# Is the idea of God enough? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 9, 2009, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-idea-of-god-enough/485053 "2009-02-09T14:17:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-idea-of-god-enough/485053/141 "2009-02-17T01:20:55Z")
> [@devilsknew](#): > > **Perceived** is the key word. > > Who knows what a Goose knows or feels, who knows what a Goose passes to the Gosling? > > Maybe you, because you have a capacity for compassion? > > Apparenntly by God’s standards he doesn’t know or care. He set us up against them in Eden. Oh, I have no capacity for compassion. I hate all animals. (Though not equally.) And I am _fairly_ confident that a goose doesn’t pass onto a gosling anything that requires multiple syllables to express - leaving you with instinct, example, and reward/punishment being pretty much the only tools in the educational toolbox. (Although the ultimate test is separating them prior to hatching, I suppose.) ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-idea-of-god-enough/485053/142 "2009-02-17T01:49:46Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > Oh, I have no capacity for compassion. I hate all animals. (Though not equally.) > > And I am _fairly_ confident that a goose doesn’t pass onto a gosling anything that requires multiple syllables to express - leaving you with instinct, example, and reward/punishment being pretty much the only tools in the educational toolbox. > > (Although the ultimate test is separating them prior to hatching, I suppose.) Your entire argument rests on “multiple syllables to express”, in language, and in terms of communication, sonic complexity has absolutely nothing to do with information conveyance or processes. In fact, a multisyllabic elaboration may be ineffecient in sonority and bytes expressed. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-idea-of-god-enough/485053/143 "2009-02-17T02:21:12Z")
Let’s put it this way. Do you think if you brought a Chinese Goose together with an American Goose, would they be able to communicate, or even a Farmyard White Goose with a Canda Goose? Would they be able to commuicate in pure sonic terms, unlike a Chinese National and an American National. What language do they speak, if any? Frankly your worldview and religion disallows and disavows anything that is not anthropocentric and totally discounts the possibility by pure perc3ived superiority. Might eat a Goose, why would I want to talk to a goose!!? The miscommucnication of murder. Think the Chinese Gooose is telling the American Goose, the humans come around, and one of us disappears? The American geese are maybe less suspicious. After all, I hear Goose is really greasy. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-idea-of-god-enough/485053/144 "2009-02-17T04:43:11Z")
> [@devilsknew](#): > > Might eat a Goose, why would I want to talk to a goose!!? The miscommucnication of murder. Well, The fine art of [talking to geese](http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=&search_query=goose+calls&aq=f) is well developed by Mankind. Not so crazy, huh? Or is it? The people who talk to geese lure them to their own demise. Device of Death. We don’t think to listen to them or talk to them- We eat them and consume them. Can’t beat a Goose Down Comforter and Pillow… heaven! ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-idea-of-god-enough/485053/145 "2009-02-17T18:52:49Z")
> [@devilsknew](#): > > Let’s put it this way. Do you think if you brought a Chinese Goose together with an American Goose, would they be able to communicate, or even a Farmyard White Goose with a Canda Goose? Would they be able to commuicate in pure sonic terms, unlike a Chinese National and an American National. What language do they speak, if any? Frankly your worldview and religion disallows and disavows anything that is not anthropocentric and totally discounts the possibility by pure perc3ived superiority. Might eat a Goose, why would I want to talk to a goose!!? The miscommucnication of murder. > > Think the Chinese Gooose is telling the American Goose, the humans come around, and one of us disappears? The American geese are maybe less suspicious. After all, I hear Goose is really greasy. I don’t think that geese speak in a language at _all_ - I think they have a basic signal set that includes audible noises, but that it’s as much a language as human laughter is. (Which is to say not at all.) Aaand then you roll over into somewhat incomprehensible nonsense, starting right about when you amusingly, and quite incorrectly, accuse me of having a religion. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-idea-of-god-enough/485053/146 "2009-02-18T22:32:36Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > I don’t think that geese speak in a language at _all_ - I think they have a basic signal set that includes audible noises, but that it’s as much a language as human laughter is. (Which is to say not at all.) > > Aaand then you roll over into somewhat incomprehensible nonsense, starting right about when you amusingly, and quite incorrectly, accuse me of having a religion. It’s a very common belief as a societal set, that one’s language is superior to another set. In human history, very recently, many conquering societal sets have lorded over conquered sets with their prejudiced classification of their society and language, “as primitive language and society” compared to the economic and imperialistic lingua franca. It’s simply not true… no commune is better than another, they are simply specialized. Abrahamic Law societies especially lord over animals and nature because of their ingrained cultural beliefs, even I am influenced by the despicable Middle eastern Law and belief. One doesn’t need to have a religion to be religous, one can spout religiosity in societal conviction of any variety. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-idea-of-god-enough/485053/147 "2009-02-18T22:43:21Z")
Ask a Goose Hunter if Geese (or Duck, for that matter) speak a language. I think even they would be hard pressed to say no. Unless they were really ignorant and wanted to fool themselves. I mean, after all, they did have to learn _Goose_ to kill them easily. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-idea-of-god-enough/485053/148 "2009-02-18T22:47:48Z")
> [@devilsknew](#): > > It’s a very common belief as a societal set, that one’s language is superior to another set. In human history, very recently, many conquering societal sets have lorded over conquered sets with their prejudiced classification of their society and language, “as primitive language and society” compared to the economic and imperialistic lingua franca. It’s simply not true… no commune is better than another, they are simply specialized. > > Abrahamic Law societies especially lord over animals and nature because of their ingrained cultural beliefs, even I am influenced by the despicable Middle eastern Law and belief. One doesn’t need to have a religion to be religous, one can spout religiosity in societal conviction of any variety. Dude, the burden of proof is on _you_ to prove that geese have a language more complex and meaning-laden than human nonlinguistic utterances like laughter or screaming. 'Cause frankly I don’t believe it. Not because I’m religiously opposed to it, but because the default belief is not that any squalk uttered by man or beast is language. I’m not saying that I think their language is primitive out of innate superiority; I’m saying that I think they don’t have language at all because all they do is honk. Until you can prove that geese have language, this is beyond silly. On preview: Hey goose hunters! Have you discussed any philiosophy with your prey lately? ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-idea-of-god-enough/485053/149 "2009-02-18T22:54:19Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > On preview: Hey goose hunters! Have you discussed any philiosophy with your prey lately? In some human languages and societies, philosophizing or linguistic exponence will get you killed. The idea of God is enough. and there is nothing else. So I guess it evens out. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-idea-of-god-enough/485053/150 "2009-02-19T00:58:11Z")
Do you speak Goose? Duck! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-idea-of-god-enough/485053.md?page=7)