Saturday, September 13, 2008

Faith and Verifiable Events

It was reported in the news that the most powerful atom-smasher ever (as of now) was built by CERN underneath the Franco-Swiss border between the Jura Mountains and the Alps near Geneva, Switzerland. It is known as the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), which would create collisions of subatomic particles - known as Hadrons, that may help scientists reproduce the conditions that existed during the first moments after the Big Bang at the birth of the universe. I have not been to Switzerland to verify the news, but I believe. Would you believe in this news? Is the LHC really built? Would the North Korens believe in this news if they hear it?

Now let say the North Koreans reacted to this news by announcing that they had already built such a collider ten years ago, twice as large, under some mountains, thanks to the great wisdom of the Dear Leader, Kim Jong-il. They had completed the experiment and have scentifically proven that the Great Leader Kim Il-sung was in fact the creator of the universe. I have not been to North Korea to verify the news, but I will not believe it. Would you believe in this news? Is the North Korean Collider really built? Would the North Korens believe in this news if they hear it?

Both events which I have listed above are Verifiable Events, because they happened in the past and in this dimension. The second event is, of course, made up by me. I can verify the first event, but I do not have the means. I cannot afford the time and money to go to Switzerland, and even if I have, I don't have the knowledge to verify that it is a Large Hadron Collider, and not just some large underground loop. Therefore, I believe in the news by faith.

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