Mark comments on Open Thread - Less Wrong

3 Post author: Eliezer_Yudkowsky 01 July 2007 07:38PM

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Comment author: Mark 03 July 2007 08:00:22PM 0 points [-]

I have recently been wondering whether atheism is more irrational than belief in a deity. Given that both require a leap of faith - is it the case that atheism requires a greater leap? Assuming that the probability of the creation of my conciousness is almost infinity to one given the rigours of natural selection, is it not more rational to believe that it is the result of a supernatural will?

Following from this, and to meet the requirement for "overcoming bias", given that I am a child of an urban environment, is it perhaps a bias to see the creativity of humanity all around myself and thereby extrapolate from this single data (reference) point that there is not much else out there, thereby pushing me towards a more irrational atheism?

Answers much appreciated.