Philosophical musings on Quanta & Qualia;  Materialism & Spiritualism; Science & Religion; Pragmatism & Idealism, etc.

Infinite Egg-ression
Nothing in Nature
is infinite,
so anything infinite
is super-natural.
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   Post 72. January 29, 2019 continued . . .

  Multiverse versus First Cause

   Infinite Egg-ression vs Eternal Chickeness

 On the other hand, the Cosmic Soul explanation is more like a purposeful person, generally known as "God" – which may be envisioned as a super-human, or a disembodied mind, or even as a non-local magical Force. But the BothAnd approach to philosophical understanding points to something more like a fusion of those opposing scenarios : a machine-making Mind. This is the logical-but-unknowable First Cause entity that I call "G*D". Which is an ambiguous term for the abstract principle of cosmos-creating potential that functions like both Magician and Scientist, capable of planning & purposing, but working his magic7 via trial & error [ see post 73 ].

Like most primitive deities, the God of Genesis created his world from the top-down, with all systems in place and ready to run without any further inputs ─ except of course when necessary to interrupt Nature on behalf of a select few “chosen people”8. But that’s not really how things work in the rapidly changing modern technological world. We now know that the physical world changes slowly and incrementally, but also that human willpower can accelerate the pace of change. So a more realistic 21st century deity-model would create via eons of evolution – a program – rather than by days of deeds – a miracle. Over time, as metaphysics emerged from physics, that program became recursive & self-reflective – self-aware.

The hypothetical G*D of Enformationism creates like a programmer, from the bottom-up9. First, you imagine an objective, then you plan and execute the steps to reach the envisioned teleological state. Since the plan in question required a finite material world, we must assume that space & time were necessary for implementing the intention. But duration is only needed for gradual change. A magical world-maker could have produced a perfect Paradise in an instant, to serve as a zoo for his creatures, including little replicas of the creator. Those pets may even be capable of loving their master10.

However, we now know that natural evolution is glacially slow, and that perfection is in the eye of the beholder. So humans have decided to create their own Utopias, rather than wait for the promised Garden of Eden. For us, the future is unpredictable. But for the Programmer, the final output is never in question – it’s predefined mathematically – only the precise path to the specified goal is unknown. So even the author of our little farce may be entertained by the dramatic twists and curves of the emerging storyline. Yet again, attributing11 human-like feelings & motives to an eternal deity is like poetic analogy & metaphor to make abstractions meaningful, not necessarily factual. All we know about the implicit Artist is what we can infer from qualities of the art-work, which unfolds as-if planned, even though we may never know his exact intention.

The difference between First Cause and Multiverse theories is primarily that of Whole versus Parts. Reductive thinkers imagine the source of all things as a collection of pieces, while Holistic thinkers envision the lot as a single entity. The particles are real tangible things, while the ensemble is merely an idea. Yet concepts can be causes. Moreover, the G*D hypothesis is grounded on Mind & Meaning, instead of Energy & Matter. So it explains the emergence of Life & Mind more directly, and with fewer unproven assumptions.

End of Post 72

7.   Magic :
    Any amazing effect with an unknown cause, which may be envisioned as supernatural, or as staged deception, or as merely advanced technology.

8. Chosen Ones : History shows that the chosen ones can almost become extinct overnight (e.g. holocaust). Not by natural selection, but by cultural extermination.

9. Steps in programming :
   a. Define the problem
   b. Plan a solution
   c. Code the program
   d. Execute the program
   We can only guess at the problem that motivated the deity to “need” a physical world – perhaps even deities need to propagate. In that case, our world is essentially an embryo developing into deity. So evolution might be the plan for reproduction.
   Hence, a program for evolution of something from nothing was encoded into a Singularity and actuated in a sudden succession of changes. The rest is, as they say, history : the document-ation of a program for progressive development.
   The solution or output of the program will be a replica of the Programmer, as in deChardin’s Omega Point. If so, then the chicken is the solution to an egg’s problem of purpose. Unlike magic, a program starts with a question and works its way up to an answer.  

Eternity has no beginning or end just BEING

10. God’s Pets :
   Typical religious world-views describe a god or gods who create or control humans as pets or slaves. Like robots, they are expected to serve faithfully, without concern for their own welfare. When commanded, they must sacrifice their lives as pawns serving the inscrutable goals of gods.
   From the BothAnd perspective, such robotic rules are tools of tyrannical human rulers, who pretend that they reflect the will of gods. The natural world is hierarchical (food chain), and some animals practice slavery (ants & aphids). But humans have the ability to resist enslavement, if they so choose. Yet political power and religious faith rob them of that right.
   Mutual submission is necessary for social harmony. But top-down dominance can become in-humane. Deists tend to be more like independent cats, than fawning dogs. They resist the despotism of both human and divine tyrants.
G*D seems to rule the world from the bottom-up, via natural laws that apply equally to all creatures.

11. Attribution Theory :
   We tend to understand the behavior of others by attributing feelings, beliefs, and intentions to them.
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