XPost: alt.flame.jesus.christ, sci.skeptic, rec.org.mensa   
   From: nowhere@nowhere.com   
      
   ralph wrote:   
   > In message <1152030941.685415.33100@m79g2000cwm.googlegroups.com>, ^^^   
   >  writes   
   >   
   >> With biographical claims (such as being the only christian veteran in a   
   >> unit full of atheists) the burden of proof is on the doubter.   
   >   
   >   
   > Why so? If you claim that something (anything) is true, you should be   
   > prepared to offer evidence. And you should be aware that no amount of   
   > evidence will prove anything to be true. It is only possible to *prove*   
   > that something is *not* true.   
      
   Not so. A singular or specific proposition which contains no free   
   variables can sometimes be shown to be true. For example:  there is   
   exactly one ten dollar bill in my wallet. One looks, one sees. The   
   statement is either true or false. If there is exactly one ten dollar   
   bill in my wallet the statement is true.   
      
      
   However, in the case of a universally quantified statement over an   
   infinite domain, no finite set of true instances will prove the general   
   statement to be true, but one false instance does prove the general   
   statement to be false.   
      
   So you statement only applies to univerally quantified statements over   
   an indefinite or infinite domain.   
      
   Bob Kolker   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)