philosophy of science: meaning and functions (Introduction)

by Balance_Maintained , U.S.A., Saturday, September 22, 2018, 00:15 (2254 days ago) @ dhw

PART TWO

DHW I don’t know why you keep putting such words into my mouth. I have never denied the beauty or the wonder, just as I have never ignored the ugliness and the horror (which you have just done), I have not suggested that he should come out and tell it all..Again, why are you making up all these negatives which I have never expressed?... By “set us straight”, I presume you mean to end the evil and the suffering humans have both caused and endured.

The only two words that I directly quoted, you did use in that very same series. The others are implied in the way you approach the topic. And I quote:

"DHW:Does he want us to tell him how clever he is? Is he that humanly vain?[/b] If so, why can’t he also be that humanly bored that he wants to create strange creatures, including us, to relieve his isolation"

"..perhaps I should not use the word “entertainment”, as people do tend to associate it with amusement..... As First Cause it has nothing to be conscious of except itself. Frankly, what a bore! And so it decides to create something to relieve the boredom of eternal introspection.

Under Watching Asteroids:

"The idea of a spectacle does not exclude love, and I can well believe that your God might for instance love humans who worship him, but it also allows for “selfish amusement” and indifference to suffering."

DHW... "Not “just” bored. Bored. Now please tell me why [boredom] is frivolous or capricious, or more trivial than the desire to grow and develop by ending his isolation (your hypothesis).

Doing something because your bored is like saying, "I have nothing better to do, so why not.." It doesn't imply any larger motive than simply alleviation of boredom.By definition that is frivolous. It does not imply growth, it does not imply purpose, other than He's "bored and lonely". Further, it implies that when he grows bored with us, we will just get tossed aside too, because He is indifferent to to the suffering of others that he allowed for his own 'selfish amusement'. That is what makes it not only more frivolous and capricious, but in its own way, malicious. Like a kid pulling insects off a fly.

I was paraphrasing. For example, in response to David:
"DHW:Thank you. So your God is capable of creating instant speciation, but for some reason he does NOT instantly create the one species he actually wants to create." (This is the 'he didn't do it my way' argument.)

No, by "set us straight"you say things like;

"dhw: Ugh, we weren’t even around to admire 90+% of the wonders he created. And what a strange way to prove his existence to us.(he didn't do it my way) All he had to do was stop hiding himself behind your quantum wall. Anyway, why would he want to prove himself to us?"

And:
"DHW: Why not acknowledge the possibility (which is all it can be) that what we have IS God’s goal – namely, a massive free-for-all, full of nice and nasty, good and evil, joy and sadness, birth and death, extinction and survival?..so ask yourself why there is a higgledy-piggledy bush instead of a straight line to Homo sapiens, and why your God hides, and maybe the answer is that he wanted a higgledy-piggledy bush and once he had set the wheels in motion, he wanted to stop and watch. If he exists, he’s created a great show."

As if somehow he should pop out and give us all the answers to all the questions. Hence my constant reference to you wanting "to have tea with God" in order for you to even acknowledge him. As if that is somehow his responsibility. Isn't the struggle how WE grow, as people?

Now, my belief is that he left us good reference materials, and for the people that can't or won't read it, a wonderful library of his creations to ask questions about and learn. And the parts of his good life guides we ignore, life tends to kick us in the gonads until we get the point.

So, you won't acknowledge him unless he step out from behind a cloud for you, but you won't even dig through his hand books with an open mind and consider the advice in light of your own experiences and You won't even go so far as to acknowledge that he actually exists, because well, you can't KNOW it.

DHW: I suspect that all this boils down to your misplaced belief that I have somewhere attacked your God for creating evil and ugliness.

No, it all comes down to a kind of odd play at neutrality, that is skewed beneath the surface. Let me ask a simple question. Have you spent as much time researching ANY supposedly 'holy text' compared to the time and energy you have devoted to the study science or philosophy?

Dhw... you are setting up straw men for yourselves to knock down.

No straw men.

For god to create one offspring, your idea of boredom and/or loneliness is likely spot on. But then they would reach the limits that they could reach as just two, in terms of growth, so they created more ad infinitum. How else would he have the frame of reference to say "It is not good(functional) for man to be alone." and then to proceed to create something whose name was synonymous with passion, to motivate us to our task of molding the world. (Even if the words were never spoken, if you give him credit for creation, you have to give him credit for the thought that went into it.)

--
What is the purpose of living? How about, 'to reduce needless suffering. It seems to me to be a worthy purpose.