PLAYBOY INTERVIEW: RICHARD DAWKINS

[dmallind]

20. Well kind of

Yes there are near infinite possibilities. Possibilities of infinitesimal probability, but possibilities. The basic "Matrix" premise is a possibility. Alien bioengineering is a possibility. Divine ex nihilo creation is a possibility. Moebius universal loops are a possibility. But not all possibilities are equal or equally worth bothering with. Any possibility to be worthy of anything other than bar-room woolgathering needs to have evidence or cogent inductively valid argument as a supporting basis. Divine creation lacks any that could not also be applied to the possibility of the Matrix being true.

I would suggest that it is not challenges to but reasons for religion and theology that become discussions of anthropology though. You're setting up special pleading argument if you think any theological claim is any more in a position to be challenged than the Matrix premise. It needs to be established as a valid explicative theory before challenging it becomes necessary. Divine action is not the null hypothesis that stands if all else fails and must be rejected above any other option, no matter how fond believers often are of gods in gaps. It is simply a remarkably common idea arising from human pattern-seeking and sentience.