# Der Trihs should have SOME qualifications...
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/der-trihs-should-have-some-qualifications/631758
**Category:** The BBQ Pit
**Created:** [August 17, 2012, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/der-trihs-should-have-some-qualifications/631758 "2012-08-17T08:52:08Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)
#### Post date: [August 17, 2012, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/der-trihs-should-have-some-qualifications/631758/21 "2012-08-17T13:24:36Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#):
>
> Good Lord. TWO \*\*Der Trihs \*\*pittings simultaneously? Methinks there may be something to this Mayan calendar thingie after all…
>
> And OP: -1 for incoherency and for no link to supposed thread of beef. When come back bring cogent complaint.
This is not a **Der Trihs** pitting.
It’s a self pitting by **lurking guest** over his inability to write coherently.
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### Author:  [@ducati](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ducati)
#### Post date: [August 17, 2012, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/der-trihs-should-have-some-qualifications/631758/22 "2012-08-17T14:54:18Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#):
>
> If I choose not to decide I still have made a choice?
I will choose a path that’s clear. I will choose free will.
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### Author:  [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)
#### Post date: [August 17, 2012, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/der-trihs-should-have-some-qualifications/631758/23 "2012-08-17T15:07:15Z")
> [@Blake](#):
>
> Der Trihs is an embarrassment to the intelligent atheist and Liberals on this board. They have pretty much disowned him.
Not really. I’m always surprised at how many people chime in to support him in these Pit threads.
The funny thing is, he’s exactly like GW Bush or some fundamentalist in that he starts with the conclusion he wants and then makes up any facts he needs to support it. If facts arise that contradict his claims, he will ignore them or hand-wave them away.
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### Author:  [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)
#### Post date: [August 17, 2012, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/der-trihs-should-have-some-qualifications/631758/24 "2012-08-17T15:09:15Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#):
>
> If facts arise that contradict his claims, he will ignore them or hand-wave them away.
Or, as Blake suggests, he will just flee. He’s a fact-fleer.
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### Author:  [@AlienVessels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlienVessels)
#### Post date: [August 17, 2012, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/der-trihs-should-have-some-qualifications/631758/25 "2012-08-17T15:11:27Z")
> [@Blake](#):
>
> When he gets cale don it he skulks away and hides.
I should hope so. Wearing vegetables is so last year.
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### Author:  [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)
#### Post date: [August 17, 2012, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/der-trihs-should-have-some-qualifications/631758/26 "2012-08-17T17:37:44Z")
> [@AlienVessels](#):
>
> I should hope so. Wearing vegetables is so last year.
But fruit is back in style.
[Carmen Miranda](https://www.google.com/search?q=carmen+miranda&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=uMm&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&prmd=imvnso&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=7IAuUOL0MKeS6wH-4YAg&ved=0CEAQ_AUoAQ&biw=1418&bih=662) is making a comeback.
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### Author:  [@Makeitstop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Makeitstop)
#### Post date: [August 17, 2012, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/der-trihs-should-have-some-qualifications/631758/27 "2012-08-17T17:42:41Z")
> [@Don\_t\_Call\_Me\_Shirley](#):
>
> Those who believe even in the absence of evidence are deluding themselves.
Hey, one man’s evidence…
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### Author:  [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)
#### Post date: [August 17, 2012, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/der-trihs-should-have-some-qualifications/631758/28 "2012-08-17T18:22:39Z")
> [@Don\_t\_Call\_Me\_Shirley](#):
>
> Polkingham and Lennox are not scientists. Nobody has any experimental data concerning the existence of God, and therefore everyone on earth is equally qualified to discuss the topic. Those who take the null hypothesis are justified in doing so.
>
> Those who believe even in the absence of evidence are deluding themselves.
This.
There are smart people. And there are smart people who believe in god. But the belief is idiotic. It has no support, no evidence, no justification. One can be smart in physics but stupid in carpentry, so one can be a great scientists but still be an idiot for believing in god.
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### Author:  [@Don\_t\_Call\_Me\_Shirley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Call_Me_Shirley)
#### Post date: [August 17, 2012, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/der-trihs-should-have-some-qualifications/631758/29 "2012-08-17T19:03:33Z")
> [@Makeitstop](#):
>
> Hey, one man’s evidence…
Is exactly that: one man’s evidence. Unless he can share that evidence, and I can reproduce it, it’s not evidence.
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### Author:  [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)
#### Post date: [August 17, 2012, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/der-trihs-should-have-some-qualifications/631758/30 "2012-08-17T19:22:06Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#):
>
> This.
>
> There are smart people. And there are smart people who believe in god. But the belief is idiotic. It has no support, no evidence, no justification. One can be smart in physics but stupid in carpentry, so one can be a great scientists but still be an idiot for believing in god.
Not only that, if you’re going to appeal to authority, you do best not to just cherry pick the authorities who agree with you. Anyone can find _someone_ smart who agrees with any crazy position. It’s a favorite tactic of climate change deniers–they find the one or two climate scientist left who still doubt global warming and pretend that they balance out or even trump the 99% of climate scientists who agree that it’s happening.
If you think that being an astrophysicist gives you some insight into theology, fine—I think there’s a case for thinking that. But the fact is that scientists, including astrophysicists are _less likely_, not more likely, to believe in God than the general public, and the more advanced the scientist (measured by things like journal citations, academic fellowship memberships, etc.) the more unlikely they are to believe.
Even if you did manage to find a couple of exceptions (and **lurking guest** has not) it wouldn’t make your case. After all, Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking were both atheists. Are you smarter than Einstein and Hawking? Well are you, huh?
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### Author:  [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)
#### Post date: [August 17, 2012, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/der-trihs-should-have-some-qualifications/631758/31 "2012-08-17T22:49:35Z")
SH is still alive.
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### Author:  [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)
#### Post date: [August 17, 2012, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/der-trihs-should-have-some-qualifications/631758/32 "2012-08-17T22:55:20Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#):
>
> Not really. I’m always surprised at how many people chime in to support him in these Pit threads.
As of post 32, the number is zero. I’ll chime in as a liberal atheist who disowns him. I think he’s insane, and that’s not a figure of speech.
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### Author:  [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)
#### Post date: [August 17, 2012, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/der-trihs-should-have-some-qualifications/631758/33 "2012-08-17T22:58:26Z")
> [@John Mace](#):
>
> SH is still alive.
Oh shit! I knew that, and I didn’t mean to imply he isn’t!
Of course, “Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking _are_ both atheists” wouldn’t be right either. Isn’t past tense acceptable in this situation?
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### Author:  [@Makeitstop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Makeitstop)
#### Post date: [August 17, 2012, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/der-trihs-should-have-some-qualifications/631758/34 "2012-08-17T23:07:51Z")
> [@Don\_t\_Call\_Me\_Shirley](#):
>
> Is exactly that: one man’s evidence. Unless he can share that evidence, and I can reproduce it, it’s not evidence.
I disagree. People can see the same thing, but think entirely different things. What someone with faith views as evidence of a higher power, someone without faith can see as simple cooincidence. This does not _automatically_ make either point of view stupid in of themselves. Illogical, possibly, but not simply stupid. Especially if one accepts the illogic of their beliefs to begin with.
Afterall, faith is hardly built on logic. If you could prove faith, that would kind of defeat the purpose. Faith is built on believing in something without having it spelled out for you in every way. Yes, this is illogical. But hey, so is climbing a mountain.
For more on the conflict between logic /reason and emotion/intuition, see Kirk v. Spock, 1701 N.C.C. (2293).
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### Author:  [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)
#### Post date: [August 17, 2012, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/der-trihs-should-have-some-qualifications/631758/35 "2012-08-17T23:08:52Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#):
>
> As of post 32, the number is zero. I’ll chime in as a liberal atheist who disowns him. I think he’s insane, and that’s not a figure of speech.
I’ll defend him in this case because he’s not being pitted for being insane or angry or bigoted or irrational, but for having the gall to disagree with John Polkinghorne and John Lennox on the existence of God. Well John Polkinghorne and John Lennox are wrong about God and **Der Trihs** is right, and the argument that John Polkinghorne and John Lennox are experts who can’t possibly be wrong or disagreed with is stupid.
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### Author:  [@Makeitstop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Makeitstop)
#### Post date: [August 17, 2012, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/der-trihs-should-have-some-qualifications/631758/36 "2012-08-17T23:20:42Z")
> [@Alan\_Smithee](#):
>
> I’ll defend him in this case because he’s not being pitted for being insane or angry or bigoted or irrational, but for having the gall to disagree with John Polkinghorne and John Lennox on the existence of God. Well John Polkinghorne and John Lennox are wrong about God and **Der Trihs** is right, and the argument that John Polkinghorne and John Lennox are experts who can’t possibly be wrong or disagreed with is stupid.
The same goes true for Steven Hawking and Albert Einstein, I assume?
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### Author:  [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)
#### Post date: [August 17, 2012, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/der-trihs-should-have-some-qualifications/631758/37 "2012-08-17T23:50:36Z")
> [@Alan\_Smithee](#):
>
> Oh shit! I knew that, and I didn’t mean to imply he isn’t!
>
> Of course, “Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking _are_ both atheists” wouldn’t be right either. Isn’t past tense acceptable in this situation?
“The list of atheist scientists includes Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking.”
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### Author:  [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)
#### Post date: [August 17, 2012, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/der-trihs-should-have-some-qualifications/631758/38 "2012-08-17T23:51:13Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#):
>
> As of post 32, the number is zero. I’ll chime in as a liberal atheist who disowns him. I think he’s insane, and that’s not a figure of speech.
Check out the sister thread. Or other Pittings.
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### Author:  [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2012, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/der-trihs-should-have-some-qualifications/631758/39 "2012-08-18T01:04:06Z")
> [@Blake](#):
>
> Der Trihs isn’t a physicist. He has no actual knowledge of physics whatsoever, but he uses a few buzzwords that he picked up to try to bluff his way through an argument. When he gets called on it he skulks away and hides.
Well yeah. Der is a sci-fi buff with some armchair science exposure.
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### Author:  [@coffeecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coffeecat)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2012, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/der-trihs-should-have-some-qualifications/631758/40 "2012-08-18T01:41:25Z")
> [@Alan\_Smithee](#):
>
> Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking were both atheists.
Cite for Einstein? (Not that it proves anything besides one man’s beliefs.)
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