Cosmologic philosophy: quantum conscious universe (Introduction)

by David Turell , Thursday, March 01, 2018, 00:42 (2460 days ago) @ dhw

DAVID: Current cosmological theory (Guth et. al.) says that there is no 'before' before the origin of the universe. The universe had an origin.

dhw: Since nobody can possibly know, and since you believe that nothing can come from nothing and that the universe was preceded by a conscious mind, and since you cannot have a clue what that conscious mind got up to before the Big Bang - if the Big Bang actually happened, which is open to doubt - I’m surprised you cling so faithfully to current cosmological theory (Guth et al.)

DAVID: Spoken like a true agnostic. We are either willing to accept the best research science we have, or we don't. I accept it as the best starting point for thoughtful reflection on cause and effect.

dhw: Ah well, aren’t you glad you didn’t live in the days when the best research science made the sun go round the Earth? Over and over again you have drawn our attention to those scientists who emphasize how very little we know about the universe. And even you pour scorn on the theory that the universe sprang from nothing. And you pour scorn on string theory and multiverses, because you argue quite rightly that there is no evidence, or that such hypotheses are unprovable. But you believe in the hypothesis of an eternal and universal being whose existence is equally without evidence and equally unprovable. I respect your faith, but no, I don’t agree that we must either accept or reject what you consider to be “the best research we have”, or that it is the best starting point for thoughtful reflection. In view of the colossal scale of our ignorance, I would suggest that the best starting point is an open mind.

As you should remember I started just that way, a 'soft' agnostic (which means not having given much thought to it), who was bored with the theology of Judaism, bored with the liturgy, and out of medical school with some reading time on my hands. So I looked into particle physics and basic cosmology while all the exciting discoveries of the late 20th century were happening. It occurred to me that the Big Bang theory sounded like the first few chapters of Genesis and someone had written a book on the subject. The rest is history. I reached a conclusion that God had to exist. My open mind reached a conclusion. Is your mind really open to the evidence? The entire issue is the massive evidence of design and no evidence for chance.