Saturday, September 30, 2006

Arguing the Big Question

Mathmaticians, eclectics and atheists all get caught up in the discussion about whether or not God exists, or at least if God doesn't exist, how anything exists at all.

I found this interesting. Jason's Religion post including a documentary by Richard Dawkins, the author of The Selfish Gene and coiner of the word "meme". It discussed how silly religious fervour can seem considering that, even if they are right, how do people who believe in God know that they're right besides simply believing that they are right, having a kind of willed ignorance to all other possibilities?

In that documentary, Dawkins argues that it is illogical to believe that both science and religion can be right, since so much of religious belief (such as miracles) defies logic. This article discusses how mathmaticians have tried to prove the existence of God using math, going beyond using the Aristotelian "principle of sufficient reason" which suggests that nothing in this universe could exist unless there was something else that defied causal rules (that things are created by something else or by a breakdown of their component parts, into new units). The idea of an "unmoved mover" is false or at least not the only way, since it is possible for the universe to have always existed (even though it is impossible for the human mind to fathom what infinite time is like).

As I read what one of the characters writes in her diary within the novel Hey Nostradamus! by Douglas Coupland, I was reminded of the debate again:

"GOD IS NOWHERE/GOD IS NOW HERE/GOD IS NOWHERE/GOD IS NOW HERE"

It is not every day that I question the existence of everything but occasionally that kind of skepticism can be refreshing. I believe that time always existed but I don't know. I don't believe in the concept of a "first moment" although whether it is an accident or a miracle, I think it's pretty amazing that life has gotten to its current complexity. If evolution happens inch by inch as Darwin suggests, then we must have started somewhere. Maybe the world started over again after Dinosaurs. Were they just a little experiment? OUR universe may have been created out of other universes but matter did not come out of nothing. What continues to hold it all together is many mysteries put together.

Philosophy

7 Comments:

Blogger QUASAR9 said...

Hi sirbarrett,
I thought I placed a comment here on the previous post. Nevermind.

This post is probably more relevant
so if you haven't already seen
"The Inside Life of A Cell"
youtube
Magical Music - Enjoy!
Hope you are having a fine day

9:01 a.m.  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

you're all too political for me....but lucky someone is...!!!

hugs. xo

9:17 a.m.  
Blogger sirbarrett said...

Quasar -Sorry about that. It appears the last post was swallowed up in a black hole. However, I did receive your message. Thank you kindly. In terms of your link here, I can't find life in a cell but I imagine it's not very nice living in prison.

skitzi deleterson -This isn't even a political post!! And btw, we should be hearing from Howard soon. (He said he'd write). I'm sure he'll have some spicey details about his rendez-vous with his chickie. So hopefully you'll come back to read that anti-political post. Here's some symbol I learned today about txt messaging:

:-X

It means big WET kiss :)

12:07 p.m.  
Blogger QUASAR9 said...

Hi Sir Barrett,
Try Life Inside A Cell
Laters ... Q

1:49 p.m.  
Blogger Enemy of the Republic said...

Part of me feels that I should add to this debate, but I talk about it so much, particularly in my work, that I don't even know what to say anymore. All I can say is that we will all find out one day.

5:10 p.m.  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hey thanks for the link. Ya, that week I was pretty consumed by the whole thing. The more you hear the Pope say stupid things, followed by the violence in Iraq/Afghanistan, it takes a toll.

3:12 p.m.  
Blogger Admin said...

i'm really really curious....have you read any ken wilber??? he's got a new book out: http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/item/books-978159030346/1590303466/Integral+Spirituality+The+Role+Of+Religion+In+The+Modern+And?ref=Search+Books%3a+'ken+wilber'

i highly recommend his works!!!

the integral community resides at www.zaadz.com

maybe see you there??

2:39 a.m.  

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