Proofs of God - top down
Greater minds than mine have ventured here, and have been refuted. Faith alone stands between the gentleman believer and the hordes of the materialist barbarians. Certainly I will not fare any better than those before me, yet try I will.
1) The density of water is highest - or at least at a local maximum - at 4 degrees centigrade. This sounds mundane, but is such a convenient exception to allow carbon-based life, it has the smell of design.
I am aware of arguments that say something like 'the reason the laws of nature are the way they are is simply that otherwise we would not be here to observe them'. True, but not very explanatory. An even grander theory along those lines assumes an infinity of universes, all of which have different laws, in fact all laws are being given expression in one of all possible worlds. I am not sure what 'all' might be, but likely it is an infinite number, unless there is some form of 'meta-law' that defines which laws are being expressed.
2) The universe is something that started with a bang (or not) and while limitless, is not necessarily infinite, either in space or time. Therefor, there is something 'outside' it, a higher reality, and that is God. Well, maybe there is nothing outside, and if there was, it would just be a 'meta-universe' and so we have proved nothing. The point is, however, that no science can predict outside the realm of the physical, of our space and time, and God would certainly reside outside of that. We have achieved a draw!
3) This leads to the next point, namely the fact that a God-created universe is quite similar and possibly indistinguishable from a simulated one. An interesting discussion about this can be found at http://www.simulation-argument.com/simulation.html and also on wikipedia under 'simulated reality'. The movie 'The Matrix' portrays a simplified version of this idea, where the simulation is merely local, i.e. of earth itself. Apparently, the probability of us living in a simulation is considered quite high, provided certain other factors are true as well. Here is the interesting point: As far as I understand it, these theories all posit that the 'real' world, which runs our simulation, is just like ours in its laws. Needless to say, this is by no means necessary. Perhaps the real world has twenty seven dimensions, no entropy, five axes of time, or nothing even resembling our ideas of space and time. Maybe the real world is heaven, and God is our creator...
This is all I can think of for now, more will hopefully follow.
1) The density of water is highest - or at least at a local maximum - at 4 degrees centigrade. This sounds mundane, but is such a convenient exception to allow carbon-based life, it has the smell of design.
I am aware of arguments that say something like 'the reason the laws of nature are the way they are is simply that otherwise we would not be here to observe them'. True, but not very explanatory. An even grander theory along those lines assumes an infinity of universes, all of which have different laws, in fact all laws are being given expression in one of all possible worlds. I am not sure what 'all' might be, but likely it is an infinite number, unless there is some form of 'meta-law' that defines which laws are being expressed.
2) The universe is something that started with a bang (or not) and while limitless, is not necessarily infinite, either in space or time. Therefor, there is something 'outside' it, a higher reality, and that is God. Well, maybe there is nothing outside, and if there was, it would just be a 'meta-universe' and so we have proved nothing. The point is, however, that no science can predict outside the realm of the physical, of our space and time, and God would certainly reside outside of that. We have achieved a draw!
3) This leads to the next point, namely the fact that a God-created universe is quite similar and possibly indistinguishable from a simulated one. An interesting discussion about this can be found at http://www.simulation-argument.com/simulation.html and also on wikipedia under 'simulated reality'. The movie 'The Matrix' portrays a simplified version of this idea, where the simulation is merely local, i.e. of earth itself. Apparently, the probability of us living in a simulation is considered quite high, provided certain other factors are true as well. Here is the interesting point: As far as I understand it, these theories all posit that the 'real' world, which runs our simulation, is just like ours in its laws. Needless to say, this is by no means necessary. Perhaps the real world has twenty seven dimensions, no entropy, five axes of time, or nothing even resembling our ideas of space and time. Maybe the real world is heaven, and God is our creator...
This is all I can think of for now, more will hopefully follow.
posted by thinkr | 21:06
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