philosophy of science: meaning and functions (Introduction)

by dhw, Sunday, October 07, 2018, 10:47 (2239 days ago) @ David Turell

dhw: If he’s “filled with the joy of creation” (your words), how could he possibly not enjoy creation? You see intense purpose, but whenever I ask you what that intense purpose might be, you come up with a list of humanizations (a relationship with us, interest and enjoyment, proving himself to us, sense of accomplishment), and then complain that my hypothesis (relieving the boredom of isolation) is humanizing. Yes, I can believe that if he exists he knows what he can accomplish, and if he can create universes and all forms of life and has been there for ever, and will never die, he is a person like no other person. That doesn’t mean that being bored with isolation is more humanizing than giving himself a sense of accomplishment etc. So once more, please explain why my hypothesis seems illogical to you.

DAVID: Why should He be bored? With the ability to produces universes and living beings, He is constantly busy creating. I'll agree He may be filled with a sense of accomplishment, but boredom is your problem, not His. He does have our human feelings plus more with a sense of purpose that may well accede ours. You and I cannot imagine His mental processes beyond using our own, but He is not us as you admit.

Well, now you’ve decided that for eternity your God has been creating new universes full of who knows what kinds of life, but apparently always containing human beings, let's make the appropriate changes. I now suggest that if your hypothesis is true, and he has kept himself eternally busy with the joy of creating and watching with interest universes full of who knows what kinds of life, but apparently always containing human beings, he has done so because otherwise he would have been nothing but a great big blob of pure conscious energy with nothing to do except think about himself. And that would have been boring to a degree beyond our human imagination. Now please tell me why this hypothesis seems illogical to you.

Meanwhile, I don’t remember ever suggesting that an eternal and immortal mind with the power to create universes and invent life would be “us”. The significant “admission” here is yours – namely, that you believe your God may have our thoughts and feelings and logic.

I should add that I have no problem with the hypothesis that either our own universe is eternal or there have been other universes before ours, as first cause energy and matter eternally re-form themselves. That is why I regard the possibility that life and consciousness might eventually have emerged from this eternal recombining of materials as no more and no less credible than a sourceless, immaterial supermind eternally keeping itself busy creating spectacles for its own enjoyment (the “joy of creation”) because, well, what else was/is there for it to do?