Culture | November 19, 2009 | 12 comments

Where do you fall on 'The Spectrum of Theistic Probability'?

source: http://atheists.meetup.com/503/polls/74063/

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Richard Dawkins posits that "the existence of God is a scientific hypothesis like any other." He goes on to propose a continuous "spectrum of probabilities" between two extremes of opposite certainty, which can be represented by seven "milestones". Dawkins suggests definitive statements to summarize one's place along the spectrum of theistic probability. These 'milestones' are:

1. Strong theist. 100% probability of God. In the words of C.G. Jung, 'I do not believe, I know.'

2. Very high probability but short of 100%. De facto theist. 'I cannot know for certain, but I strongly believe in God and live my life on the assumption that he is there.'

3. Higher than 50% but not very high. Technically agnostic but leaning towards theism. 'I am very uncertain, but I am inclined to believe in God.'

4. Exactly 50%. Completely impartial agnostic. 'God's existence and non-existence are exactly equiprobable.'

5. Lower than 50% but not very low. Technically agnostic but leaning towards atheism. 'I do not know whether God exists but I'm inclined to be sceptical.'

6. Very low probability, but short of zero. De facto atheist. 'I cannot know for certain but I think God is very improbable, and I live my life on the assumption that he is not there.'

7. Strong atheist. 'I know there is no God, with the same conviction as Jung "knows" there is one.'

Dawkins also notes that he would be "surprised to meet many people in category 7." Dawkins calls himself "about a 6, but leaning towards 7 — I am agnostic only to the extent that I am agnostic about fairies at the bottom of the garden."

So where do you fall in 'the spectrum of theistic probability'?
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