Panpsychism Makes a Comeback in a different form (General)

by David Turell , Sunday, January 20, 2019, 18:20 (2132 days ago) @ dhw

QUOTE: "The idea that the Universe is a conscious mind that responds to value strikes us a ludicrously extravagant cartoon. But we must judge the view not on its cultural associations but on its explanatory power. Agentive cosmopsychism explains the fine-tuning without making false predictions; and it does so with a simplicity and elegance unmatched by its rivals. It is a view we should take seriously. (David’s bold)

DAVID: I'm with my bold. To me this is ludicrously extravagant thesis to get rid of simply accepting that we have a conscious universe thru the agency of God's mind. Also I read Leslie differently. I think he is a theist. His conclusion was "much evidence exists that God is real and/or there exist vastly, many, very varied universes".

dhw: This post rattles on about “value”. Perhaps there is a definition somewhere else in the article. Other authors talk of “meaning” or “purpose”. Without a definition, the first sentence containing your bold could be taken as a total dismissal of the concept of a God. If, however, “agentive cosmopsychism” is a euphemism for “God”, I would agree that so long as you shut your eyes to the problem of how an immaterial universal conscious mind can simply have been there for ever and ever, it is indeed simple and elegant, and I agree absolutely that it should be taken seriously. So, in my view, should the equally simple and elegant explanation that in an eternity and infinity of matter and energy forming new combinations, eventually there will be one that engenders rudimentary consciousness from which may evolve greater and greater consciousnesses.

I like to present all sorts of views in areas of thought that we do not fully understand. Granted this was a nutty one. But I find your bolded response just as unreasonable, assuming the immaterial (consciousness) can arise all by itself from the material. There has to be agency of some sort in the background. I've chosen God.