Whether or not an argument is the favorite of someone does not refute the argument. That's why I ignored that comment.
We don't. If God does not deceive, we can trust our senses. If there is no God and ours is a purely materialistic universe, we can trust our senses. If we are in a universe ruled by a capricious trickster god, we cannot trust anything, and live in perpetual uncertainty.
So either can trust our senses or we cannot. Great. That was real helpful.
As long as you can't scientifically prove that the world wasn't created yesterday, you have no grounds for claiming that you can scientifically prove the truth of the theory of evolution. (I'm not picking on evolution; I'm pointing out the problem with positivistic scientism.)
-A8
That does not cover why you ignored the explanation. The "Dude, like, what if we don't really exist and stuff" argument is a favorite of freshmen because most folks tire of it by sophomore year.
So either can trust our senses or we cannot. Great. That was real helpful.
If you're asking for clear, concise, authoritative answers from philosophy, I can only advise you to learn to live with disappointment. Or write a screenplay.
As long as you can't scientifically prove that the world wasn't created yesterday, you have no grounds for claiming that you can scientifically prove the truth of the theory of evolution. (I'm not picking on evolution; I'm pointing out the problem with positivistic scientism.)
It is trivial to scientifically prove that the world was not created yesterday. There is abundant evidence that the Earth has existed for billions of years, civilization has existed for thousands, and I have existed for 35. There is no evidence to support the hypothesis that the world was created yesterday. Case closed.
Science cannot prove anything to a point of metaphysical certainty. Science does not deal in metaphysics. It cannot calculate the number of angels that can dance on the head of a pin or answer whether reality exists. It cannot, and does not claim to, tell you whether you are actually conscious or living in a perpetual dream state.
All science does is evaluate available evidence. All of the available evidence indicates that the world was has existed for billions of years. No evidence indicates that it was created yesterday.
I cannot prove to a point of metaphysical certainty that you will fall if you jump off of a tall building. But you're not going to test that hypothesis, are you? You don't seem to have the same problem accepting gravity that you have accepting evolution, though they share the common flaw of being derived from observation. That sounds like a personal issue to me.