New Miscellany: theodicy, climate change, evolution (General)

by David Turell , Friday, March 07, 2025, 19:50 (1 day, 18 hours, 59 min. ago) @ dhw

Back to Fine tuning
New CMB findings

DAVID: [Monday March 3)…] I have accepted the Wilsonian view of fine-tuning in my statement.
dhw: […] since you have now explicitly accepted my argument, then of course we can close the discussion. Thank you.

DAVID: Yes, close.

dhw: Having accepted my definition, you now revert to the same ridiculous distortion of language which you started with. Please stop it.

You must unlock your brain to this fact: the universe as constructed is fine-tuned for life. That is the cosmological level of the discussion. All 20+ factors must be exactly as they are or no universe like this will exist. The biological level is our Earth's readiness for life. Two separate but related requirements. I have accepted your Earth addition.

Theodicy

dhw: You simply have no answer to my arguments. You refuse to acknowledge 1) that “proportionality” does not make evil disappear (= head in the sand); 2) that a God who cannot avoid creating evil, and sometimes even tries in vain to prevent it, cannot be labelled omnipotent; 3) that a God who knowingly creates evil in order to ensure that he is genuinely recognized and worshipped can hardly be labelled all-good.

DAVID: Those are your agnostic reasons. You worry about the one percent that is evil and ignore the good.

dhw: Your God’s possible nature has nothing to do with agnosticism. Theodicy recognizes the reality of evil, but you think the theodicy problem is solved if you shut your eyes to evil and focus only on the good! Head in sand.

Without the good there is no evil.

Climate change
Timing a probable glacial period

DAVID: There are physical climate theories that counterintuitively say CO2 will flatten out.
And:
DAVID: The heat is needed! It is what will ward off glaciation is the point!

dhw: So now you have changed your mind and are advocating continuing the practices which are already damaging our environment because although they can only increase the damage, someone prophesies “counterintuitively” that they won’t, and we need to keep burning in order to protect ourselves against the glaciation prophesied to happen in about 11,000 years’ time. And you accuse those who demand a halt to current known damage of panicking!!!

DAVID: Still panicking. Moderate the heat a little and allow the heat to block the glaciation.

dhw: You have agreed that current practices must be changed to prevent the escalation of damage already being caused, accepted that the changes must be balanced against the need to avert social and economic disaster, praised USA for reducing carbon emissions, and criticized Brazil, India and China for not doing the same. Please tell me which of your agreements you now disagree with.

Your unreasonable urgency.

Chemical control of ecosystems

DAVID: It is dog-eat-dog with a designed evolution creating humans.

dhw: Interesting. Instead of all evolution being geared to us and our food, you now seem to agree that your God might have created a free-for-all, but later intervened with dabbles to create humans. Please confirm.

All one process with dog-eat-dog from the very beginning