Talk:Spectrum of theistic probability

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[edit] Problems with this

Is this notable enough for an article on its own? As a Dawkins invention, this is not enough for a Wikipedia entry, and especially under this title. Is the phrase "Spectrum of Theist Probability" even used by Dawkins? There is hope for this article because this idea is hopefully not a Dawkins neologism, but we need to find a suitable name for this, and supplement this article with more sources, if this should be kept at all... --Merzul 15:18, 28 April 2007 (UTC)

I expanded this a bit, I looked at where this occurs in Dawkins's book and it is in the section on "The Poverty of Agnosticism". I'm thinking of redirecting merging this into the article on agnosticism, either as "Criticism of agnosticism"; or simply "Spectrum of probabilities", simply adding something that Dawkins argues that Huxley "seems to have been ignoring the shading of probability." I'm often very brutal in making moves and mergers like this. So if there are no objections within a few days, I'm going to do this. --Merzul 16:11, 28 April 2007 (UTC)
  • I am also far from convinced that this needs a separate article. Does it have any life outside Dawkins' book? And what are the chances of anyone actually looking for an article under this obscure title? I would favour a summary under Agnosticism, and also perhaps Atheism. Mind you, I tried to argue against promoting the Ultimate Boeing 747 gambit to full-article status, so why should you listen to me? I guess if someone wants hang some personal opinions on it, it'll be stoutly defended and remain in place! But if it does stay, I presume the article title should be lowercased: Spectrum of theistic probability. Snalwibma 16:42, 28 April 2007 (UTC)
    • I also argued vehemently against the 747 gambit :) I think the situation is a bit different, I can't imagine how this current article can be expanded. The 747 Gambit was at least directly addressed by many reviewers. --Merzul 17:44, 28 April 2007 (UTC)

I'd like to see it expanded into something somewhat analogous to political compass, where 'level of apathy toward religion' or something roughly like that was included as a second dimension. This is largely my own idea though, so I'm doubtful anyone has published anything about it. I think such a compass would be an excellent way of conceptualizing attitudes toward religion (although there are still other aspects left out, such as Dan Dennett's "belief in belief", which should probably have its own article as well). If anyone feels like stealing the idea and writing about it though, be my guest! Richard001 (talk) 06:22, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Diagram

I'd like to suggest a diagram be added showing this concept visually. Something to go at the top that should give the reader a very quick summary of the concept. It would basically just be an image of a linear scale going from theism to atheism, with agnosticism in the middle. Something like green = theism, cyan = agnosticism and blue = atheism, for example. There would of course be intermediate colours, highlighting the continuous nature of the issue. Richard001 (talk) 06:47, 28 March 2008 (UTC)