Mr. RolfAndreassen.
If you wish to be formal, it's "Dr". If you prefer informality that's fine.
Take, for example, mathematical facts. They just "are" if you want. But what uses can you assert for mathematical truths that are not accessible?
I can assert them as axioms and use them to generate new formal systems. Consider Euclid's fifth, for example, which two millennia of geometers have failed to prove from smaller axiomatic systems; but which yields any number of theorems when taken as an axiom, or when either of its negations are so taken.
The mere fact that the mathematical truths are before they are accessible (Again, godel's incompleteness theorem) says that mathematical truths exist, and therefore so do the parts that they are comprised of.
Again, I do not understand this usage of the word 'exists'. You cannot prove Euclid's fifth axiom, or at any rate nobody has succeeded in doing so. Is it true? But its negations yield equally fruitful formal systems. What then is the sense in which it exists? Do you just mean that you can write it down on paper? Then likewise the adventures of Frodo Baggins exist. Are we to take it that the competing facts "Exactly one parallel line through a point not on a line", "Exactly zero lines", and "An infinite number of lines" all exist at the same time? What does this mean?
And even that aside, I object even more strongly to saying that a god exists in this same undefined sense. From an axiom you can at least derive theorems; an axiom is part of a formal system. Of what formal system is your god a part?
I recognize the title could be more informative. At the same time I believe it says what is important.
I believe in a deity, I believe in mathematical entities in the same way.
The community of LessWrong (from whenceforth: LessWrong) is deeply interesting to me, appearing as a semi-organized atheist, reductionist community.
LessWrong seems very interested in promoting rationality, which I applaud. The effort does seem scattered, though, and this is the reason I post.
One has Eliezer's website with some interesting posts. The same of this community. The community links to some posts when you are coming for the first time into it, and you also have a filter for top posts. One has the blog. And recently, the center for modern rationality (in the same page as harrypoter fanfiction about rationality).
The point being there is no defined roadmap to go from AIC (average irrational chump to make an analogy to Game - which also seems to come up around quite a bit) to RA (again, rationality artist).
I write this post as to maybe generate a discussion on how the efforts could be concentrated and a new direction taken.
Should the creation of the Center for Modern Rationality envision this same concentration, this post may and should be disregard.
If it does not, then I leave it to your consideration.
Hang.