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I recently started a thread in the "kitchen sink" area in which I asked people if they were atheist or theist, and whether they claimed to know their belief position was correct or not. This thread was removed, claiming that discussions about religious belief are not permitted in there. The...

I've noticed that the forums has themes for the seasons. At the moment, everyone's avatar has a snow thing on top, and there's an animation of falling snow across the page. While these are little things, they don't really suit everyone. I have no interest in these themed looks, and in any case...

You find an apple. Alongside it is a document (written by a person you trust completely, but whom you are unable to contact at the moment) that says that the apple was created ex nihilo. You subject the apple to testing, and all tests indicate that the apple was not created ex nihilo, but grew...

In a thread that has now closed, I was discussing with @Mark Quayle about evolution. Specifically, since he had stated that he hadn't studied enough about evolution, he didn't feel that he was in a position to say it was right or wrong, but wanted to hear a convincing argument that evolution...

There is a little girl, named Sally. She needs a kidney transplant or she will die. You are the only compatible donor available. Should you be forced you to give up one of your kidneys to save her life? Why or why not?

I'm sure we've all heard of Last Thursdayism, the idea that the entire universe was created last Thursday and simply has the appearance of being older, such as our memories of the past. Do you find this idea plausible at all? If you do, why? If not, why not?

Following on from the earlier version of my Pool Challenge, found HERE... Joe walks into a bar and sees a pool table. There are balls on the table, and it appears that the game has just begin, for most of the balls are still on the table. There's a document sitting on the edge of the table, and...

Some questions... Do you agree that if you have a group of animals - say a herd of zebra - then each individual will be slightly different to the others? Do you agree that some of those differences can make it easier for that individual to survive - say, better eyesight so it has a better...

There are many people who are opposed to vaccination. Some say that it doesn't work, others say that it causes harm*, or autism. If you are against vaccination, what evidence do you have to support your position? * By this, I mean greater harm than is typical for a medical procedure. I know...

I see a lot of people here posting showing little understanding of how natural selection works. I came across this video that shows it quite nicely.

Dropping this here for interest... A Mathematical Proof That The Universe Could Have Formed Spontaneously From Nothing And the actual paper: Spontaneous creation of the universe from nothing (Here's a PDF version: https://arxiv.org/pdf/1404.1207.pdf )

Has anyone listened to the Evolution 101 podcast? It's a great resource if you aren't that informed on evolution. It's easy to understand and explains the key aspects of evolution well. You can listen to it here: https://player.fm/series/evolution-101 Scroll down to the bottom of the list for...

Your friend Bill shows you an LP. It looks to be in pristine condition. Bill has a piece of paper that was written by someone neither of you has met (Bill thinks it was the guy who used to live in his flat but moved away before Bill lived there, although he can't be sure). This piece of paper...

I make a table today, but I make it in such a way that it appears to be over a century old. I take every conceivable step to make sure that any examination shows it to be 100+ years old. I use only techniques that were used a century ago. I use only tools that existed a century ago (so no...

From AV's Pool Challenge thread... Now, I looked at this and thought that the situation wasn't taking into account everything it should have. So I presented an alternative situation... Let's say someone broke, and then a second person wrote down a statement claiming that he had not broken...

Something to illustrate a point... Suppose I have this text: Toby made his bed. Then he went outside. I change that to: Toby made his set. Then he went outside. How many changes have I made?

Between the Creationists and the Evolutionist (I hate to use that particular word, but...), there is a clear difference between what they consider to be factual. One group believes that some sort of creationism is factual, and the other group accepts the scientific account of the formation of...

From a discussion with Radrook in the Coney Challenge thread, we spoke for a bit about whether or not a person would be willing to change their mind about their religious beliefs (or lack thereof) given sufficient evidence. So that's the question - Regardless of whatever your position is on the...

On 24 August 2006, the International Astronomical Union created a clear definition of what constitutes a planet. (Before this, there was no clear definition of what an object needed to count as a planet or not.) The definition stated that a planet: is in orbit around the Sun, has sufficient...

A lot of people think that vaccines don't protect against disease, or that vaccines cause disease or cause autism. Is there anyone here who thinks that vaccines cause harm, or that they don't provide protection? Do you have any evidence to support your beliefs?