The Reality Hypothesis

Deacon Duncan just completed a series of ten posts discussing The Gospel Hypothesis:

"documenting the fact that it takes many more rationalizations to reconcile reality and theism than it does to reconcile reality and atheism"

He prefaced them with three posts that introduced the series - so I consider them to be part of the overall thesis. I think this can be generalized somewhat to

"it takes many more rationalizations to reconcile reality and propositions that are not observed in reality, than it does to reconcile reality and propositions that are observed in reality".

I offer this generalization in order to include anything supernatural, conspiracy-based, cultish, etc. including magic, prophecy, ghosts, UFOs, Bigfoot, the "9/11 was an inside job" meme and the like.

In its simplest form, you can state the comparison just as a programmer would structure a conditional logic statement:

   If Proposition A is true

      Then some facts about Proposition A will be observed in the world

   Else If Reality is true

      Then some facts about Reality will be observed in the world

Spoiler alert: this is dead simple!

You can then compare the facts listed in the "If" and "Else If" clauses and adjudge the more plausible conclusion.

You can use this approach on any topic you care to - with the caveat that you have to be honest, make sound arguments, and just say "I don't know" when you don't know the answer to something. And always remember that concluding that your preferred result pertains will only work if concluding so is logically valid, and its premises and warrants are valid and true.

DD could have extended his series to many topics within the Bible - creation of the universe, creation of life, Noah's Ark, Jesus' resurrection - but that wasn't necessary to make his point. The result of any comparison that concludes that goddidit remains that Bible stories do not explain what we observe in the world, hence can be assumed to be myth until evidence is provided that could change that conclusion.

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Links to the prefatory posts:

• Defining Superstition
• Ockham and Twain
• Worldviews in the Balance

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Links to individual Gospel Hypothesis posts:

• Gospel Hypothesis 1: The Nature of Revelation
• Gospel Hypothesis 2: The Voice of God
• Gospel Hypothesis 3: On the Origin of Scriptures
• Gospel Hypothesis 4: Hermeneutics
• Gospel Hypothesis 5: The Contents of Scripture
• Gospel Hypothesis 6: Evangelism
• Gospel Hypothesis 7: Churches
• Gospel Hypothesis 8: Miracles
• Gospel Hypothesis 9: Theology
• Gospel Hypothesis 10: Evil