Tuesday, October 16, 2007

the atheist theist continuum

I found this model by Dawkins really useful. HT Siamang.

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 don’t 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.”




What number would you use to characterize yourself? I'm a 4 leaning both directions =)

1 comment:

Rachel said...

I am functionally a #2, emotionally and intellectually a #3 on some days.