Excellent reply. Words have definitions, and the sum of those definitions is called language. People who make up their own definitions should expect others to be confused by their speech.

Always room for change in definitions, and you often see them morph in usage. Read somewhere on this site that agnostic is just a softer version of atheist. My interpretation, right or wrong :
Agnostic: no knowledge of gods
Atheist: no knowledge of and disbelief in gods
Antitheist: no knowledge of and disbelief in and actively opposed to gods

@Alienbeing One (this one -me) finds that one gets more understanding by attempting to define things oneself. With the proviso of testing it out on a few reasonable people first.

@Canndue Definitions change over time, not through a person's unique use of a word.

@Alienbeing I’m inclined to agree. Rather than twist and contort words to suit one’s meaning, one can simply find another word or combination of words that better align with what one is trying to say.

@Mcflewster You seems to be saying you understand your own unique definitions. The question is "does anyone else?"

@Alienbeing You would be surprised at how opinions differ at definitions .I am not saying I am unique but I do say I have right to be heard. If there is a disagreement about a definition the correct procedure would be to keep trying to find a definition that encompasses BOTH the disagreed definitions. Thus definitions evolve and actually get nearer the truth. As an example consider the chemical term 'Oxidation'. It started involving oxygen - an element, but has properly evolved to be more about electrons -subatomic particles. These are NOT my definitions but I request the right to improve any definition for the benefit of everyone but only by expanding the cases covered.

@Mcflewster Definitions are not subject to opinion. A definition comes from a dictionary and relates common use.

@Alienbeing Sorry I do not want to write a dictionary or denigrate them. Dictionaries are reference points for the culture we live in . Different countries rely on different dictionaries depending on the success of the offers made by their salespeople in their early days. Anyway I thought that we were speaking in a Freethought Forum. Christians are completely dependant on their own version of their countries or assemblie' Bible, but that does not make any of them truly true.

@Mcflewster You, not I started the discussion of definitions. Definitions are defined words by simple definition. You seem to want to ignore definition in favor of what you think a word should mean.

@Alienbeing I think you know, on this planet at least, I have no power to change definitions to the higher echelons. No definition or theory should however remain untested or un-tweaked for long. This is to be more simplified and broadened for the sake of clarity. I have to admit definitions are an interest or hobby with me. If a group discussing something which depends upon a definition they are wasting their time if they do not synchronise definitions first.

@Mcflewster Definitions do change over time; my point is if one uses his or her own unique definitions and then complains others doen"t grasp a point, then they have no one to blame except themselves.

A group should not have to synchronize definitions. They should use generally accepted definitions found in a dictionary. Actually I wonder why a group would want to do otherwise.

@Alienbeing Words are intended to facilitate communication. They often do not have precise definitions.
Dictionaries are not proscriptive, they are descriptive. They describe how words are commonly used, and that changes over time. This is why there are usually several different examples of definitions in a dictionary.
Imagine it is the year 1961 and you said a person was "gay". now it is 2021 and you say the same thing using the same word.
The two meanings would be radically different and unrelated. They would not be communicating effectively. Yet the two persons are both speaking American english.

There exist many such examples of changes in word usage. When in doubt, ask your correspondent what they really mean.

@dumasarok Yes, but all irrelevant to my point which was: when people create their own unique definitions they should not complain when others do not undertand their point.

@Mb_Man What is your point?

@Mb_Man I am sure I am at least as well educated as you are, and apparently can communicate much better than you can.

If you ever obtain communication ability, perhaps you will make a point.

@Mb_Man Nothing you wrote was over my head. Your self flattery is your only strong point.

Who cares whether Carl Sagan would agree? What possible significance attaches?

Last, when did "y'all" become a Canadian expression?

@Mb_Man What is "per say"??? Certainly not he Latin phrase frequently used in legal discussions.

Last, I do not sit on the fence, I am Atheist, and have long said an Agnostic is an Atheist without conviction.

Not sure that is 100% true? I think you can be agnostic and not a skeptic

True. A skeptic is someone who will not see a fact unless there is evidence. Skepticism is the true way to be.

@Canndue I think Agnosticism is the essence of skepticism AND vice versa.

I agree with @Janiesuper below. It means without knowledge, not unknowable, which is different. A true agnostic would revise their position in the face of verifiable evidence.

@Canndue - No problem. I can accept that others have different ideas of what it means. I would point out that my definition of the term - the way I choose to understand it - bears close similarities to the first dictionary definition Rodatheist posted above.

To try to explain just a bit more of my feeling on the subject, I would liken God's unknowability to the concept of infinity. We may understand the concept but the experience of it escapes us because we can only experience finite portions of it. The experience of the whole is beyond our capacity. No matter how much we experience and how much we learn and perceive of it, there is always something more that we don't know or haven't learned.

@RussRAB I think this whole post is great because it really points out how different people adopt different definitions on the term. I don’t think there is a right or wrong answer, just different interpretations. Gets to be a be a “to-May-to” “to-Mah-to” thing after a while

@Canndue - I agree.

Agree

WHAT IS an " of god " ??

That is the definitions of athiest

@Janiesuper Not really. There may or may not be some power who put us here. Just not the ones humans make up. I will find out when I die. Atheists are positive this is what it is and this is it. the difference is small, but it seams like a big deal to some atheists. I think it is kinda silly myself.

@Sticks48 I think active disbelief is the definition of atheist. Sounds like you are defining agnosticism. Not sure atheists are positive about anything....

@Sticks48 im not talking about what you call yourself nor debating reality. If you don't believe there is a God then you are an athiest. Belief is not the same as knowing

@Janiesuper I don't believe in anything. I just take life as it comes to me. I suppose it will be the same with death. I will be somewhere else or I will not exist. It isn't complicated to me. i live in a country where folks like to labe. put everything in a box. I have seen it in the music business my whole life. This discussion has been going on here for the almost three years I have been here. It never really goes anywhere, and I am not sure why it matters.

but in all seriousness, I do not call myself by this term. I"m an atheist and bristle somewhat at the word agnostic. Still, I've heard slightly persuasive arguments around the idea that, if certain things cannot be proven, then in a sense we are all agnostics (that atheist and agnostic are not mutually exclusive). But I usually just go out of my way to say something like "I'm an atheist and that's it". That partly comes from having to do with family members and friends who try to hang on to hope that they can continue to count me as believing in God..... they are worried about me or something. Well, nope, I jumped off that diving board a long time ago. I'm an atheist.

No it means we do not know