1. It has no defintion of "something real"; and
2. It is a statement of faith.
1. If by "something real" you mean "those things that can be perceived by the senses", then that is fine, but please realize that sensory perceptions are entire subjective in nature. There is no way to demonstrate that the figures displayed upon a gauge, measuring rod, or scale you may be reading bear any relation to anything "real" at all. There is similarly no way to demonstrate without a doubt that anything you may see, hear, smell, touch, or taste has any existence outside of your own mind. For all you know there is no physical world "out there". For all you know this is all a dream.
2. Your criterion for "truth" seems to be "only those statements demonstrable via the scientific method are True". Unfortunately for you, however, the statement "only those statements demonstrable via the scientific method are True" is itself not demonstrable via the scientific method. Therefore, your own definition of Truth is self-refuting and meaningless. You may believe that only those statements demonstrable via the scientific method are True, but you cannot demonstrate the truth of that statement via the scientific method; therefore, the statement "only those statements demonstrable via the scientific method are True" is a statement of faith, not of objective truth.
All worldviews proceed from undemonstrated and undemonstrable axioms. The scientific worldview proceeds from the axiom that "a material reality external to the human mind exists and can be postively known through observation". This is a commonsense axiom, and one I share, but make no mistake: it is an axiom. I happen to believe that a material reality external to the human mind exists and can be postively known through observation, but the truth of that statement cannot be demontrated. I take the existence of the physical, knowable universe on faith — as do you.
If one cannot rely on the evidence of the senses as the criteria for Truth, how then can we know Truth? We can know it through logic. We can know one thing for certain —our own existence— because we do not apprehend our existence via our senses. We do not "see" ourselves, "feel" ourselves, "taste" "touch" or "hear ourselves". We are ourselves. We experience our own existence directly, immediately, without recourse to the senses. Anesthetize a man, drop him in a sensory deprivation tank, and otherwise cut him off from all sensory input, and he may come to doubt the existence of the outside world — but he continues to exist. We need no ear to hear ourselves think; we can see with our mind's eye even in a pitch-black room. Thus the basic truth of philosophy as formulated by Réne Descartes becomes obvious: cogito, ergo sum, "I think, therefore I am".
For the Christian, the fundamental axiom of thought might be stated as "God exists, and sent His Son, Jesus, to save mankind from destruction". We can demonstrate the existence of Jesus and His miracles using historical, eyewitness documentary evidence, but of course we have no way of "proving" the Christian faith via science. One cannot put God under a microscope, after all; He transcends space and time, matter and energy. The Christian worldview, however, does not depend entirely upon an unprovable axiom, for we can know the Truth behind it in an absolute way — the same way we can absolutely know the Truth of our own existence. We can know God exists through direct experience — not by means of our senses, but directly. We do not see, hear, smell, touch, taste, or otherwise sense the existence of God; we can join with Him and experience His presence directly. Not every believer has experienced God in this direct way, of course; for most, God is known via reason (i.e. via the evidences of His existence, intellectual faith, and logical necessity). A select few humans, however, are permiitted to contact the Divine Presence directly, intimtely, knowing Him in the same way they know themselves. We call such people "saints".
If quantum physics proves anything, it proves that the universe is not a blind clockwork, a deterministic machine made of dead matter. At their most fundamental level, space, time, matter, and energy are impossible to quantify precisely, and are thus "real" in a way that is more than merely the sum of their physical descriptors. Just as the universe is real at a level beyond our ability to observe, so too is the human mind. The brain may be the organ by which our consciousness contacts physical reality, but the brain is not the mind. The map is not the territory. Human consciousness has its foundation somewhere beyond all this — somewhere outside of nature — and, therefore, so does Truth.
Quantum physics tells us not that the world is real but that the world is probably real. :-)
I’m always amused by atheists who refuse to believe in God until they get “proof.” If they are consistent, shouldn’t they also refuse to believe that any other conscious being exists until they get “proof” of that too?
Think about it. There is no way to prove, scientifically or otherwise, that any conscious being exists other than yourself. How could you possibly know that anyone or anything else is conscious unless you were them?
So why don’t Dawkins and Hitchens go around preaching solipsism? Because they would make fools of themselves? I have news for them: they are already doing that.
It all boils down to one thing. I prefer to do science, and argue from the rules and evidence of science. I am not arguing "Truth" but rather what can be perceived by the senses and deduced from logic.
You appear to believe in something outside of science, "Truth" or the equivalent. That's fine, but its not science.
You write,
Your criterion for "truth" seems to be "only those statements demonstrable via the scientific method are True". Unfortunately for you, however, the statement "only those statements demonstrable via the scientific method are True" is itself not demonstrable via the scientific method.That might be true if I were seeking "Truth." I will leave that to philosophers and theologians. I prefer data and well-supported theories. Show me the evidence and we can go from there.
You continue:
Therefore, your own definition of Truth is self-refuting and meaningless. You may believe that only those statements demonstrable via the scientific method are True, but you cannot demonstrate the truth of that statement via the scientific method; therefore, the statement "only those statements demonstrable via the scientific method are True" is a statement of faith, not of objective truth.You are arguing for religion or philosophy here. I have proposed no definition of "Truth." There is no quest for "Truth" in science. "Truth" is not something that can be verified by observation; it is based on belief.
Science seeks to work with facts, and to organize those facts with hypotheses, then theories. Hypotheses seek to organize the multitudes of facts; when a hypothesis has matured, and withstood the tests of data and time, and shown that it can make accurate predictions, it can be classified as a theory. Not "Truth," but a well-supported theory.
And this is where your argument breaks down. I need not take anything on faith. Science works with facts and theories--things that can be observed and documented.
Philosophy and religion rely on faith because their subject matter can't be observed and documented.
This is where we begin to part company.
The rest of your post deals with your personal beliefs, which I choose not to dispute.
Perhaps you had best halt any further elaboration. Otherwise one of our Darwinian friends might get an idea, start thinking real hard and cause all us Jesus Freaks to go poof!