bramkaandorp
There is no precedence for the existence of deities.
For belief in deities, yes, but not for their existence.
That is all we need to say if we believe in the existence of deities; prior plausibility.
Staying in the middle ground of “maybe, we don’t know” makes no sense, because it puts the plausibility one step further towards “yes” than is warranted based on the evidence we have.
I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that there isn’t even a person on the other end, but instead it’s just an AI.
Having read it again not too long ago, I was actually surprised by how much of it was not good.
The framework was interesting, but much of the actual writing wasn’t nearly as good as I had thought.
Maybe it’s because I had read it in a Dutch translation the first couple of times, and the translator had had improved the prose without intending to, or maybe it’s because it was many years ago.
Whatever the reason, I felt like it needed another pass of the editor.
The movie, on the other hand, still thrills me every time I see it.
“The Parker’s”.
That is the worse crime.