It's almost impossible to effectively separate "God" from "religion" in any discussion, but I'd like to try. To this end I'm going to replace the word "God" with "something". I don't know what this "something" is, but that's the point. Id like to be as non-specific as I can be in an attempt to do away with as many preconceptions as possible.
I believe in the principle of cause and effect. This is nothing startling of course. But I'm not limiting myself to known physics and our current definition of reality. As anyone who has been paying attention in the "something from nothing" thread will hopefully realize, reality is a greater "something" than current physics is able to describe. I do however maintain that anything that actually exists, that possesses the quality of being actually real, is indeed scientific. Anything that is real must be, even if it is beyond our
current understanding. Please believe me when I tell you that this is fundamental and central to my thinking. Something either exists and is scientific, or it doesn't and it isn't. Reality can't be any other way.
(Please forgive me if you understood that the first time. I find it necessary to to be repetitive to the point of the possible irritation of some readers for the sake of bringing as many people with me as possible.) After all, is that not exactly what science has taught us? That things that were once thought to be supernatural are eventually found to have a scientific explanation as a result of scientific progress and the application of the scientific method? I believe that this is now and will always be true of
all things. In this sense, although I am not a scientist at work, I am the truest of scientists at heart.
One thing I have always been however, is a philosopher. Not one of the greats of course, but a philosopher nonetheless. This is what I live and breathe, no matter what other activities I find myself engaged in. I also strive to be as rational as possible. Rationality is perhaps the tool I rely upon the most because I seek truth. I want to appreciate reality for
what it is. Because this is an important goal for me, I am indeed naturally concerned about being led astray. Truth to me can not be whatever makes me feel safe and secure, truth needs to be what is true. Interestingly I have never had a problem building a meaningful existence this way, which is exactly what some people seem to suggest isn't possible for a scientific and rational thinker. Anyway, enough about me. I just felt it was important to share a few things so people know where I am coming from. Let's talk some more about this "something".
I don't know what it is. All I can say about it for sure is that it forms part of the chain of cause and effect. There is a reason that the universe as we know it exists. When I use the word "reason" I don't mean in it the same sense as someone typically would if they were to say "
There is a reason that we bumped into each other today." I mean it in the sense that someone would if they said
"There is a reason why this mountain has formed here." A scientific reason. A cause. A catalyst. As far as the universe is concerned, I'm thinking further back than the Big Bang. I'm talking about the "something" that existed before that. Or the "nothing" that existed before that as some people would insist that it was. But these people only insist on calling it "nothing" because it does not satisfy the definition of "something" within the realm of current physics rather than because it is absolutely nothing at all. As I have contended in the thread I referenced previously, something is still something even if it beyond our current ability to describe. And as I have previously contended in
this post, it must necessarily be a
scientific something. At least that is how I believe everyone will see it once we have progressed far enough to see it for what it actually is.
But is this "something" the ultimate "cause" in the chain of cause and effect? I don't know. But if it's not, something else is. As the ancient Greek philosopher Parmenides once pointed out, "ex nihilo nihil fit", or "out of nothing comes nothing". Whether the "something" that existed before The Big Bang is the ultimate something, or whether
that something formed some part of an even greater even more fundamental something is an interesting but tricky question. But regardless of which is true, let's finally talk about the "something" that
is the fundamental catalyst for all things. Let's finally talk about what
it could
possibly be.
This is of course well beyond the realm of current physics. It therefore goes without saying that nothing I'm about to say has any real merit outside of philosophical consideration. It also means that I'm not particularly attached to any specific idea as it can not satisfy my criteria for what I consider to be an acceptable foundation on which to build anything. Better to describe everything that follows as a rough sketch that someone might draw on a napkin of some wild idea to amuse themselves while waiting on hold, or during a somewhat boring telephone conversation. Anyway, without further ado...
Consciousness. What is it? Where does it come from? Is it actually real or is it merely an illusion? Whatever the answer to these questions, we are all experiencing it right now. At least
I am, anyway
One thing that most people don't tend to typically do however is properly consider consciousness in terms of it being a
feature of reality, or the universe; whatever term you prefer. But it is. We know this because it's here. For me, this fact
does meet my criteria for being a cornerstone from which I can potentially build something grounded in truth. Aside from what I consider to be less useful philosophical ideas such as the possibility that absolutely everything is an illusion (in which case this entire discussion and indeed all of physics is essentially pointless anyway), I don't believe one can legitimately dispute the existence of something that is the very thing that gives you the ability to dispute it in the first place.
"I think therefore I am" is all the proof that anyone should need. You exist, and that is the result of natural physical processes that have occurred within the physical universe in which we exist. To look at it another way,
the physical universe can manifest itself in such a way as to allow such a thing as consciousness to exist. Dispute that if you wish, but I wont engage you except to clarify. It's an obvious fact.
At this point it is, in my opinion, only a small leap to suggest that it may be possible for consciousness to exist on a greater scale, as part of a greater reality. If you think about it, all I am suggesting is that it is possible for a known feature of reality to also manifest itself, perhaps even more completely or more pervasively, as part of whatever fundamental "something" may exist, and further to my previous contentions, that this something may also be the fundamental "cause" in the chain of cause and effect. If we can explain consciousness, and if we can one day expand our definition of what constitutes physical reality to include this "something" that existed before The Big Bang, then we can explain God. I mean seriously, if God does indeed exist, whoever or whatever God may be, then staying true to my belief that anything that actually exists must be scientific, God is as well.
So, why do people believe in God? There are many reasons of course. But there are those among us who while not believing in any specific God, or necessarily in any God at all, certainly do entertain on a purely intellectual level the possibility of "something" like that.
Thanks for reading, if you did indeed get through this long post. Food for thought I hope, or perhaps more aptly, food for wild speculation.
