So, can you state your thesis without using the word “ability” or anything equivalent?
Well, I’m actually defending two theses here, one of which is that “ability” is an appropriate term to use, but I’m happy to just agree to disagree about that.
Here’s a restatement of my other (hypo)thesis, making my best effort to avoid loaded terms:
There exists a kind of subjective experience that is analogous to but distinct from other subjective experiences like seeing a sunset, tasting food, hearing music, etc. It is a real subjective experience, not a delusion nor an indication of any kind of mental pathology (though it can be associated with some pathologies, particularly in its more extreme forms). It is induced not by light nor chemicals nor sound, but rather by engaging in certain behaviors (like prayer) and approaching those behaviors with a certain mindset. The mindset is difficult to describe without using loaded words (I want to call it “faith”) so I’ll just call it the opposite of (or an absence of) skepticism (I presume that’s not a loaded term?)
Some people do not have firsthand experience of this subjective sensation, either because they have not engaged in the behaviors that produce it, or because they are unable or unwilling to enter the mindset that produces it, or because their brains are wired in such a way that they are simply do not (I originally wrote “are unable to” here) experience it even with the right behavior and mindset. It is a situation completely analogous to the well-known phenomenon that some people cannot distinguish the colors red and green, and therefore cannot have the same subjective experience of seeing a tree and a sunset as someone who can (“is able to”) distinguish red and green.
It is this difference in firsthand subjective experience that accounts at least in part for the seemingly intractable differences among people when it comes to questions about the existence of deities. Some people believe in deities because they have had real subjective experiences that they believe in good faith (no pun intended) can best be explained as a firsthand interaction with a deity.
I advance this hypothesis because if it is true then it seems plausible that disagreements over the existence of deities will become less intractable and more fruitful if those who have not had these subjective experiences nonetheless acknowledge the possibility that their interlocutors might have had such an experience, and that this is not necessarily symptomatic of any kind of pathology or mental deficiency. To the contrary, it might be an indication of a normal part of the wiring of the human brain that is missing from their brains, or at least a normal part of the human experience which they have simply never experienced. Moreover, the explanation of the experience in terms of an encounter with a deity may be deeply meaningful to the person that holds this belief, and that presenting them with evidence that this belief is false may be intensely painful, even traumatic, because (among other things) it might make them think that they are suffering from a pathology or otherwise be mentally deficient.
Finally, though I didn’t make this explicit, I’m suggesting that all this should be taken into account when deciding how to interact with someone who believes in deities. Throwing logic at religion might not be the best move.
Maybe I should make this a whole ’nuther post.
That’s not what reliable reproduction means. What it means is that you would be willing to place a real-money bet on the outcome of a future experiment.
Actually, there’s good reason to believe that the drug testing process has some serious flaws. But even under ideal circumstances, the odds of getting a false positive are 1 in 400. There have been about 1500 drugs approved by the FDA so almost certainly at least 3 or 4 of them actually don’t work. Those are good enough odds for me, particularly when compared to the alternatives.
Yes, of course. If Randi had used the FDA standard, then with over 1000 applicants, you would expect two or three of them to win at 1:400 purely by chance. I’ll take the bet at 1:400 confidence if you’re willing to pay 1/40th of the prize as an entrance fee, and are willing to do the experiment more than once. In fact, I’ll go you one better: You name any statistical test you think you can beat and I’ll take a bet at 10:1 odds. Heck, make it 2:1. (If it’s good enough for a Vegas casino, it’s good enough for me.) Truthfully, that’s a bet I would be absolutely thrilled to lose.
But my prediction is that you will not accept this offer.