Strabo wrote:
In OT - A test for Gunner & Stu & crew on Mon, 29 Aug 2005
14:33:47 -0400, by Kirk Gordon, we read:

Here's a simple test: Can you prove that there's not a 16 foot
tall, purple, fire breathing dragon standing right behind you, right
this minute, about to bite your ass off? No, you can't. Looking behind
you doen't work. The dragon might have moved as you turned your head.
Or it might be an invisible dragon. Reaching out to feel around for it
won't work, either. Dragons are very quick and clever. (Prove that
they're not!) Did you look all over the room, under the desk, and
behind the file cabinet? That's not proof of anything. It only means
that you didn't find the dragon. It doesn't prove anything about
whether the dragon actually exists.

No, of course one can't prove a negative. That's the trap
of atheism. The atheist denies the existence while implying
evidence of same. On the other hand the agnostic says that he
doesn't know.

So you're in the same trap with respect to that dragon, right? You
can't disprove its existence; but you're afraid just to accept that it
doesn't exist. That's agnosticism.

KG