Evolution in schools; legal trap (Introduction)

by dhw, Wednesday, June 06, 2012, 12:31 (4531 days ago) @ David Turell

DAVID: Yes, First Cause. We are here because nothing invented us. Nothing started everything. This universe came from nothing. Something cannot come from nothing.-ROMANSH: Ultimately it is an argument from ignorance - I don't understand, therefore god did it.-DAVID: It is hard to get around Aristotle's reasoning. If there isn't a first cause, why is there anything? Doesn't everything you know and recognize have a cause? You cannot have an infinite regression to nothing.-We have never disagreed on this, David, which is why I repeatedly quote my old buddy King Lear: "Nothing will come of nothing." Last time we discussed it, you and I agreed that the first cause was energy, which eternally transmutes itself into matter. (Romansh, you may have missed it.) I really like this idea, as it fits in perfectly with both theism and atheism. The question, of course, is whether this eternal energy is conscious of itself or not. You say yes, the atheist says no, and I say I don't know. Neat.