Absolute agnosticism: there cannot be proofs either for or against the existence of God. Man will be forever in a state of ignorance regarding this matter. A proof for or against the existence of God is a priori impossible.
Relative agnosticism: I did not find any proof for or against the existence of God, therefore I suspend my judgment till I find new information for settling the matter (but I am unsure whether there is new relevant information, though I remain open).
I think most agnostics out there are relative agnostics, which seems to lean more towards what real agnosticism is about while absolute agnosticism sounds more like it leans towards athiesm in principal.
The Absolute Agnostic: Shut up! There is no proof to substantiate your claim!
The Relative Agnostic: I want to believe their’s a higher power, but I need more proof before I can consider that option.
The difference is that relative agnosticism is admittedly defeasible, like a scientific theory.
Agnosticism would pretty much sum up most everyone who believes there can be a God but the proof is hard to believe considering personal circumstances or lack of ‘visual presence’… At least thats how it was for me for some time. Now Absolute Agnosticism I would say is almost border line with Atheism… but with some tiny bit of ‘wanting’ there to be a Higher power.
Im not sure the second one is truly possible. Belief is action after all. Either you spend some time supplicating to your supposed deity or not. I mean any reasonable person by definition is open to new evidence to change their belief- but I’m not sure it’s right to say that their belief is suspended.
I mean I belive I’m sitting in a chair. Evidence for this (if you don’t belive me) is that I sit it in. If I did not belive my chair was a chair, I would not sit in it. However, if someone took a sample from my chair and showed me I was really sitting on a shapeshifter, I would get up and my belief would change. At no point was my belief suspended, it was one and then the other.
So, how would a relative atheist act? Would they run around to all the temples giving offerings “just in case,” I suppose? Seems like a very silly way to lead a life.