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Today's Atheist Meme of the Day:
"That can't be a coincidence! It must have had a supernatural cause!" isn't a good argument for God or the supernatural. Our minds evolved to see patterns, even where none exist; and our intuitive understanding of probability is not very good. Pass it on: if we say it enough times to enough people, it may get through.
Between pareidolia, post hoc rationalization, and confirmation bias, we are inherently flawed in our ability to tell "coincidence" apart from real correlation. Science is the tool that gives us even a partial ability to see the difference because it minimizes our own flawed observance from the equation.
"That can't be a coincidence! It must have had a supernatural cause!" isn't a good argument for God or the supernatural. Our minds evolved to see patterns, even where none exist; and our intuitive understanding of probability is not very good. Pass it on: if we say it enough times to enough people, it may get through.
Between pareidolia, post hoc rationalization, and confirmation bias, we are inherently flawed in our ability to tell "coincidence" apart from real correlation. Science is the tool that gives us even a partial ability to see the difference because it minimizes our own flawed observance from the equation.
