How to decide is there a deity (Introduction)

by David Turell , Thursday, January 08, 2009, 17:50 (5796 days ago) @ George Jelliss

He leaves out the role of LAW. Even chance is governed by laws - those of statistics. Chance works within the framework of the laws of physics and chemistry, and brings about what may look like major miracles only slowly over great lengths of time. 
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> Finally, to contradict DHW's last paragraph, I am not "saying there is no such thing as OBEs, NDEs, ESP, psychic phenomena" as perceived by those who claim to have experienced them. I only say that they all have simple explanations in terms of psychological knowledge that we already possess. The evidence is not sufficient to justify the speculations that are often based on them. - I would like to contradict both paragraphs. Chance can work miracles slowly over time, if the time is long enough. If the rate of beneficial mutations and other beneficial DNA changes are known, statistics can tell us if there is enough time for chance to work. Life has been around 3.6 billion years + ?; the earth is 4.5 billion + years old. Are those periods of time long enough for chance to produce life (.7 billion years) and is that long enough for chance alone to have produced us after life started? Current math estimates say no. - The final paragraph I have already addressed several times. In NDE's patients, who could not have found out the information beforehand, come back from an NDE and tell of a recent death of a person they know, and describe the information to a nurse or doctor at the bedside (primarily in hospice care). I have personally heard one hospice doctor incredulously describe this on a radio program in Houston. The literature is filled with them. George may choose not to believe professional caregivers. This is third party corroboration. I agree that a mind may be too open to silliness, but it also can be too firm in previous convictions that are now being overturned.