Cosmologic philosophy: This summarizes my view (Introduction)

by dhw, Tuesday, November 29, 2016, 09:07 (2704 days ago) @ David Turell

dhw: Many thanks for this. It is indeed a fine summary of your views, and in terms of the facts, there is precious little that I would disagree with. But the judgements need to be separated from the facts. ......If there were a million Earths with a million forms of life, or there were no other Earths and no other forms of life, Earth and earthly life would still seem special to me, although in cosmic terms they may be insignificant. Might we serve “some cosmic role” (which I take to mean is there some sort of God with a purpose)? How can anyone possibly know?

DAVID: I've cut down your comments to the nubbin. "How can anyone possibly know" always comes across to me as pleading for absolute proof. That will never be, and you stay satisfied with that position.

Firstly, please believe me when I say that I am not so stupid as to believe that absolute proof is possible. Secondly, if I was satisfied with that position, why do you think I wrote the “brief guide” and opened up this forum?

DAVID: For those of us who are not satisfied, we look at the reality we see, assume and conclude logically it requires planning, and reach the point that we develop a faith in our conclusions and accept the position that a planning mind is absolutely required. God.

I have spent most of my life looking at the reality I see, and finding a vast range of ambiguities. I accept the argument that life and the evolutionary mechanism seem too complex to have arisen by chance. But the concept of an eternal consciousness capable of creating, encompassing and manipulating billions of solar systems that come and go for no apparent purpose, while at the same time keeping itself “hidden” (your word), is as unconvincing for me as chance assembling life. I am not satisfied with either explanation, but I am not unhappy with my dissatisfaction. One can learn as much from disagreement as from agreement. At the end of the home page of this website, I wrote: "The truth is out there somewhere, and by combining our discoveries, we may help one another to gain new insights. Will enlightenment emerge from the AgnosticWeb? Watch this space. Better still, fill it." In the last nine years I have gained countless new insights – many of them through you, for which I am immensely grateful. That is reward in itself.