Why do deists, who actually believe in God, try to discredit the Bible or religion?
https://www.quora.com/Why-do-deists-who ... r-religion
Kendall Meade
11/26/2018
“rule out sets of assertions “
I agree. Once you have ruled out conflicts between multiple scriptures & traditions with peculiar “sets of assertions”, what you have left should be empirical facts and rational inferences. Any arguments not supported by evidence and logic, go beyond the limits of sense & senses into the realm of fantasy & fables. For example, most well-informed believers today have accepted the scientific evidence for an expanding universe, which can be interpreted to fit into creation myths. But anything beyond the point of beginning is occult & supernatural, as far as Science is concerned. Philosophy can go one step farther though, to logically infer a First Cause. Since Deism is a religious philosophy, it stops at the logical limit, leaving out any assertions supported only by claims of divine revelation — such as the emotional nature of a supernatural being.
"De gustibus non disputandum est". Myths, scriptures, and traditions are matters of taste, not fact. Arguing about preferences is fruitless. Scientific doctrines should be restricted to those grounded on hard indisputable facts, and generally accepted universals. But philosophical discussions are limited only by logical laws. So we can calmly argue about which religious doctrines are reasonable – as long as we don't introduce evidence from occult sources (miracles, revelations, visions, etc). Evidence based on faith is allowable within a faith tradition, but not between them. A Hindu may, or may not. be impressed by the words of a Jewish holy man, and vice versa.
Having convinced themselves that ancient scriptures are no substitute for current reasons, Deists have no need to “discredit” other people's sacred writings. Unless those people bring in their special revelations as evidence for questionable assertions. In that case, it's fair to point out the holes in holy scriptures.
More Quora Questions
Re: More Quora Questions
Does everything really happen according to God's plan? Is God actually in control of everything, and all is according to His will?https://www.quora.com/profile/Christopher-Finch-5
Christopher Finch
The popular notion that the world is unfolding according to God’s Plan is a sad solution to the Problem of Evil, advising us to just close our eyes, accept the bad with the good, while hoping for a better deal in the next life. Ironically, The Plan theory implies that what’s good or bad for me is irrelevant to God. Humans must accept the fact that they are pawns in God’s chess match with Satan. That Divine Plan is explained most clearly in Calvinism : God intended for only a few “elect” humans to go to heaven; the majority, including innocent babies, are destined to suffer & die & then burn in Hell for eternity.
That notion of a fearsome psychopathic Tyrant King in Heaven was rejected by early Deists. Since they saw no alternative to the concept of Creator though, some rejected only the Old Testament version of vengeful Yahweh who savagely disciplined his chosen people, yet accepted the more user-friendly deity of the Christ, offering salvation for all — at least all who keep their eyes closed and hope for heaven. Others diverged further from tradition, and resorted to a science-friendly Clockmaker deity, for whom the Plan is just to mark time indefinitely, with no particular end time setting. It’s Cause & Effect all the way down.
Modern Deists, or NeoDeists, tend to update their god-model to include the Big Bang beginning, and the non-local Quantum Indeterminacy of current Science, which is not compatible with Predestination. This vaguely-defined deity is more mind-like than machine-like, whose intentions are inscrutable. The Plan is now more like a heuristic computer program, calculating each new step from inputs of the last step, in the context of the Programmer’s initial settings and the Big Question (problem statement) to be answered.
We find ourselves muddling in the middle of that evolving computation, ignorant of the Programmer’s personality, and of He/r Entention. We are like unsophisticated people who have no idea how a cell phone works, but quickly learn how to operate it for our own primitive purposes. We admire the ingenuity of its faceless creator — some call He/r “Jobs” — and respect He/r creative superiority. But there’s no point in worshiping this mysterious maker, since S/he is not of our barbarous third world, and asks nothing of us. Ironically, some are not satisfied with this gratis gift of technology, and seek some way to communicate their thanks to "Jobs", who is not receiving or returning calls at this time. So instead, we share tweets & gossip on the phone about how "Jobs" loves us. And how everything is going according to “Jobs” plan.
There may be an ultimate purpose to this marvelous exercise in creativity, but we can only glimpse non-specific signs of entention in the futurity of the arrow of time. It’s only human nature to expand tiny bits of information into grand dramatic stories. But as Deists remind themselves, it’s only fiction. And the final chapter of the Plan/Program/Story has not yet been written.
"My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals
himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble mind."
Albert Einstein
Re: More Quora Questions
What would you consider a good counter-argument to the assertion (that I've heard variations of from both theists and atheists), that the deistic concept of God renders belief in God pointless?
https://www.quora.com/What-would-you-co ... -pointless
What's the point of believing in an invisible non-intervening deity? This Deist has lost faith in conflicting scriptural stories of a heavenly hereafter, but still can't shake the feeling that the world is heading toward some inevitable Omega Point. All physical evidence points to the conclusion that Evolution is progressive, climbing from dead dust to Life to Mind and beyond. So the intuition of Entention as the cause of this creative process may be the Deist's feeble Faith that overcomes Atheistic doubt. The point, the motivation, is to climb on the Evolutionary Bus that's going on a great adventure. We leave the driving to our anonymous G*D, and enjoy the ride.
PS__Such intuitive faith doesn’t require that we sacrifice our mortal lives for the promise of immortality. It just motivates us to live our lives as-if there is a point to the whole exercise. Each individual is free to interpret the teleological trends of the universe as she wishes. It’s not a gamble, just a guess.
12/07/2018
Rex Newborn
“I would say that the Deists were atheistic agnostics who were attempting to remain within the Christian culture. Deist: Yes there is a god, but it doesn’t interact with humans, we just believe.”
Some early Deists did seem to hold onto their general cultural god-concept, even as they rejected the layers of dogma encrusting the direct relation between Creator and Creatures. But the modern Deist god-model has evolved as science has revealed more details about the physical universe, and how it evolves toward some future state (Omega Point?). So most current Deists stand with one foot in the historical traditions of Supernaturalism, and one in the modern science of Naturalism. This leaves them on the fuzzy fringe of Christian culture, connected only by their rejection of reductionist Atheism and acceptance of a holistic Creator.
A common Deist assertion is that G*D doesn’t “intervene” in ongoing evolutionary events. That's because the need for external control inputs (miracles) would imply that the Creation (Nature) lacks an internal control system, hence the Creator would be incompetent. Instead, the assumption is that the world is like an autonomous organism, growing and maturing in response to internal constraints and dynamics. Since humans are perceived to be organs within that organism, it’s not true that God doesn’t “interact” with them. Instead, G*D is viewed as the Whole of which humans are parts, which means that every action in the world is an interaction with the CEO -- who hasn't retired, but is still fully invested in the system.
Ultimately, the Deist worldview is based on an act of Inference & Intuition : the world is teleological, hence there must be an Ententional First Cause. I wouldn't call that "Faith" because of the common implication of blind obedience to a culture-bound book or an all-too-human prophet. Instead, Deism relies on the only "Word" of G*D that we can know directly, by simple experience of a living thinking world. From that personal experience we infer a living thinking Creator, and we intuit a First Cause of all causes & effects in the world system. The irrational alternative would be to "believe" that Life & Mind magically popped into existence by some form of Spontaneous Generation. That’s a distinction that makes a difference in how we live.
Deists don't have a bible or a Pope, we simply read the World, and bow to Reason. We agree with Science on How the world works, with Religion on Why it works as-if driven by Entention, and with Philosophy on the need to question everything, and define terms.
Note : by "we", I mean "me".
Entention : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entention
12/07/2108
John Earwood
“We leave the driving to our anonymous G*D, and enjoy the ride.”
Deism may actually be more pointed than Atheism, in that it "sees" signs of general direction & purpose in the world, and attempts to align with it like a compass to the magnetic field. Theism also senses the directional flow of the world, but tends to get stuck pointing in one direction as the field curves around them. Atheism, with its focus on particulars, misses the general significance of those details, and points erratically at every variation in the field instead of the general direction of North, of Truth. The evidence is in the pattern, not the iron. The study of G*D might be called Cosmic Cybernetics.
G*D is not a thing to be studied under a microscope, but the purpose, power, function, direction of things. Deists feel the power by intuition, and understand it by reason. The Point & Purpose of the world is not in its matter, but in its movement. Atheists see the iron filings, but miss the invisible flux (Absence) that directs them. Theists worship the fount of the flux instead of merely flowing with it. The point of Deism is not to worship, or to rule, but to go with the flow. G*D surfing.
We mold clay into a pot,
but it is the emptiness inside
that makes the vessel useful.
— Laozi, Tao Te Ching
Absential : "a purpose not yet actualized" http://absence.github.io/3-explanations ... ntial.html
PS__I made up the "Cosmic Cybernetics" term as I was writing the post above. But a quick internet search finds that the term was already in use by an Astrology site. I don't buy into the mystical aspects of astrology, but I agree with the concept that the universe is a self-controlled system with teleological implications. Anyway there is another site with a more scientific take on the concept : http://ezinearticles.com/?COSMIC-CYBERN ... id=8517884
12/10/2018
Dora Simunovic
“If your god enriches your life and the lives of those around you; inspires love, forgiveness, generosity, peace, patience; helps you through tough times and encourages you to try again; leads you to new and original insights into your decisions and obsessions - believe all you want and however you want. Pointless or not makes no difference.”
The Deist concept of G*D can indeed enrich the lives of those who believe that there is more to this world than meets the eye. However, Deists are basically Atheists with a Holistic, rather than Reductionistic, perspective on the world. This “greater than the sum of the parts” understanding places the Point of life in a wider frame of reference. Hence, the Point of Deism is out-there, as an aspiration, rather than in-here, as selfish motivation. Whether that aspirational Point makes any difference is up to the individual.
Deism is an individual philosophy, not a collective religion. We are free to conceptualize that attractive "force" as we see fit, without having to worry about doctrines or hell-fire. Deism places the individual into a larger context than even sectarian churches, or political denominations. You might say that Deism is Atheism in a Cosmic Context.
PS__By "Deism", I mean the modern worldview (NeoDeism) that is enformed by current scientific knowledge, without being forced to conform to the Atheistic prejudice that "Man is the measure of all things", and that Matter is the substance of meaning.
PPS__Most Deists are intuitive feelers of the gravitational field of G*D, not rational academic apologists for the Deist worldview. Hence the perceived need for exploring the topical question of this thread.
12/11/2018
Dora Simunovic
I find your perspective interesting and compelling, and probably the best explanation of NeoDeism I have ever had the opportunity to read.
I would just ad that, as far as I know, nobody forces me as an atheist to conform to anything, and I certainly do not think that man is the measure of all things, or that matter is the substance of meaning.
Is atheism reductionist, though? Yes, almost by definition. Your expression of deism as holistic really struck a chord with me, in that I think I now better understand the appeal of your position.
I think our two perspectives are very compatible, which is not the case between either of them and a fundamentalist religious position (the only real “enemy” in my opinion), but as I said - whatever floats your boat, as long as it does not navigate our social policy.
12/13/2108
reply to Dora
“Is atheism reductionist, though? Yes, almost by definition.”
Deism is compatible with reductionistic Science, as the primary source of knowledge about Nature. But it also looks to Metaphysics for wisdom about the “Big Picture” that extends beyond the self-imposed limits of Physics. Holistic Philosophy is not bound by the space-time boundary of Science. So it can speculate about such topics as “what caused the Big Bang?” The logical necessity for an ultimate Cause is without doubt. But Materialists tend to envision it as physical (Multiverse), while Deists typically think of it as metaphysical (Mental), hence explaining the mystery of Life & Mind emerging from Matter & Energy. That pre-bang Cause is what we call G*D, which for lack of data, we leave un-analyzed.
Such extended reasoning does not produce hard empirical facts, but it can contribute to a general Theory of why the world behaves as it does, and where is our place in it. With that information on origins, we can better navigate toward a personal destination of our own choosing. Nobody can force you to conform to my Path, but it would be smart to follow the path of Nature. And Nature is both Physical and Metaphysical.
“there is an inherent need for humans to conceptually grasp the big picture and this is where metaphysics finds its true value”
Dave Davidson,
http://Davidsonhttps://www.quora.com/Wh ... etaphysics
12/14/2018
reply to Dora
“ a non-empirical theory is not a theory, except colloquially.”
My use of the term “theory” is compatible with at least one non-colloquial definition*. Like Darwin’s partly empirical “theory” of evolution, it’s not a shot-in-the-dark hypothesis, but an interconnected system of ideas intended to explain a mystery based on reasonable general principles. Since I am not inspired by the usual religious motives, there is a “need for it to be scientific”.
As I noted before, most Deists don’t have a “theory” of deity at all, but merely an intuitive notion that there must be some hidden unifying principle or force behind the empirical observations of nature’s objects and behaviors. That’s a start, but I am not satisfied with hunches and fantasies. So I am in the process of developing a systematic worldview (based on a theory) to explain the mysteries overlooked or ignored by modern Science**. I call my philosophical worldview “Enformationism”, because it’s based on the dual role of Information in the world : as both Data and Meaning.
I won’t go into more detail here. But have concluded that a Metaphysical First Cause is the missing piece of the puzzle that Science has been putting together for the last few centuries. Quantum Theory has identified a huge gap in our mechanistic model of Nature, that can be filled, not with Matter or Energy, but with Information.
*Theory : a supposition or a system of ideas intended to explain something, especially one based on general principles independent of the thing to be explained.
**Terrance Deacon is an atheist, but his book INCOMPLETE NATURE, is an excellent study of the mystery that Darwin swept under the rug : the Origin of Life & Mind. My personal worldview merely goes one step further into the question of origins : The Ghost in the Organism, http://bothandblog3.enformationism.info/page20.html
12/12/2018
Steve Lewis
“…belief in God versus worshiping God, are two different things.” ___Chris Finch
Yes. The point of Deism is not to *earn reward points* from the goodie-god. It is instead to point ourselves in the direction in which the world is evolving; to align my personal aim with the apparent aim of the “higher power” who set the world on its current course.
Some Deists still feel entitled to an afterlife of *bonus points* for enduring the suffering of this life. They are entitled to their opinion, but they don’t have any good reason to expect such a reversal of G*D’s revealed Will in the book of Nature.
Those worshipping Deists probably inherited the posture of kowtowing to the “magic dude in the sky” from their slavish religious forebears. But philosophical Deists are not afraid of their Creator. Instead of groveling & praying, they proudly assume the posture of partners in the project of progressive evolution.
https://www.quora.com/What-would-you-co ... -pointless
What's the point of believing in an invisible non-intervening deity? This Deist has lost faith in conflicting scriptural stories of a heavenly hereafter, but still can't shake the feeling that the world is heading toward some inevitable Omega Point. All physical evidence points to the conclusion that Evolution is progressive, climbing from dead dust to Life to Mind and beyond. So the intuition of Entention as the cause of this creative process may be the Deist's feeble Faith that overcomes Atheistic doubt. The point, the motivation, is to climb on the Evolutionary Bus that's going on a great adventure. We leave the driving to our anonymous G*D, and enjoy the ride.
PS__Such intuitive faith doesn’t require that we sacrifice our mortal lives for the promise of immortality. It just motivates us to live our lives as-if there is a point to the whole exercise. Each individual is free to interpret the teleological trends of the universe as she wishes. It’s not a gamble, just a guess.
12/07/2018
Rex Newborn
“I would say that the Deists were atheistic agnostics who were attempting to remain within the Christian culture. Deist: Yes there is a god, but it doesn’t interact with humans, we just believe.”
Some early Deists did seem to hold onto their general cultural god-concept, even as they rejected the layers of dogma encrusting the direct relation between Creator and Creatures. But the modern Deist god-model has evolved as science has revealed more details about the physical universe, and how it evolves toward some future state (Omega Point?). So most current Deists stand with one foot in the historical traditions of Supernaturalism, and one in the modern science of Naturalism. This leaves them on the fuzzy fringe of Christian culture, connected only by their rejection of reductionist Atheism and acceptance of a holistic Creator.
A common Deist assertion is that G*D doesn’t “intervene” in ongoing evolutionary events. That's because the need for external control inputs (miracles) would imply that the Creation (Nature) lacks an internal control system, hence the Creator would be incompetent. Instead, the assumption is that the world is like an autonomous organism, growing and maturing in response to internal constraints and dynamics. Since humans are perceived to be organs within that organism, it’s not true that God doesn’t “interact” with them. Instead, G*D is viewed as the Whole of which humans are parts, which means that every action in the world is an interaction with the CEO -- who hasn't retired, but is still fully invested in the system.
Ultimately, the Deist worldview is based on an act of Inference & Intuition : the world is teleological, hence there must be an Ententional First Cause. I wouldn't call that "Faith" because of the common implication of blind obedience to a culture-bound book or an all-too-human prophet. Instead, Deism relies on the only "Word" of G*D that we can know directly, by simple experience of a living thinking world. From that personal experience we infer a living thinking Creator, and we intuit a First Cause of all causes & effects in the world system. The irrational alternative would be to "believe" that Life & Mind magically popped into existence by some form of Spontaneous Generation. That’s a distinction that makes a difference in how we live.
Deists don't have a bible or a Pope, we simply read the World, and bow to Reason. We agree with Science on How the world works, with Religion on Why it works as-if driven by Entention, and with Philosophy on the need to question everything, and define terms.
Note : by "we", I mean "me".
Entention : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entention
12/07/2108
John Earwood
“We leave the driving to our anonymous G*D, and enjoy the ride.”
Deism may actually be more pointed than Atheism, in that it "sees" signs of general direction & purpose in the world, and attempts to align with it like a compass to the magnetic field. Theism also senses the directional flow of the world, but tends to get stuck pointing in one direction as the field curves around them. Atheism, with its focus on particulars, misses the general significance of those details, and points erratically at every variation in the field instead of the general direction of North, of Truth. The evidence is in the pattern, not the iron. The study of G*D might be called Cosmic Cybernetics.
G*D is not a thing to be studied under a microscope, but the purpose, power, function, direction of things. Deists feel the power by intuition, and understand it by reason. The Point & Purpose of the world is not in its matter, but in its movement. Atheists see the iron filings, but miss the invisible flux (Absence) that directs them. Theists worship the fount of the flux instead of merely flowing with it. The point of Deism is not to worship, or to rule, but to go with the flow. G*D surfing.
We mold clay into a pot,
but it is the emptiness inside
that makes the vessel useful.
— Laozi, Tao Te Ching
Absential : "a purpose not yet actualized" http://absence.github.io/3-explanations ... ntial.html
PS__I made up the "Cosmic Cybernetics" term as I was writing the post above. But a quick internet search finds that the term was already in use by an Astrology site. I don't buy into the mystical aspects of astrology, but I agree with the concept that the universe is a self-controlled system with teleological implications. Anyway there is another site with a more scientific take on the concept : http://ezinearticles.com/?COSMIC-CYBERN ... id=8517884
12/10/2018
Dora Simunovic
“If your god enriches your life and the lives of those around you; inspires love, forgiveness, generosity, peace, patience; helps you through tough times and encourages you to try again; leads you to new and original insights into your decisions and obsessions - believe all you want and however you want. Pointless or not makes no difference.”
The Deist concept of G*D can indeed enrich the lives of those who believe that there is more to this world than meets the eye. However, Deists are basically Atheists with a Holistic, rather than Reductionistic, perspective on the world. This “greater than the sum of the parts” understanding places the Point of life in a wider frame of reference. Hence, the Point of Deism is out-there, as an aspiration, rather than in-here, as selfish motivation. Whether that aspirational Point makes any difference is up to the individual.
Deism is an individual philosophy, not a collective religion. We are free to conceptualize that attractive "force" as we see fit, without having to worry about doctrines or hell-fire. Deism places the individual into a larger context than even sectarian churches, or political denominations. You might say that Deism is Atheism in a Cosmic Context.
PS__By "Deism", I mean the modern worldview (NeoDeism) that is enformed by current scientific knowledge, without being forced to conform to the Atheistic prejudice that "Man is the measure of all things", and that Matter is the substance of meaning.
PPS__Most Deists are intuitive feelers of the gravitational field of G*D, not rational academic apologists for the Deist worldview. Hence the perceived need for exploring the topical question of this thread.
12/11/2018
Dora Simunovic
I find your perspective interesting and compelling, and probably the best explanation of NeoDeism I have ever had the opportunity to read.
I would just ad that, as far as I know, nobody forces me as an atheist to conform to anything, and I certainly do not think that man is the measure of all things, or that matter is the substance of meaning.
Is atheism reductionist, though? Yes, almost by definition. Your expression of deism as holistic really struck a chord with me, in that I think I now better understand the appeal of your position.
I think our two perspectives are very compatible, which is not the case between either of them and a fundamentalist religious position (the only real “enemy” in my opinion), but as I said - whatever floats your boat, as long as it does not navigate our social policy.
12/13/2108
reply to Dora
“Is atheism reductionist, though? Yes, almost by definition.”
Deism is compatible with reductionistic Science, as the primary source of knowledge about Nature. But it also looks to Metaphysics for wisdom about the “Big Picture” that extends beyond the self-imposed limits of Physics. Holistic Philosophy is not bound by the space-time boundary of Science. So it can speculate about such topics as “what caused the Big Bang?” The logical necessity for an ultimate Cause is without doubt. But Materialists tend to envision it as physical (Multiverse), while Deists typically think of it as metaphysical (Mental), hence explaining the mystery of Life & Mind emerging from Matter & Energy. That pre-bang Cause is what we call G*D, which for lack of data, we leave un-analyzed.
Such extended reasoning does not produce hard empirical facts, but it can contribute to a general Theory of why the world behaves as it does, and where is our place in it. With that information on origins, we can better navigate toward a personal destination of our own choosing. Nobody can force you to conform to my Path, but it would be smart to follow the path of Nature. And Nature is both Physical and Metaphysical.
“there is an inherent need for humans to conceptually grasp the big picture and this is where metaphysics finds its true value”
Dave Davidson,
http://Davidsonhttps://www.quora.com/Wh ... etaphysics
12/14/2018
reply to Dora
“ a non-empirical theory is not a theory, except colloquially.”
My use of the term “theory” is compatible with at least one non-colloquial definition*. Like Darwin’s partly empirical “theory” of evolution, it’s not a shot-in-the-dark hypothesis, but an interconnected system of ideas intended to explain a mystery based on reasonable general principles. Since I am not inspired by the usual religious motives, there is a “need for it to be scientific”.
As I noted before, most Deists don’t have a “theory” of deity at all, but merely an intuitive notion that there must be some hidden unifying principle or force behind the empirical observations of nature’s objects and behaviors. That’s a start, but I am not satisfied with hunches and fantasies. So I am in the process of developing a systematic worldview (based on a theory) to explain the mysteries overlooked or ignored by modern Science**. I call my philosophical worldview “Enformationism”, because it’s based on the dual role of Information in the world : as both Data and Meaning.
I won’t go into more detail here. But have concluded that a Metaphysical First Cause is the missing piece of the puzzle that Science has been putting together for the last few centuries. Quantum Theory has identified a huge gap in our mechanistic model of Nature, that can be filled, not with Matter or Energy, but with Information.
*Theory : a supposition or a system of ideas intended to explain something, especially one based on general principles independent of the thing to be explained.
**Terrance Deacon is an atheist, but his book INCOMPLETE NATURE, is an excellent study of the mystery that Darwin swept under the rug : the Origin of Life & Mind. My personal worldview merely goes one step further into the question of origins : The Ghost in the Organism, http://bothandblog3.enformationism.info/page20.html
12/12/2018
Steve Lewis
“…belief in God versus worshiping God, are two different things.” ___Chris Finch
Yes. The point of Deism is not to *earn reward points* from the goodie-god. It is instead to point ourselves in the direction in which the world is evolving; to align my personal aim with the apparent aim of the “higher power” who set the world on its current course.
Some Deists still feel entitled to an afterlife of *bonus points* for enduring the suffering of this life. They are entitled to their opinion, but they don’t have any good reason to expect such a reversal of G*D’s revealed Will in the book of Nature.
Those worshipping Deists probably inherited the posture of kowtowing to the “magic dude in the sky” from their slavish religious forebears. But philosophical Deists are not afraid of their Creator. Instead of groveling & praying, they proudly assume the posture of partners in the project of progressive evolution.
Re: More Quora Questions
Is mathematics a universal language of nature itself, or a universal language of merely our perception of nature?
https://www.quora.com/Is-mathematics-a- ... opic_bio=1
12/11/2018
I’m not an expert in Math or Philosophy, but I am interested in such questions because my personal worldview is based on Information as the substance of reality. The fundamental form of Information is abstract Mathematics : ratios & relationships between things (i.e. numerical values). In our real concrete world, Math/Geometry etc has taken on the form we call Logic, which is basically math with words. Logic adds personal meaning to abstract relationships (i.e. personal values). The Quantum Field that physicists currently imagine as the ground of reality is essentially a source of immaterial abstract Information/Ratios, which can be transformed into concrete particles of matter, and eventually into highly organized matter, which produces the quality/function we call Mind or Thought or Reasoning or Rationality or Logic.
So my answer is Yes. Math is Information, which is the universal essence of reality. And Logic is the value lens through which humans perceive their environment. But that conclusion may also imply that the universe is a kind of mind, and may be the temporal offspring of eternal Mind. I don’t envision the abstract Great Mathematician (G*D) as a traditional humanoid deity, but it may be the intuitive inspiration for imagining such ideal Mind-agents.
https://www.quora.com/Is-mathematics-a- ... opic_bio=1
12/11/2018
I’m not an expert in Math or Philosophy, but I am interested in such questions because my personal worldview is based on Information as the substance of reality. The fundamental form of Information is abstract Mathematics : ratios & relationships between things (i.e. numerical values). In our real concrete world, Math/Geometry etc has taken on the form we call Logic, which is basically math with words. Logic adds personal meaning to abstract relationships (i.e. personal values). The Quantum Field that physicists currently imagine as the ground of reality is essentially a source of immaterial abstract Information/Ratios, which can be transformed into concrete particles of matter, and eventually into highly organized matter, which produces the quality/function we call Mind or Thought or Reasoning or Rationality or Logic.
So my answer is Yes. Math is Information, which is the universal essence of reality. And Logic is the value lens through which humans perceive their environment. But that conclusion may also imply that the universe is a kind of mind, and may be the temporal offspring of eternal Mind. I don’t envision the abstract Great Mathematician (G*D) as a traditional humanoid deity, but it may be the intuitive inspiration for imagining such ideal Mind-agents.
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