Cosmologic philosophy: multiverse (Introduction)

by David Turell , Thursday, January 12, 2017, 01:56 (2873 days ago) @ dhw

DAVID: Billions of parts of the universe can't think. They can't have a thought of us, but we think about them. Why is that? Because God gave us consciousness. Of course we are meaningful. Only the appearance of our species could change the planet, which we have.

dhw: I agree that we can think. I don’t know if there is a God who gave us consciousness. If there is a God, I don’t know what meaning he gives to us – we may simply be part of a great passing show. I don’t know what is the point of our “changing the planet”, but Nature has continually changed the planet throughout its history, and in due course Nature will no doubt change the planet in such a way that we shall disappear (if we haven’t already wiped ourselves out before Nature does it for us). The whole concept of human “meaningfulness” is simply what we make it, and you and I have filled our lives with what is meaningful for us. It is the idea of a universal meaning that I question, and that applies even if God exists, because we have no idea about his nature, motives or intentions.

We evolved from an ancestor common to apes and us. They stayed the same. We advanced. Luck or purposeful? I accept that it was a purposeful event. We differ. As part of Nature we have changed the planet, because we have the power to do it. We can uncover the secrets of the universe. I find all of that very meaningful and significant. We could have remained as a branch of apehood.