How Do You Prove Something Doesn't Exist?

[Riddle78]

It's actually a Logical Fallacy to say something is wrong or doesn't exist simply due to lack of evidence. The most you can do is repeatedly fail at trying to prove it exists.

 

[4li3n]

You can't prove a negative.
/thread

Actually i'm pretty sure i can easily prove you where never shot in the head with a shotgun easily (seeing how you still have your head and all).

 

[Redingold]

Using maths?

E.g. I know that there does not exist a real value of x for which x[sup]2[/sup] = -1

Bad example... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imaginary_number


But yeah. Math and logic are the only two which can prove the non-existence of something.

I said real value. Read more carefully before you criticise somebody's writing.

 

[Pinkamena]

You can't prove a negative.
/thread

Actually i'm pretty sure i can easily prove you where never shot in the head with a shotgun easily (seeing how you still have your head and all).

You do not have evidence that I was not shot in the head. Rather, you only have evidence that my head is intact.
EDIT: On a day-to-day basis, seeing my head is intact would be a good enough "proof" that I have not been shot. But it is not a real proof, since I can always come up with "excuses" that make the proof wrong. Like, I could say that I was shot, but then I had a face surgery. Or that the bullet went through my head and didn't do any damage. Unlikely explanations, but it still renders your proof wrong.

 

[Alleged_Alec]

Using maths?

E.g. I know that there does not exist a real value of x for which x[sup]2[/sup] = -1

Bad example... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imaginary_number


But yeah. Math and logic are the only two which can prove the non-existence of something.

I said real value. Read more carefully before you criticise somebody's writing.

Sorry about that. I wasn't paying enough attention. Wasn't trying to be critizing though.

 

[Electric Alpaca]

The only method is to prove it can't exist.

Then again, we used to think flight couldn't exist yet here we are with increasingly monstrous constructions ferrying us across the globe.

That being said - it (anything) can be believed doesn't exist until it is proven it does, which I feel is a fair rule. Due to perception - it can't be wrong.

 

[Master Taffer]

Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. Just because something lacks evidence does not mean it could not exist. However, absence of evidence is not evidence either. Pointing out that something could be true is not enough for it to be considered true. In order for a claim to have merit, the burden of proof is on the one making the claim. Without it, it's unfalsifiable.

I'm a skeptic, and an unfalsifiable claim is dismissed by until evidence to the contrary arrives. That's not to say I will deny something to my grave, I just require tangible evidence to put stock into a claim.

 

[Durgiun]

Very easily.

''Prove to me this chair does not exist!''
-''What chair?''

If someone's gonna give you an uncompltable task, you might as well fuck around with them as well.

 

[Hagi]

Pretty sure that's also reductio ad absurdum...

Reductio ad absurdum is the other way around. You assume it's false which leads to impossibilities so therefore it must be true.

~A -> ~B
B
--------
A

of course if you take A = ~(Whatever you're trying to prove does not exist) then it works basically the same way as long as you're operating under the axiom that ~~A = A.

 

[BlackWidower]

It's impossible. You can't prove a negative.

I love that video.

Of course you love that video, he's the Amazing Randi! He's Amazing!!!

The problem is that if you ask a question like: "Is the christian God real?"
then you have the problem that there is no logical reason to believe that no is any more likely than yes. If you include all forms of Gods, there are many thousands of possibilities. This makes the chances that any of the possibilities are true equally unlikely. As such, it is equally unlikely that there is a god, there are many gods, there are gods and goddesses, there are no gods, etc. Meaning that to say it is improbable that God exists is meaningless because the chances of no gods existing are equally low.

Now, there is a logical path to prove there is no god, or there is a god and he/she doesn't care whether or not you believe in them, or this god is not worth worshipping and--you know what, here comes a text wall behind the spoiler tag.

Spoiler

It's likely there is no god, because believing in the Christian god is just as logical as believing in Shiva, or Amaterasu, or Loki. (I know this sounds identical to Dawkins' response but bear with me on this.) This is primarily because all of these faiths each popped up in one place, and one place only. For instance Christianity only made an appearance in the Middle East. Why didn't prophets pop up in Asia, America and the middle of Africa to talk about the God of Abraham? Why is it only the Middle East that gets a prophet. Now of course some would argue they are here now, so what difference does it make? Well what about the Natives, who were here a thousand years ago? Why couldn't they hear the word of god? Also, what about the African Bushmen? Until recently they were completely cut off from the modern world, and I'm willing to bet some still are. So why didn't god send his word down to those people?

There are three possible ways to explain this. Number one: God doesn't exist. Number two: God does exist and he doesn't care whether or not we believe in him, and when people die, they go up to heaven and are judged purely on the actions they committed in life. They are judged based on whether or not they are good people, not on what they believed. In that case I'm good no matter what, as long as I'm a good person, I'll still get into heaven.

Finally number three: God does exist, and he's a dick. He is a jealous asshole who requires that you believe in him as opposed to Thor, who doesn't actually exist. Which is like your girlfriend dumping you because you keep fantasizing about Betty Rubble. He's a bigot who will only let one group of people (the Jews) into his playground, and will throw any other race into a pit of fire for all eternity, not because they were bad people, but because they were Black...or Asian, who were never even told he existed. He's also the kind of guy who will torture people with natural disasters either to punish them for not believing, or to test their belief. The first group I kinda get, but the second group? That's like your best friend punching you in the face randomly every once in a while, to test your friendship...and he shoots you if you fight back. Is that really a god you want to worship? I know I don't.

full text

 

[BlackWidower]

Google it, if you get no results it doesn't exist.

You can google God

ZING

OT: Personally if it doesn't apply to my senses and isn't provably by science then it doesn't exist

You can also Google Santa Claus...or was that your point?

 

[Worgen]

you cant really prove something isnt there, really the best you can do is prove that believing that something is there is silly and hope that people realize it

 

[LunarGrayce]

I usually like to read things before I speak but I got through the first page and most of the second before I became... disinterested.

I do however enjoy the question and thought Id say what I think without clearly repeating the stuff already given.

In a factual sense its just not possible, To prove something doesn't exist would be as nonsensical as to disprove something that does exist and its really that simple.

However speaking more on the ideas then the facts....
If you wanted to disprove something I would assume in most context you would be trying to make someone stop believing something they think. In this case the only real thing that is worth while is to try understanding.
Clearly if they think something is true that you think is false the only way to agree is for not just you to understand them but to make them understand you. Of course I use the word "make" loosely considering you can only show people things they are willing to see.

I could go on but that is my basic opinion and if I dont like reading the rambling strangers I'm sure you dont either.

 

[LunarGrayce]

Internet made me repeat myself, I'll try to delete this

 

[Epicspoon]

Technically if the Universe if infinite then everything that can exist must exist somewhere = P

well yes and no. but because there are infinite possibilities anything that potentially COULD exist therefore MUST exist in a different universe but that also means that if the universe could go on without something existing then therefore there must be a universe where it does not.

 

[Ohhi]

simple if there is no porn of it, it does not exist.