[MD] Faith

[ian glendinning]

Hi DMB,

You said here
"I'm saying that faith-based beliefs are inferior to beliefs based on evidence."

Inferior / superior is fine - two ends of a qualitative scale of belief.

I think you are right to qualify here the faith vs experience axis in
what makes good "evidence" (rather than the science / religion
red-herring).

All I was adding (to the red-herring) was that even scientific
"belief" demands a little faith in its methods and at its boundaries -
not all of which is supported by direct empirical "evidence". But we
agree it's a scale not an absolute distinction.

All I was taking issue with (and annoying you with my unintended
pedantry) was the use of "no evidence" as something absolute sounding
when it came to defining faith, thereby risking introducing an
unnecessary tis / tisn't, all or nothing debate when it came to
"evidence". I hope I've never suggested that was the argument you were
trying to have - I was simply trying to deflect it from others into
another interminable debate about what faith is or isn't. (Neither of
us wanted that.)

Some "evidence" is a better basis of belief than others. Direct
empirical experience is towards the superior end, (so long as we know
what we think we're experiencing, etc). Nuff said ?
Ian