# "No one has ever seen the sun, but only the light from the sun"--meaningless statement? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 30, 2009, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-one-has-ever-seen-the-sun-but-only-the-light-from-the-sun-meaningless-statement/523078 "2009-12-30T19:29:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2009, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-one-has-ever-seen-the-sun-but-only-the-light-from-the-sun-meaningless-statement/523078/21 "2009-12-31T17:05:10Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > the thrust of his argument was that we believe in the sun’s existence because we have evidence of its activity, and, likewise, we should believe in God because we have evidence of his activity in the world. I vote for “not totally bogus, but hardly, in and of itself, an argument for the existence of God.” If I asked you whether the sun was shining, you wouldn’t answer by looking at the sun. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2009, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-one-has-ever-seen-the-sun-but-only-the-light-from-the-sun-meaningless-statement/523078/22 "2009-12-31T20:01:35Z")
> [@adhay](#): > > Which should be obvious to anyone who thinks about it. We see only the past, mistake it for the present and act/react as if it is, thus insuring a future just as shitty. You sound like you’re fun at parties. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![adhay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecd19e/32.png) [@adhay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adhay)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2009, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-one-has-ever-seen-the-sun-but-only-the-light-from-the-sun-meaningless-statement/523078/23 "2009-12-31T22:35:10Z")
> [@mlees](#): > > You sound like you’re fun at parties. 😉 I can be had. Happy Every Year. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2009, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-one-has-ever-seen-the-sun-but-only-the-light-from-the-sun-meaningless-statement/523078/24 "2009-12-31T22:52:49Z")
Acually the correct response is “I am not interested in listening to your thoughts on Christianity.” [Also, here is a photo of the sun.](http://z.about.com/d/space/1/0/q/6/1/prominence.gif) ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2009, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-one-has-ever-seen-the-sun-but-only-the-light-from-the-sun-meaningless-statement/523078/25 "2009-12-31T23:48:37Z")
> [@adhay](#): > > Which should be obvious to anyone who thinks about it. We see only the past, mistake it for the present and act/react as if it is, thus insuring a future just as shitty. This is actually the premise of the social psychology book ‘‘Stumbling Upon Happiness’’ by Daniel Gilbert. Pretty interesting stuff about how shitty people are at predicting their future (not quite such a cynical conclusion, though.) I think the quote in the OP is not very convincing, but it brings to mind a better quote I used to hear a lot when I was a Christian: ‘‘People ask me, ‘Do you see God? Have you ever seen Him?’ I’ve never seen the wind. I’ve seen the effects of the wind, but I’ve never seen the wind.’’ Meaning, I suppose, that you don’t have to see something to know it’s there. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2009, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-one-has-ever-seen-the-sun-but-only-the-light-from-the-sun-meaningless-statement/523078/26 "2009-12-31T23:52:01Z")
> [@Chief\_Pedant](#): > > Why these sorts of vacuosly pithy statements capture the imagination of the witless and persuade them of a Greater Truth, I’ll never figure out. Being stupid is like being stoned all the time. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![adhay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecd19e/32.png) [@adhay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adhay)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2010, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-one-has-ever-seen-the-sun-but-only-the-light-from-the-sun-meaningless-statement/523078/27 "2010-01-01T00:20:36Z")
> [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > … (not quite such a cynical conclusion, though.) … Noted, YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Krebbs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5fc32e/32.png) [@Mr.Krebbs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Krebbs)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2010, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-one-has-ever-seen-the-sun-but-only-the-light-from-the-sun-meaningless-statement/523078/28 "2010-01-01T01:17:54Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > Being stupid is like being stoned all the time. 😉 Hey now - I’m not stoned now (ETA: the beer has perhaps made me tipsy), but unless circumstance intervenes, I sure as hell am stoned all the time. Even then I don’t think I’m stupid, just a little less quick on the uptake. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-one-has-ever-seen-the-sun-but-only-the-light-from-the-sun-meaningless-statement/523078.md?page=1)