Science Forums 2

[UncleAl]

Your car has no engine. It is propelled by elves from the Black Forest who miraculoulsy transform themselves into hardware when you look. Go ahead, pop the hood/bonnet. See? Engine! That is conclusive proof that it is elves from the Black Forest.

Wouldn't it be best to leave bits of fine salami and hard cheese in the "engine" compartment each evening? Elves from the Black Forest would not touch them, of course, for it would give away the game. Still, they would be pleased and you would enjoy better gas mileage and fewer breakdowns - but only if it were the right kinds of salami and cheese as their desires dictated.

In this particular case, there's no reason not to believe. And just because you believe, it doesn't mean you have to close your mind to other possibilities. It also doesn't mean you have to change your life in any way. So what possible reason would anyone have not to believe in elves from the Black Forest instead of automobile engines?

Only an idiot bows down before gods: AD 476-1054, Crusades, Inquisition, witch burnings, 30 Years' War, War of the Roses, Armenians slaughtered by Turks, Jews slaughered by Nazis, Dukhobors expelled from Russia; India and Pakistan, Northern Ireland, East Timor, Cyprus; televangelism, homosexual rape of little boys by Roman Catholic priests, 11 September 2001...

"God will gladly give you an eternal afterlife of bliss if you surrender all your money and chattels to His priests in this one." Test of faith! You gotta be kidding.