The Experiment on 100 Professed Atheists

[CFLarsen]

Just to dispense with the polygraph discussion, (though I doubt it will, perhaps if not the mods will see fit to split the thread), it doesn't matter if the polygraph is not good enough for court, because the majority of the answers would be correctly determined. Therefore the claim ALL 100 atheists were lying or all the atheists in the above story were lying and really believe in gods would not be entirely discredited on the basis of the polygraph reliability alone.

But we can't "dispense with the polygraph discussion". That's how mayday claimed the results were obtained: By using the polygraph only.

If you don't discredit the result on the basis of the reliability of the polygraph alone, what else are you using?

Here's a very thorough evaluation of polygraph testing. THE POLYGRAPH AND LIE DETECTION; Committee to Review the Scientific Evidence on the Polygraph; Board on Behavioral, Cognitive, and Sensory Sciences; and Committee on National Statistics; Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education; NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES and on this page is a graph of results showing The entire report is available at the link.

Please explain, in your own words, what the results show.

 

[The Central Scrutinizer]

My husband...

Whatever happened to Troy/Trent/Cletus/Whatever? He was the former baseball/football player you were going to leave your husband and nice trailer for a while ago? He wanted you to make more babies for him to add to the collection of 20 that he already had.

 

[mayday]

Why?

Just as righteous to kill the person in the snake's territory. Its not the snake's fault that stupid people have more kids than the environment can support

Well, you could always contribute to the overpopulation problem by taking a long walk of a short pier.

mayday, you are not to suggest suicide to any member of this forum, in seriousness or in jest. Further action may be taken upon review of this offense by an Administrator. Again, I am warning you - do not suggest suicide to any member of this forum for any reason ever again.

Replying to this modbox in thread will be off topic  Posted By: jmercer

John Denver sang about people making scars on the land in Colorado, I guess the criticism just didn't apply to him.

The average person thinks they are better than the average person. The average person puts everyone else on a tight moral budget but they always leave plenty of allowance for themselves.

There is so much hostility and projection on this forum it's palpable. It doesn't seem like anything can be presented here in good faith, it's always torn apart with ridicule and pointed sarcastic questions. I can't imagine living in the rotten miserable world many people here live in. Kind of reminds me of my father-in-law. He was so arrogant and proud and nasty his whole life...until he started getting to the point he would have episodes where he would have to depend on others. Then, he was eating up the humble pie, thanking us profusely for helping him, he would get a little better and as soon as his confidence was built up he would turn back into the nasty bastard we always knew. Now, he is a pathetic invalid and won't be getting better. He is sitting alone at the nursing home drooling all over himself, staring into space with his mouth wide open, wearing a diaper, urinating on himself...as far as I'm concerned if I never see him again it will be too soon. Nasty people eventually reap what they sow.

BTW, I never took pleasure in hurting anything. I didn't want to hurt that snake but I was scared. I wish some people would work on reading comprehension, it wasn't the snake I said I was laughing at.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

...Please explain, in your own words, what the results show.

I did but if you didn't catch it, here it is again, the error rate in polygraphs would not be 100%, in fact it would be close to zero. Polygraphs are not reliable enough to convict people in a court of law, nor should they be used to fire people. But if you asked 100 atheists if they believed in god and you got 100 results indicating they were lying, then most of them would be lying. Only a few wouldn't be.

End of your argument, back to the topic, the claim in the OP is a lie for Jesus. Not saying mayday made up the lie, but as typical urban myths go, this is one of them.

 

[mayday]

Whatever happened to Troy/Trent/Cletus/Whatever? He was the former baseball/football player you were going to leave your husband and nice trailer for a while ago? He wanted you to make more babies for him to add to the collection of 20 that he already had.

I cringe to think of that creep.

I never lived in a trailer.

 

[mayday]

I did but if you didn't catch it, here it is again, the error rate in polygraphs would not be 100%, in fact it would be close to zero. Polygraphs are not reliable enough to convict people in a court of law, nor should they be used to fire people. But if you asked 100 atheists if they believed in god and you got 100 results indicating they were lying, then most of them would be lying. Only a few wouldn't be.

End of your argument, back to the topic, the claim in the OP is a lie for Jesus. Not saying mayday made up the lie, but as typical urban myths go, this is one of them.

I believe you very well may be right on target.

 

[Ladewig]

There is so much hostility and projection on this forum it's palpable. It doesn't seem like anything can be presented here in good faith, it's always torn apart with ridicule and pointed sarcastic questions.

I see absolutely no evidence that you presented this anecdote "in good faith." You, yourself, admitted that you doubted its truthfulness.

I can't imagine living in the rotten miserable world many people here live in. Kind of reminds me of my father-in-law. ..... Nasty people eventually reap what they sow.

If you life is anywhere near as stressful as you claim it is, then the wise thing to do would be to eliminate all sources of stress that you can. If you believe this board is populated with nasty people who live in a rotten, miserable world, then why do you continue to participate in threads here?

 

[Abdul Alhazred]

What I find interesting is that this "100 professed atheists" myth is considered somehow meaningful to those who parrot it. Even if polygraph tests were reliable, what would the results mean? That atheists are all secretly Christians but don't want to admit it? As Kiosk pointed out, that makes no sense. They'd be knowingly committing themselves to hell. That atheists don't have courage in their convictions? I'd love to know how theists would respond to the same hypothetical test, for comparison. But that obviously didn't occur to Rev Moody.

I think the idea is that atheism is so "obviously" wrong that all those apparently intelligent people couldn't possibly really believe it.

There's no implication that they are secret Christians specifically.

 

[CFLarsen]

I did but if you didn't catch it, here it is again, the error rate in polygraphs would not be 100%, in fact it would be close to zero. Polygraphs are not reliable enough to convict people in a court of law, nor should they be used to fire people. But if you asked 100 atheists if they believed in god and you got 100 results indicating they were lying, then most of them would be lying. Only a few wouldn't be.

End of your argument, back to the topic, the claim in the OP is a lie for Jesus. Not saying mayday made up the lie, but as typical urban myths go, this is one of them.

Hold on.

Just to be absolutely clear.

When you say:

But if you asked 100 atheists if they believed in god and you got 100 results indicating they were lying, then most of them would be lying. Only a few wouldn't be.

"Indicating" means "based on the results of the polygraph"?

 

[pipelineaudio]

Well, you could always contribute to the overpopulation problem by taking a long walk of a short pier.
The average person thinks they are better than the average person. The average person puts everyone else on a tight moral budget but they always leave plenty of allowance for themselves.

I didn't chose to be born, but I won't add to the problem by having kids myself

BTW, I never took pleasure in hurting anything. I didn't want to hurt that snake but I was scared. I wish some people would work on reading comprehension, it wasn't the snake I said I was laughing at.

What kind of snake were you so scared of that you would have to pepper spray it?

Seems like it gave you plenty of time and space to make a decision. Where do you live? I will get you the number of a free snake removal service in your area.

 

[Dan O.]

I tried to find it on Snopes but there was no entry so I submitted it to them.

I'm thinking there may be an advantage to not dispelling this as a UL just yet. What if you let the myth flourish for a while and in the mean time, actually do the experiment and fully document it.

 

[Kochanski]

There is so much hostility and projection on this forum it's palpable. It doesn't seem like anything can be presented here in good faith, it's always torn apart with ridicule and pointed sarcastic questions. I can't imagine living in the rotten miserable world many people here live in. Kind of reminds me of my father-in-law. He was so arrogant and proud and nasty his whole life...until he started getting to the point he would have episodes where he would have to depend on others. Then, he was eating up the humble pie, thanking us profusely for helping him, he would get a little better and as soon as his confidence was built up he would turn back into the nasty bastard we always knew. Now, he is a pathetic invalid and won't be getting better. He is sitting alone at the nursing home drooling all over himself, staring into space with his mouth wide open, wearing a diaper, urinating on himself...as far as I'm concerned if I never see him again it will be too soon. Nasty people eventually reap what they sow.

Mayday, when you present anything that is worthy of more than just ridicule and sarcasm you will get it. When you post troll posts like this, you will get what you deserve.

You need a little more time in the sunlight, dear.

 

[Hokulele]

Well, you could always contribute to the overpopulation problem by taking a long walk of a short pier.

...

There is so much hostility and projection on this forum it's palpable.

...

Nasty people eventually reap what they sow.

...

BTW, I never took pleasure in hurting anything...

Wow, contradict yourself much?

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

Hold on.

Just to be absolutely clear.

When you say:



"Indicating" means "based on the results of the polygraph"?

If you want to discuss this further, I will be more than happy to, in another thread.

 

[mayday]

I see absolutely no evidence that you presented this anecdote "in good faith." You, yourself, admitted that you doubted its truthfulness.



If you life is anywhere near as stressful as you claim it is, then the wise thing to do would be to eliminate all sources of stress that you can. If you believe this board is populated with nasty people who live in a rotten, miserable world, then why do you continue to participate in threads here?

I like a lot of the people here.

What happened to Mr. Skinny? And Thirdtwin?

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

I'm thinking there may be an advantage to not dispelling this as a UL just yet. What if you let the myth flourish for a while and in the mean time, actually do the experiment and fully document it.

Document that it is a lie? Because you are not going to find the results claimed in the OP.

If it were anything else then the underlying premise is absurd. If you really believed in gods while claiming to be an atheist, what would be the goal?

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

Mayday, when you present anything that is worthy of more than just ridicule and sarcasm you will get it. When you post troll posts like this, you will get what you deserve.

You need a little more time in the sunlight, dear.

No comment on the quoted post, but as for the OP, it is definitely a worthy topic. Here it is an urban myth Snopes has not yet addressed. It's a classic lie for Jesus. Isn't this one of the things we are here to address?

 

[Kochanski]

I like a lot of the people here.

What happened to Mr. Skinny? And Thirdtwin?

Nothing to say to me troll?

 

[mayday]

No comment on the quoted post, but as for the OP, it is definitely a worthy topic. Here it is an urban myth Snopes has not yet addressed. It's a classic lie for Jesus. Isn't this one of the things we are here to address?

Yes! I love the way that was put. It is entirely true. I think a lot of the people responding to this just can't see the forest for the trees.

 

[Dan O.]

I'm thinking there may be an advantage to not dispelling this as a UL just yet. What if you let the myth flourish for a while and in the mean time, actually do the experiment and fully document it.

Document that it is a lie? Because you are not going to find the results claimed in the OP.

If it were anything else then the underlying premise is absurd. If you really believed in gods while claiming to be an atheist, what would be the goal?

This myth is going to continue to be passed from believer to believer and used as ammunition when confronting an atheist. Since the myth confirms what the believers already believe, they have no reason to verify the facts. However, when an atheist is hit with the myth, it will counter his beliefs and likely trigger a search for the source (as the OP and many in this thread have tried).

We can take advantage of this setup by providing a target to be found by the resulting searches. That target should be the verifiable facts of a real study carried out as indicated in the myth but with the real results instead of something fabricated to please the believers. This will provide the atheist with a strong counterpoint to the myth and may cause the believer to at least question their own source when they get shot down so completely on something they accepted on faith.