the years..and every year it seems a new theory,and new followers like any other..
..i don't think anyone will ever know for sure how we came to be,therefore i see no reason to speculate,
..no matter what you choose others will differ,and as far as debating what ever comes from that..the answer..no..just usually further and endless debate..
..seems to be a whole lot of energy and thought spent on something no one will solve..let alone in a dating site...jmo

Debate is an opportunity to learn. It may never be possible to determine how the Universe began, but it's interesting to speculate, dammit. Who cares where it happens?

You should read Abracadabra's argument against happenstance. I think he has that idea disproved.

Its in the other thread about evidence of a designer.

Oh... I'm sorry.. Is this a dating site?

we are all just stardust....
from chaos comes order,,and from order comes chaos..

Yep if you don't believe that come look at my house.

(But its mostly chaos.)

Of course if I didn't do anything about it, chaos it would remain.

Therefore, I am using some intelligence to create some order today.

Poor analogy. Your house and the items in it may seem chaotic on a macroscopic level, but the items themselves, you, your house, etc. are rather VERY ordered. Even before intelligent labor turned trees into a house they were ordered into a living organism. The bottom line is that you're looking at the wrong things.

It was a joke, Jack.

It may have been phrased as a joke, but you've used that analogy to demonstrate a point already. It's irrelevant. Just because one thinks that order cannot come from chaos doesn't make it so. The entire Universe is counter-intuitive in its behavior.

Interesting viewpoint. But then, all viewpoints are different, by definition.

Why would you believe that? Where is your evidence for that?

If order comes from chaos it is because IT IS DESIGNED TO DO SO.

And this conclusion is based on.........?

Quantum Mechanics. String Theory/M-Theory. General and Special Relativity. Need I go on?

Parroting 'quantum mechanics' 'string theory' 'general and special relativity' proves NOTHING. What do you take me for?

A lifetime of contemplating the subject.

you and me baby aint nothin but mammals
so lets do it like they do it
on the discovery channel...

lol