@philosophyminis: There is a dragon in my garage. You cannot see it because it's invisible, and you cannot hear it because it is silent. You cannot touch it because it floats above our heads, and you cannot even feel its fiery breath because its flames are heatless. Do you believe in my dragon? This is the thought experiment that Carl Sagan introduces to show that if somebody makes a claim that cannot be tested, or proven, or disproven, what is the difference between an invisible dragon and no dragon at all? It's all to do with what philosophers call the 'burden of proof,' which says that if somebody makes a claim, it is up to them to prove it, and not for everybody else to disprove it. If I say there is a dragon in my garage and you say you don't believe me, I can't turn around to you and say, 'Well, can you prove that there isn't a dragon in my garage?' Because there is an infinity of imaginary and invisible things that we could try and disprove every second. As Christopher Hitchens put it, 'What can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.' If somebody offers you no proof, there is no need to rebut them. And yet we fall for this all of the time. In arguments, in politics, and in online debate, somebody will make a bold and outlandish claim, and expect other people to do the hard work of trying to disprove them. There are invisible dragons everywhere. It's the conspiracy theory without any proof whatsoever. It's the accusation without any evidence at all. What Sagan and Hitchens are saying is that in a world full of dragons in garages, we only have one question to ask. 'Can you show me?'

Frankie :

yes I can jump so in a matter for math now we need to know how big your garage is and how big the dragon is if you know there is a dragon then you should know how big it is but if you don't then probably use a net to capture the dragon

WallFlee :

i thought this was about god

Op_49 :

This is about religion but he didn't want to anger magic believers

kopanvezer :

so what you're saying is that we... Imagine Dragons?

adnanferdousleo14 :

Did you just talk about God?

￴ ￴ ￴ ￴ ￴ ￴ ￴ ￴￴ ￴ ￴ ￴ ￴ ￴ ￴ :

This isn’t about dragons

Tato :

you just have to trust blindly in my dragon, you have to have faith in my dragon, only if you open you heart to it, my dragon will show itself

Qin Shi Huang :

The five senses are biological tools tuned for survival, not for detecting ultimate reality. Humans perceive only a tiny fraction of what exists we cannot see radio waves, ultraviolet light, gravity, or dark matter, yet their existence is accepted because we infer them from their effects. Science routinely affirms realities that are not directly sensed but are rationally concluded. In classical theism, God is defined as non-material and outside space and time; expecting such a being to be detectable by physical senses is a category error, like trying to weigh a number or smell a thought. Therefore, the inability to perceive something through the senses does not logically mean it does not exist it simply means our biological instruments are limited.

frenchfriend :

Religion is the biggest source of invisible dragons. Children are taught about the horrors that will befall them if they don’t believe in the Invisible Dragon their parents believe in. That mindset makes people more vulnerable to being led around by various dragon-promoters without evidence, for the rest of their lives.

Flow_alignment :

that's my dragon. I've been looking for it for ages

Left-handed Unstoppable Gooner :

butterflycuttingboards :

Religion. And still people believe there's a dragon in the garage. Same thing.

Stoffeboii02 :

✨GOD✨

premiumdarkchocolate :

hm imagine dragons, just imagine

Aeddan :

this dragon seems quite bad at being a dragon. Quite the bad dragon...

Fallen TWNZY :

dont tell the religous people

Motho fela :

the absence of evidence is the evidence os absence

John :

God

Bancdmm :

my dragon loves everyone. but if you don't believe it it will burn you eternally after you die

⛰️☀️ :

but but... dragon lovers you... 🥺

Tweep :

hey theists. listen up lol

Telemark :

Carl Sagan: What is faith? It is belief in the absence of evidence. Now, I don't propose to tell anybody what to believe, but for me, believing when there's no compelling evidence is a mistake. The idea is to withhold belief until there is compelling evidence.

🚦MarshPuffins🚦 :

i have a bad dragon

Anne70 :

I don't think there is a dragon in your garage, but I'm okay if you believe there is. That is for as long as your dragon does not expect you to hurt yourself or others... I won't be okay with that.

Ugoo Carson :

So basically, let atheists be atheists and believers be believers.