I'm so glad that God was put onto that list at #1.

I love the fact that at this point in time, at this day and age, with the scientific knowledge at our fingertips that we can access at any computer connected to the internet, the belief in God is the biggest reason given to deny anything that the apparent word of God says. God said that he created man, so Evolution must be incorrect. The Bible says that God made the universe, sun, moon and Earth in six days, so the hell with science and it's 12 billion year old universe.

Believing anyone about what awaits them in the afterlife makes as much sense as believing a five year old explain about what it was like to live during the age of dinosaurs.

DarthBart: Girion47: alwaysjaded: Listverse. Every time I go to that website I spend more time there than I intended. Especially the strange ones.

And I don't know how I feel about intuition. I'm naturally skeptical about most things but I've had far too many, uh, "sudden intense feelings" about something happening for me to just dismiss it.

confirmation bias.

I knew someone would say that.

and I had a feeling that someone would quote me.

'Democrats are tolerant people open to others' political believes and they donate waaaaay more of their income to the poor(actually this has been proven false) and never make racist, sexist or homophobic comments and totally believe in 'live-and-let-live'' mysteriously absent.

FlyingLizardOfDoom: Great Janitor: I'm so glad that God was put onto that list at #1.

I love the fact that at this point in time, at this day and age, with the scientific knowledge at our fingertips that we can access at any computer connected to the internet, the belief in God is the biggest reason given to deny anything that the apparent word of God says. God said that he created man, so Evolution must be incorrect. The Bible says that God made the universe, sun, moon and Earth in six days, so the hell with science and it's 12 billion year old universe.

Believing anyone about what awaits them in the afterlife makes as much sense as believing a five year old explain about what it was like to live during the age of dinosaurs.

The hebraic word for day is better translated "a period of time greater than in an instant but smaller than eternity".

That would never have happened in English back in the day.

How fundies will see this list
Religious Texts is #2 & God #1 in America!

No mention of gravity? Is it because more people believe in aliens than gravity?

If psychic mediums worked, there are so many practical uses beyond turning up at provincial theatres and talking to Sid and Doris Bonkers about grandad.

Mathematicians would have asked them to call Fermat to explain the proof of his last Theorem that he never bothered to write down. Historians would ask Glenn Miller what happened to him. We would now have the autobiographies of Julius Caesar and Alexander the Great. And most notably, the clear up rate for anonymous murders (like the Zodiac killer) would be much higher because victims would be able to give a name or description of their killer.

11) Retarded political wharrgarbl

Great Janitor: I'm so glad that God was put onto that list at #1.

I love the fact that at this point in time, at this day and age, with the scientific knowledge at our fingertips that we can access at any computer connected to the internet, the belief in God is the biggest reason given to deny anything that the apparent word of God says. God said that he created man, so Evolution must be incorrect. The Bible says that God made the universe, sun, moon and Earth in six days, so the hell with science and it's 12 billion year old universe.

Believing anyone about what awaits them in the afterlife makes as much sense as believing a five year old explain about what it was like to live during the age of dinosaurs.

But here's the thing people love to argue and not understand. Yes, we as Christians believe God created the universe and everything in it. The question is not yes He did or no he did not that we argue. It is how He did it. Some argue that He created them all in literal 7 days. Others believe that 7 days was a way we, as humans, can understand His power. There are concepts of how we think God sees our timeline. The one I like to think is that he sees our timeline as if He is viewing it from outside of time and sees it all at once. Every branch and every choice, the past, present and future. This allows Him to see and know everything. Giving that, which can explain His all knowing, all powerful, ever presents, we can also say that if science says evolution is true, why can we not say God himself guided life the way He saw fit.

It actually is more simple seeing that those who believe say for certain but those who don't say other wise. But there is a common ground we both can share and say it is possible that we are both correct then out right say that one is wrong, for lack of "proof" and the other is right cause man says so. To me, both origins have a lack of actual proof and both are taken on faith.

alwaysjaded: Listverse. Every time I go to that website I spend more time there than I intended. Especially the strange ones.

And I don't know how I feel about intuition. I'm naturally skeptical about most things but I've had far too many, uh, "sudden intense feelings" about something happening for me to just dismiss it.

Assume it's your hind brain and other less than consciousness levels of your brain acting. Like a thought equivalent of a reflex? That's always been my assumption.

Also: why does everyone always say the earth is 'an insignificant backwater'? I mean, what's that based on?

FlyingLizardOfDoom: PsyLord: 10) God
9) God
8) God
7) God
6) God
5) God
4) God
3) God
2) God
1) God

/ducks

You can't disprove his/her existance either.

And so it begins...

Leeds: I believe in one of those 10 things- Intuition.

Intuition is most certainly real. It's based on subtle factors that we don't focus on directly and don't realize that we perceive. If a guy is swallows hard when you ask him if he killed his wife, you might not specifically notice it, but your subconscious certainly did. When enough of those things add up your subconscious indicates that it intuitively believes the guy to have killed his wife.

The other 9 are all batshiate crazy and people who believe those things are cognitively damaged. But intuition is certainly real- just don't read too much into it.

I liken it to catching a ball. If you were to do the calculus necessary to make a robotic hand catch a thrown ball, It wouldn't have time to catch it. But you can catch a ball with just a little bit of practice. You aren't actually doing the math, but your brain is doing a fair approximation.

I figure evolution has found a way to bypass the consciousness and make us react to a summation of input that we didn't directly pay attention to. A very soft twig snapping and the sudden silence of crickets coupled with an odd scent in the air may not register at first. But your subconscious put it all together and you suddenly fear an unseen predator.

I think they recently had a defense story on Fark where they put sensord on a military guys head as he scanned an area with a scope of some sort and they were able to electronically detect threats his brain ppicked up on but he was oblivious to.

yves0010: Some argue that He created them all in literal 7 days. Others believe that 7 days was a way we, as humans, can understand His power. There are concepts of how we think God sees our timeline. The one I like to think is that he sees our timeline as if He is viewing it from outside of time and sees it all at once.

Or another scenario: Imagine the guy who first wrote about it. Do you think God was there in the room with him dictating everything word for word? Or is it more likely he was just kind of winging it based on his extremely ignorant views of the world at that time?

yves0010: But here's the thing people love to argue and not understand. Yes, we as Christians believe God created the universe and everything in it. The question is not yes He did or no he did not that we argue. It is how He did it. Some argue that He created them all in literal 7 days. Others believe that 7 days was a way we, as humans, can understand His power. There are concepts of how we think God sees our timeline. The one I like to think is that he sees our timeline as if He is viewing it from outside of time and sees it all at once. Every branch and every choice, the past, present and future. This allows Him to see and know everything. Giving that, which can explain His all knowing, all powerful, ever presents, we can also say that if science says evolution is true, why can we not say God himself guided life the way He saw fit.

Sorry, but the mental contortions you have to go through to justify your belief are amazing. Why can't you just say "I want to believe in God because I like the idea of God" and be done with it?

Richard Saunders: #11) - Global Warming

/obligatory

Something I was really surprised by recently. My family is from NJ, and this weekend I was visiting my dad. He's a super-duper, extremely religious Catholic, right wing Republican partisan. My old man actually told me once that Glen Beck was the closest thing we've had to a biblical prophet since Abraham Lincoln.

When I spoke to him about Hurricane Sandy - and the impacts our family members have been dealing with - he all of a sudden was talking like global warming was real, and the matter was now settled. The hurricane changed his mind, and if it can change my dad's mind it could change anyone's. I bet the opposition to climate change action is going to be weaker going forward in the post Sandy world.

mongbiohazard: Richard Saunders: #11) - Global Warming

/obligatory

Something I was really surprised by recently. My family is from NJ, and this weekend I was visiting my dad. He's a super-duper, extremely religious Catholic, right wing Republican partisan. My old man actually told me once that Glen Beck was the closest thing we've had to a biblical prophet since Abraham Lincoln.

When I spoke to him about Hurricane Sandy - and the impacts our family members have been dealing with - he all of a sudden was talking like global warming was real, and the matter was now settled. The hurricane changed his mind, and if it can change my dad's mind it could change anyone's. I bet the opposition to climate change action is going to be weaker going forward in the post Sandy world.

I'm not going to say anything about global warming, but New York City sits on the bloody coast line bordering an ocean known for the creation of hurricanes. New York wasn't hit by a hurricane because of global warming, it was hit by a hurricane because it sits against the ocean which spawns the most hurricanes.

There is a radio call in show on my local NPR station that I like to listen to called "Anything You've Ever Wanted to Know" and years ago (almost 15 or so years ago) the question was asked "Why hasn't a tornado or hurricane hit a major city like New York?" and the answer was "Luck." followed with "And someday it's going to happen and it's going to be a huge disaster."

browntimmy: yves0010: Some argue that He created them all in literal 7 days. Others believe that 7 days was a way we, as humans, can understand His power. There are concepts of how we think God sees our timeline. The one I like to think is that he sees our timeline as if He is viewing it from outside of time and sees it all at once.

Or another scenario: Imagine the guy who first wrote about it. Do you think God was there in the room with him dictating everything word for word? Or is it more likely he was just kind of winging it based on his extremely ignorant views of the world at that time?

It is my personal belief that it was inspired by God to be written by Moses but in a way we can grasp it in our heads at the same time. I do believe that God was writing through Moses, using him to write what we now see has the beginning of the Old Testament.

Pincy: yves0010: But here's the thing people love to argue and not understand. Yes, we as Christians believe God created the universe and everything in it. The question is not yes He did or no he did not that we argue. It is how He did it. Some argue that He created them all in literal 7 days. Others believe that 7 days was a way we, as humans, can understand His power. There are concepts of how we think God sees our timeline. The one I like to think is that he sees our timeline as if He is viewing it from outside of time and sees it all at once. Every branch and every choice, the past, present and future. This allows Him to see and know everything. Giving that, which can explain His all knowing, all powerful, ever presents, we can also say that if science says evolution is true, why can we not say God himself guided life the way He saw fit.

Sorry, but the mental contortions you have to go through to justify your belief are amazing. Why can't you just say "I want to believe in God because I like the idea of God" and be done with it?

It actually is a lot easier to say that but then you get called an idiot, among other things, because you have a belief. But to try and rationalize it for those who do not want to believe sometimes helps them to understand. It also shows that there are many things in our beliefs that can and actually help with science too.

I am among several that believe both science and Theology can easily go hand in hand with no issues. Just see that a small group on both sides make to much a fuss and cause all the problems.

Regarding intuition: A few months ago, I listened to a panel discussion on artificial intelligence, and someone brought up a story about a brain-damage patient who could not experience emotions, and thus had to make all decisions using pure logic. As a result, even the simplest decisions, like what to have for breakfast, would take him hours to make.

The intent was to show that an artificial intelligence based on pure logic (e.g. HAL 9000, Commander Data) would likely be impractical given the necessary computational power, but it also hints at the possibility that emotion and intuition are shortcuts for logical reasoning, rather than some kind of flaw. Granted, those shortcuts don't always yield the desired result, but while we always remember the times we made a decision based on emotion that turned out to be wrong, we often forget the times when an emotional response turned out to be right.

aliens and intuition is going a little far... i can say with certainty that life does exist beyond the earth, and i can also say with certainty intuition exists as a series of connections in our brains brought on by repetition and learning that can fire involuntarily via habit

we want to believe that there is more to life than what is on our own planet even if it has yet to be scientifically proven as fact.

Actually, the fact that there is life on our planet is proof that life exists in the universe. Saying there's no proof that life exists elsewhere would be like seeing a spider in your garage and assuming that yours is the only garage with spiders, until you see a spider in another garage.

mongbiohazard: Richard Saunders: **snip***
When I spoke to him about Hurricane Sandy - and the impacts our family members have been dealing with - he all of a sudden was talking like global warming was real, and the matter was now settled. The hurricane changed his mind, and if it can change my dad's mind it could change anyone's. I bet the opposition to climate change action is going to be weaker going forward in the post Sandy world.

You do realize that changing your mind given one additional, mundane piece of evidence is just as dumb as holding a belief based on incorrect assumptions? It would be one thing if he had a basic scientific understanding, then read some studies, then took Sandy into the context of his new found knowledge, and said, hey I think I get it now. Otherwise, he has simply exchanged one faith for another.

Belief = Recognizing the possibility that something exists
Faith = Knowing something exists without evidence or despite evidence to the contrary

Belief is fine, faith starts wars.

Gee. Welcome to (scientific) skepticism. I'm skeptical that that list is THE TOP 10 because it leaves out angels and demons. Of the many things to be skeptical of the list just focuses mainly on the supernatural/religious and the preternatural entities (things that naturally could exist like aliens visiting earth or yetis) for which there is no evidence, leaving out snake oil (homeopathy, aroma therapy, etc.) and all sorts of other pseudo-science.

Intuition shouldn't have been in the list because in some sense it can mean jumping to a perception or conclusion with little conscious evidence or guessing likelyhood. Though sometimes people confuse or explain intuition as a form of extra sensory perception such as being able to read minds or being able to feel people looking at the back of your neck.

Beaver1224: kroonermanblack: Also: why does everyone always say the earth is 'an insignificant backwater'? I mean, what's that based on?

Presumably because it is a small planet in a solar system halfway out on an arm of a galaxy - fairly small/insignificant spacially; and its inhabitants are not yet capable of visiting other planets/solar systems/galaxies - unable to be significant sociopolitically on a universal scale.

Besides, it's funnier that way.

And it's Mostly Harmless.

yves0010: I am among several that believe both science and Theology can easily go hand in hand with no issues. Just see that a small group on both sides make to much a fuss and cause all the problems.

It can, but not comfortably. There are many things in life that can give rise to strong feelings, and opinions can be divided, yet those that hold opposing views can still be friends. So too can science and religion co-exist, but it requires both parties to be respectful of each other and not force their views upon the other. The problem is a very religious person believes news of a scientific discovery to be someone forcing their views upon them. They believe reading a comment on youtube expressing atheist opinion is forcing their views upon them. On the opposite side, atheists believe that religious people knocking on their doors trying to indoctrinate them is forcing their views upon them, they believe that having prayer in schools, courthouses, money and whatnot to be forcing their views upon them.

The loudest people get the most attention, so ol' Jimmy 2-teeth out of your least favourite town says anything other than "God's will", is an insult to God and we'll all die in his eternal loving and compassionate wrath, is the spokesman for religion, and the atheists have to put up with Richard Dawkins making intelligent and rational arguments. The firebrand!

So you need both sides to stop forcing their views on the other and then things will calm down. Never gonna happen.

RE: INTUITION

DEFINE YOUR TERMS.

nmemkha:
A brief in Evolution (all science) and a belief in God are not inherently incompatible. People choose to make them at odds by their interpretation of their specific religious doctrines.

Actually it kind of does. Here's why. What basically happens is that "we believe what's in the Bible until it's proven false, and then we re-interpret the Bible to fit with our new understanding of the universe" is really just a "God of the gaps" religious philosophy and no serious theologist would ever suggest that's how we should look at things. Either what the Bible says is true or it's not. It's not as if the people who wrote the Bible had a fundamental understanding of evolution, cosmology, etc. such that it could or should be re-interpreted based on our new knowledge. Once we figured out that we weren't the center of the universe and that evolution explains the global biological diversity it was pretty much all over.

It would help if they used to correct definition of karma and not the white-washed, New-agey, American karma.

Slaxl: yves0010: I am among several that believe both science and Theology can easily go hand in hand with no issues. Just see that a small group on both sides make to much a fuss and cause all the problems.

It can, but not comfortably. There are many things in life that can give rise to strong feelings, and opinions can be divided, yet those that hold opposing views can still be friends. So too can science and religion co-exist, but it requires both parties to be respectful of each other and not force their views upon the other. The problem is a very religious person believes news of a scientific discovery to be someone forcing their views upon them. They believe reading a comment on youtube expressing atheist opinion is forcing their views upon them. On the opposite side, atheists believe that religious people knocking on their doors trying to indoctrinate them is forcing their views upon them, they believe that having prayer in schools, courthouses, money and whatnot to be forcing their views upon them.

The loudest people get the most attention, so ol' Jimmy 2-teeth out of your least favourite town says anything other than "God's will", is an insult to God and we'll all die in his eternal loving and compassionate wrath, is the spokesman for religion, and the atheists have to put up with Richard Dawkins making intelligent and rational arguments. The firebrand!

So you need both sides to stop forcing their views on the other and then things will calm down. Never gonna happen.

I know it. And the majority of people on both sides are willing to work together. But once again, it is a small group that needs to be silenced that makes to much noise. It is some that are ignorant and some that perform attacks because they want to. Just as you said. I can work well with those who have different ideas. And it is always a good thing to challenge both sides. There is nothing wrong with a religious person challenging science and the same goes for science challenging religion. That is how we can both learn from each other and drive for a better understanding.

I actually enjoy when I get to have conversation like this where both sides are peaceful and actually can be rational.

Theaetetus: 11. [Politician from political party X, who has an annual income over $250k and assets well over several million] cares about and identifies with the lower and/or middle class.

Replace that with honest politicians.

Slaves2Darkness: Meh,
God should have been #2,Democracy Communism should have been #1.

slayer199: Slaxl: So... you do believe in aliens?

I guess I should clarify. I haven't seen any solid evidence of aliens visiting this planet. However, given the vastness of the universe, it's statistically likely there's intelligent life elsewhere in the universe.

Agreed. Either now, in the past, or in the future life exists, existed, or will exist on a planet that is not Earth.

Evolution conspicuously abbsent.

Holocaust Agnostic: Evolution conspicuously abbsent.

Because it's been proven

Theaetetus: lordargent: But I do BELIEVE it's possible for god(s) to exist (regardless of how improbable).

That one depends on your definition of "god", I think. The classic omnipotent-omniscient-omnibenevolent leads to internal contradictions. If you change the definition to non-omni, but sufficiently powerful, then you're simply rephrasing your definition of "alien". :)



Representatives of God

Cythraul: Beaver1224: Aliens: Some sort of life existing somewhere other than this insignificant rock? Mathematically almost certain. Alien visitors here on Earth? Unlikely at best. (Though who, I ask you, planted all those streetlights?)

Came here to say this.


HighZoolander: "While psychic mediums offer a less than 100% accuracy rate..."

Apparently zero percent can truthinessfully be described as less than 100%. Good to know.

Anything in my life that is untrue, I am now claiming "may be less than 100% accurate".

the_geek: Either what the Bible says is true or it's not.

Forgive me while I play devil's advocate here, (lol) but what if I am religious, but I do not adhere or accept religious text?

Smeggy Smurf: The female orgasm

*Shakes tiny fist*

SacriliciousBeerSwiller: we want to believe that there is more to life than what is on our own planet even if it has yet to be scientifically proven as fact.

Actually, the fact that there is life on our planet is proof that life exists in the universe. Saying there's no proof that life exists elsewhere would be like seeing a spider in your garage and assuming that yours is the only garage with spiders, until you see a spider in another garage.

What is this "other garage" you speak of? Do you reject the monogaragist teachings of the Great Architect?