Did you know, I'm sure you do, that mathematically speaking, everything reduces to points, lines, curves, each one of these translatable into an equation? In other words, if you want to know what Plato's world of forms looks like, go to bed with the Queen of the sciences (mathematics). — Agent Smith
Yes. Some ancient philosophers (Pythagoras) and modern Physicists (Mario Livio) have imagined G*D metaphorically as a Divine Mathematician. My own metaphor, based on the Enformationism thesis, is that G*D is the Cosmic Programmer. These are not the kind of deities that you would worship, as a Tyrannical Heavenly Despot. Yet you have no choice but to obey His/Her Natural Laws. Fortunately, the Math Wizard has provided enough uncertainty in Nature, for humans to take advantage of the freedom to devise workarounds that result in Culture : nature modified to suit the special needs of big-brain bi-peds without fur & claws & fangs.
PS__Plato's Forms may be imagined as logical algorithms, mathematical equations, computer programs, or as musical scores.
God is a Mathematician :
Math sounds a lot like the attributes of God—eternal, omnipresent and omnipotent. According to theoretical physicist Michio Koku, “The mind of God we believe is cosmic music, the music of strings resonating through 11-dimensional hyperspace. That is the mind of God.“
https://www.scienceandnonduality.com/ar ... hematician
TPF : First Cause necessary
Re: TPF : First Cause necessary
There's no nonexistence, just different kinds of existence. I think Meinong of Meinong's jungle fame thought along the same lines. — Agent Smith
I just Googled "Meinong's Jungle", and found that his view of Nominal vs Phenomenal existence was similar to my own assumption in the Enformationism Thesis. Phenomenal reality is what we know via the 5 senses. However, we also give names to abstract concepts (e.g. metaphors ; symbols) that exist only in the mind, and sometimes treat them as-if they were real things. But Materialists & Nominalists dismiss such imaginary "objects" (e.g. Unicorns & Pegasus) as non-sense. Ironically, that view would ignore most of what makes humans different from animals : imagination & projection into the not-yet-real future. Yes, those ideal "objects" even include popular religious figures and Marvel super-heroes.
In the Enformationism thesis, I treat Ideas (mental objects) as-if they have some kind of meaningful & useful, but non-physical existence. Literally, they don't "matter", but they do signify. That assumption is based on the science of Information (knowledge), which is essentially meta-physical, but also exists in various physical forms. [see below] Since Einstein, we have known that Matter (Mass) & Energy are interchangeable, and more recently that physical Energy & abstract Information are different forms of the same Rational Potential. That Ideal "kind of existence" is what Plato's Idealism referred to as "Forms". Their way-of-being is not Actual & Physical, but Potential & Meta-Physical. For humans, especially philosophers, ideas are just as important as food & shelter.
Unfortunately, the Materialists & Physicalists & Nominalists on this forum, object to my use of an ancient Theological term, "Metaphysics", which to them implies that ghosts, spirits & souls are to be treated as Real things. Instead, my intention is merely to treat those imaginary objects-of-thought as worthy of philosophical consideration. Presumably, most animals are limited to sensing only things that have physical phenomenal existence. But humans have a sixth sense that can conceive & simulate & manipulate unreal ideas & symbols, as-if they real. And the result is often what we call "creativity". That extra-sense (Reason) includes religious metaphors & analogies, which served human philosophical purposes long before the advent of Empirical Phenomenal Science.
Meinong, an Austrian philosopher active at the turn of the 20th century, believed that since non-existent things could apparently be referred to, they must have some sort of being, which he termed sosein ("being so") https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meinong%27s_jungle
In metaphysics, nominalism is the view that universals and abstract objects do not actually exist other than being merely names or labels. ___Wiki
Phenominalism : the doctrine that human knowledge is confined to or founded on the realities or appearances presented to the senses.
Is information the fifth state of matter? :
In 2019, physicist Melvin Vopson of the University of Portsmouth proposed that information is equivalent to mass and energy, existing as a separate state of matter, a conjecture known as the mass-energy-information equivalence principle. This would mean that every bit of information has a finite and quantifiable mass.
https://www.zmescience.com/science/news ... uivalence/
Note --- In my thesis, I treat abstract Information as essential & fundamental, and its various physical forms as superficial & accessory. In other words, Ideal is prior to Real, as Plato assumed.
Physics & Metaphysics :
Two sides of the same coin we call Reality. When we look for matters of fact, we see physics. But when we search for meaning, we find meta-physics. A mental flip is required to view the other side. And imagination is necessary to see both at the same time.
BothAnd Blog Glossary
I just Googled "Meinong's Jungle", and found that his view of Nominal vs Phenomenal existence was similar to my own assumption in the Enformationism Thesis. Phenomenal reality is what we know via the 5 senses. However, we also give names to abstract concepts (e.g. metaphors ; symbols) that exist only in the mind, and sometimes treat them as-if they were real things. But Materialists & Nominalists dismiss such imaginary "objects" (e.g. Unicorns & Pegasus) as non-sense. Ironically, that view would ignore most of what makes humans different from animals : imagination & projection into the not-yet-real future. Yes, those ideal "objects" even include popular religious figures and Marvel super-heroes.
In the Enformationism thesis, I treat Ideas (mental objects) as-if they have some kind of meaningful & useful, but non-physical existence. Literally, they don't "matter", but they do signify. That assumption is based on the science of Information (knowledge), which is essentially meta-physical, but also exists in various physical forms. [see below] Since Einstein, we have known that Matter (Mass) & Energy are interchangeable, and more recently that physical Energy & abstract Information are different forms of the same Rational Potential. That Ideal "kind of existence" is what Plato's Idealism referred to as "Forms". Their way-of-being is not Actual & Physical, but Potential & Meta-Physical. For humans, especially philosophers, ideas are just as important as food & shelter.
Unfortunately, the Materialists & Physicalists & Nominalists on this forum, object to my use of an ancient Theological term, "Metaphysics", which to them implies that ghosts, spirits & souls are to be treated as Real things. Instead, my intention is merely to treat those imaginary objects-of-thought as worthy of philosophical consideration. Presumably, most animals are limited to sensing only things that have physical phenomenal existence. But humans have a sixth sense that can conceive & simulate & manipulate unreal ideas & symbols, as-if they real. And the result is often what we call "creativity". That extra-sense (Reason) includes religious metaphors & analogies, which served human philosophical purposes long before the advent of Empirical Phenomenal Science.
Meinong, an Austrian philosopher active at the turn of the 20th century, believed that since non-existent things could apparently be referred to, they must have some sort of being, which he termed sosein ("being so") https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meinong%27s_jungle
In metaphysics, nominalism is the view that universals and abstract objects do not actually exist other than being merely names or labels. ___Wiki
Phenominalism : the doctrine that human knowledge is confined to or founded on the realities or appearances presented to the senses.
Is information the fifth state of matter? :
In 2019, physicist Melvin Vopson of the University of Portsmouth proposed that information is equivalent to mass and energy, existing as a separate state of matter, a conjecture known as the mass-energy-information equivalence principle. This would mean that every bit of information has a finite and quantifiable mass.
https://www.zmescience.com/science/news ... uivalence/
Note --- In my thesis, I treat abstract Information as essential & fundamental, and its various physical forms as superficial & accessory. In other words, Ideal is prior to Real, as Plato assumed.
Physics & Metaphysics :
Two sides of the same coin we call Reality. When we look for matters of fact, we see physics. But when we search for meaning, we find meta-physics. A mental flip is required to view the other side. And imagination is necessary to see both at the same time.
BothAnd Blog Glossary
Re: TPF : First Cause necessary
The "Enformation Thesis"? — Hillary
Enformationism is my personal worldview, based on 21st century Quantum & Information theories. Scientists are beginning to conclude that shape-shifting Information (mind-matter-energy) is the fundamental element of the real world. So, I have concluded that, logically, there must a Cosmic Mind or Programmer to set-up the creative progressive program that we call "Evolution". However, it's neither a Scientific model, nor a Religious myth, but merely serves as a Philosophical perspective on the world "in which we live and move and have our being". I don't have any privileged knowledge of the Enformer/Programmer, so I resort to the use of various metaphors, instead of the usual G*D concept, to refer to the ultimate source of our world (e.g. BEING -- the power to exist).
PS___If the notion of invisible Information, as both the energy and the matter of reality, is hard to wrap your mind around, check-out Spinoza's theory of "Single Substance" = Nature = God.
Enformationism :
As a scientific paradigm, the thesis of Enformationism is intended to be an update to the obsolete 19th century paradigm of Materialism. Since the recent advent of Quantum Physics, the materiality of reality has been watered down. Now we know that matter is a form of energy, and that energy is a form of Information.
As a religious philosophy, the creative power of EnFormAction is envisioned as a more realistic version of the antiquated religious notions of Spiritualism. Since our temporary world had a beginning, it's hard to deny the concept of creation. So, an infinite First Cause is proposed to serve as both the energetic Enformer and the malleable substance of the enformed world.
BothAnd Blog Glossary
Enformationism is my personal worldview, based on 21st century Quantum & Information theories. Scientists are beginning to conclude that shape-shifting Information (mind-matter-energy) is the fundamental element of the real world. So, I have concluded that, logically, there must a Cosmic Mind or Programmer to set-up the creative progressive program that we call "Evolution". However, it's neither a Scientific model, nor a Religious myth, but merely serves as a Philosophical perspective on the world "in which we live and move and have our being". I don't have any privileged knowledge of the Enformer/Programmer, so I resort to the use of various metaphors, instead of the usual G*D concept, to refer to the ultimate source of our world (e.g. BEING -- the power to exist).
PS___If the notion of invisible Information, as both the energy and the matter of reality, is hard to wrap your mind around, check-out Spinoza's theory of "Single Substance" = Nature = God.
Enformationism :
As a scientific paradigm, the thesis of Enformationism is intended to be an update to the obsolete 19th century paradigm of Materialism. Since the recent advent of Quantum Physics, the materiality of reality has been watered down. Now we know that matter is a form of energy, and that energy is a form of Information.
As a religious philosophy, the creative power of EnFormAction is envisioned as a more realistic version of the antiquated religious notions of Spiritualism. Since our temporary world had a beginning, it's hard to deny the concept of creation. So, an infinite First Cause is proposed to serve as both the energetic Enformer and the malleable substance of the enformed world.
BothAnd Blog Glossary
Re: TPF : First Cause necessary
My understanding of your Enformationism Thesis is basically this: As far as we, h. sapiens, and also other beings with more or less the same level of intelligence, are concerned, information is key to building a universe. Think computer simulations - information (on how to create a universe like ours) is prior to the (simulated) universe itself.
The next obvious question is, who is/are the programmer(s) [god(s)]? Someone/something must have used the information required to construct a universe, ours; this one maybe one among many others (multiverse). — Agent Smith
Yes. Quantum scientists & Cosmologists (mathematical theorists, not empirical pragmatists) are coming to the conclusion that invisible-intangible Information (mathematical ratios between 1s & 0s) is the essence of material reality. Based on that axiomatic assumption, some have postulated a Mathematical Universe, or a Cosmic Computer Simulation. But my layman's thesis is a bit more down-to-earth. For personal & philosophical purposes, I assume that our temporary & contingent world was created in the Big Bang, and that the creative process continues to this day. It seems to be progressing in complexity (e.g intelligence), and heading toward some unknowable destination, that some call "Omega Point".
The First Cause/Creation concept implies that the BB was not an astronomically unlikely accident, but an intentional construct. So, I imagine that the Cause was like a Computer Programmer, who embedded an evolutionary algorithm into the mother-board of the BB Singularity, then pressed the "Enter" button. Voila! the material world is the result of ciphering objects & actions from the Laws & Algorithms. It's a neat theory, but as a being limited to space-time, I have no way of gaining direct knowledge of anything that "existed" before the beginning of Time : i.e. Eternity.
Therefore, I can't claim to have any privileged knowledge of the presumed Programmer, or of any other 'verses that might be out there in the mysterious Great Beyond. However, bowing to Ockham's Razor, I don't "multiply entities". So, I think of the Ultimate Source, not as people or things, but as a universal Principle of Existence, that I label, "BEING".
Note -- The initial Singularity is often compared to a Black Hole, which is a repository of Information. But in reverse : the Information comes out of it, spewing stars & planets into empty space.
The next obvious question is, who is/are the programmer(s) [god(s)]? Someone/something must have used the information required to construct a universe, ours; this one maybe one among many others (multiverse). — Agent Smith
Yes. Quantum scientists & Cosmologists (mathematical theorists, not empirical pragmatists) are coming to the conclusion that invisible-intangible Information (mathematical ratios between 1s & 0s) is the essence of material reality. Based on that axiomatic assumption, some have postulated a Mathematical Universe, or a Cosmic Computer Simulation. But my layman's thesis is a bit more down-to-earth. For personal & philosophical purposes, I assume that our temporary & contingent world was created in the Big Bang, and that the creative process continues to this day. It seems to be progressing in complexity (e.g intelligence), and heading toward some unknowable destination, that some call "Omega Point".
The First Cause/Creation concept implies that the BB was not an astronomically unlikely accident, but an intentional construct. So, I imagine that the Cause was like a Computer Programmer, who embedded an evolutionary algorithm into the mother-board of the BB Singularity, then pressed the "Enter" button. Voila! the material world is the result of ciphering objects & actions from the Laws & Algorithms. It's a neat theory, but as a being limited to space-time, I have no way of gaining direct knowledge of anything that "existed" before the beginning of Time : i.e. Eternity.
Therefore, I can't claim to have any privileged knowledge of the presumed Programmer, or of any other 'verses that might be out there in the mysterious Great Beyond. However, bowing to Ockham's Razor, I don't "multiply entities". So, I think of the Ultimate Source, not as people or things, but as a universal Principle of Existence, that I label, "BEING".
Note -- The initial Singularity is often compared to a Black Hole, which is a repository of Information. But in reverse : the Information comes out of it, spewing stars & planets into empty space.
Re: TPF : First Cause necessary
A computerchip crammed with usable information weight a fraction more than an empty chip, but this doesn't mean that information can be weighed. — Hillary
Don't take that scientist's loose talk about Information having Mass too literally. He's thinking of Information as a "state of Matter". Instead, I view Matter as a form of Information. That's because Information (e.g. mathematical ratios) seems to be fundamental to physical and meta-physical reality.
Raw unformed Information is like a statistical Probability, all Potential nothing Actual. But as Pure Information changes forms, from weightless Mind-stuff, to statistical Potential, to Energy, to Matter, it becomes more physical and more massive. For example at light-speed, a Photon (pure potential energy) has no mass, but as it slows down, it gains mass, until it eventually becomes Matter. (E=MC^2).
Could information be the fundamental "stuff" of the universe? :
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/i ... ndamental/
Don't take that scientist's loose talk about Information having Mass too literally. He's thinking of Information as a "state of Matter". Instead, I view Matter as a form of Information. That's because Information (e.g. mathematical ratios) seems to be fundamental to physical and meta-physical reality.
Raw unformed Information is like a statistical Probability, all Potential nothing Actual. But as Pure Information changes forms, from weightless Mind-stuff, to statistical Potential, to Energy, to Matter, it becomes more physical and more massive. For example at light-speed, a Photon (pure potential energy) has no mass, but as it slows down, it gains mass, until it eventually becomes Matter. (E=MC^2).
Could information be the fundamental "stuff" of the universe? :
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/i ... ndamental/
Re: TPF : First Cause necessary
Tanquam ex ungue leonem (We recognize the lion by his claw). — Johann Bernoulli (said of Isaac Newton after Newton sent him a solution for the brachiostochrone problem)
An old saying is that "you can know the artist by his art". Likewise, you can know the Creator by the nature of his Creation. So, we can infer some characteristics of the Programmer by looking into the features of the Program (e.g. evolution). Some describe G*D as perfect Goodness. Others think that G*D is a "respecter of persons". But homo sapiens is a late development in evolution, and we don't get special treatment from Nature.
Therefore, since Evolution is neither Good nor Evil, but a bit of both, I assume the Cause of our existence was Neutral (i.e. BothAnd). Hence, it's only from the biased human perspective that whatever happens is judged by how it affects me & mine. What we call good & evil could be interpreted as merely necessary variations on the Hegelian (good/evil ; positive/negative) path to the ultimate output. So, humanity may seem be the current high-point of evolution, but in the-long-run we might be just one more step on the ladder to the final program output (e.g. Omega Point -- whatever that might be).
An old saying is that "you can know the artist by his art". Likewise, you can know the Creator by the nature of his Creation. So, we can infer some characteristics of the Programmer by looking into the features of the Program (e.g. evolution). Some describe G*D as perfect Goodness. Others think that G*D is a "respecter of persons". But homo sapiens is a late development in evolution, and we don't get special treatment from Nature.
Therefore, since Evolution is neither Good nor Evil, but a bit of both, I assume the Cause of our existence was Neutral (i.e. BothAnd). Hence, it's only from the biased human perspective that whatever happens is judged by how it affects me & mine. What we call good & evil could be interpreted as merely necessary variations on the Hegelian (good/evil ; positive/negative) path to the ultimate output. So, humanity may seem be the current high-point of evolution, but in the-long-run we might be just one more step on the ladder to the final program output (e.g. Omega Point -- whatever that might be).
Re: TPF : First Cause necessary
Is it then reasonable to conclude that ethics wasn't top on the list of God's priorities?
A more interesting question is, is this world, as Leibniz believed, the best of all possible worlds? A scientific proof of that would look like this: Given carbon-based life like ours, the other parameters of our universe that make life and goodness possible are such that they also permit death and evil. The question can be reformulated for dystheism also. — Agent Smith
Yes. Ethics is concerned with relationships between people, not between G*D & Man. As I see it, G*D is not Fair-to-me, but Neutral-to-all. For most people, fairness is judged from a personal & subjective perspective. But for the impersonal & objective Programmer of Evolution, variations between "good & bad" are inherent & necessary in the Hegelian Dialectic. The heuristic (trial & error) Evolutionary Algorithm searches for "fitness to an ultimate purpose", not for "fairness to the individual players" in the game. In the game of Evolution there are winners & losers, but the rule-maker is only concerned with the final outcome.
Personally, my life has been mostly good, so I don't think in terms of Dystheism. Apparently, the game is setup with rules (natural laws) that apply equally to all players. So, in that sense, the game is fair. And it's up to each player to make the best of his own talents & situations. Unfortunately, some are born without talent (advantages) and into untenable circumstances. That may seem unfair, but human culture is able to counter-balance the situation with such innovations as Charity. That's why I think of the evolving world, as an experiment in Free Will, to see if its agents are able to learn how to act morally & ethically. Regarding the final score, I assume that it will be satisfactory for the Programmer. But we'll just have to wait & see if, after The End (the Totality), the game is reset and started all over again, with a score of zero to zero. In any case, a Dystopian worldview only hurts the viewer.
PS___Best World for whom? Certainly not for me. But it's somewhere in the middle. Presumably, it will turn-out OK for the Creator's purposes. Humans can only dream of Utopias, but G*D can make it happen . . . eventually. If Free Will is the point of the game, it will take time to let it develop from top-down Natural Laws to inter-personal Cultural Laws.
Evolutionary Algorithm :
There is a problem to be solved, and the solution is conceived to lie somewhere in a space of possible candidate solutions – the search space. The evolutionary algorithm searches for good solutions in the search space using this typical structure:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/bi ... -algorithm
Hegelian system :
Hegel's grand idea is "totality" which preserves within it each of the ideas or stages that it has overcome or subsumed. Overcoming or subsuming is a developmental process made up of "moments" (stages or phases).
https://www.marxists.org/reference/arch ... p/easy.htm
A more interesting question is, is this world, as Leibniz believed, the best of all possible worlds? A scientific proof of that would look like this: Given carbon-based life like ours, the other parameters of our universe that make life and goodness possible are such that they also permit death and evil. The question can be reformulated for dystheism also. — Agent Smith
Yes. Ethics is concerned with relationships between people, not between G*D & Man. As I see it, G*D is not Fair-to-me, but Neutral-to-all. For most people, fairness is judged from a personal & subjective perspective. But for the impersonal & objective Programmer of Evolution, variations between "good & bad" are inherent & necessary in the Hegelian Dialectic. The heuristic (trial & error) Evolutionary Algorithm searches for "fitness to an ultimate purpose", not for "fairness to the individual players" in the game. In the game of Evolution there are winners & losers, but the rule-maker is only concerned with the final outcome.
Personally, my life has been mostly good, so I don't think in terms of Dystheism. Apparently, the game is setup with rules (natural laws) that apply equally to all players. So, in that sense, the game is fair. And it's up to each player to make the best of his own talents & situations. Unfortunately, some are born without talent (advantages) and into untenable circumstances. That may seem unfair, but human culture is able to counter-balance the situation with such innovations as Charity. That's why I think of the evolving world, as an experiment in Free Will, to see if its agents are able to learn how to act morally & ethically. Regarding the final score, I assume that it will be satisfactory for the Programmer. But we'll just have to wait & see if, after The End (the Totality), the game is reset and started all over again, with a score of zero to zero. In any case, a Dystopian worldview only hurts the viewer.
PS___Best World for whom? Certainly not for me. But it's somewhere in the middle. Presumably, it will turn-out OK for the Creator's purposes. Humans can only dream of Utopias, but G*D can make it happen . . . eventually. If Free Will is the point of the game, it will take time to let it develop from top-down Natural Laws to inter-personal Cultural Laws.
Evolutionary Algorithm :
There is a problem to be solved, and the solution is conceived to lie somewhere in a space of possible candidate solutions – the search space. The evolutionary algorithm searches for good solutions in the search space using this typical structure:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/bi ... -algorithm
Hegelian system :
Hegel's grand idea is "totality" which preserves within it each of the ideas or stages that it has overcome or subsumed. Overcoming or subsuming is a developmental process made up of "moments" (stages or phases).
https://www.marxists.org/reference/arch ... p/easy.htm
Re: TPF : First Cause necessary
You know, I've been thinking (like never before in my life)...the gap between us and God could be as big or even bigger than the gap between us and animals stones! That could be one of the reasons He very rarely intervenes, despite our earnest prayers, in the affairs of humans (we're not even alive to Him). — Agent Smith
Paradoxically, G*D (Programmer ; Cause ; Source) is both "wholly-other" and "all-encompassing". In the sense of being unbounded by space & time, G*D is in a completely different ontological category from the creatures bound to live within the constraints of an imperfect, but evolving, physical world. However, in the Enformationism thesis, we humans are integral parts of the Whole System, in a concept similar to PanPsychism. Metaphorically, we are all ideas in the Mind of G*D.
So, in an Ideal sense, G*D is US --- we are real forms of the ideal Form, we are chips off the old BEING. According to PanDeism (all is god), G*D, whose substance is EnFormAction (energy ; power to cause change, to create), converted some of His/Her metaphysical substance (ideas ; mind) into physical substance (matter). Moreover, PanEnDeism (all in god), is based on the notion that we creatures are integral parts of the ultimate Whole. But, if you are uncomfortable with overtly religious god-models, you could simply say that we are the offspring of Mother Nature.
Presumably, the Creator/Programmer knows everything we know, and feels all that we feel. We are G*D experiencing what it's like to be finite & time-bound. Some have said that we creatures are how an Ideal G*D experiences Reality. When we suffer, G*D suffers, and when we exult, G*D is elated. Unfortunately, this is all hypothetical from our narrow perspective inside the system. But, at least, it gives us some reason to feel a philosophical kinship with our silent & remote Creator, who doesn't intervene but conjoins. Some religious believers express that notion of oneness in various metaphors, such as the Footprints In The Sand poem. You may not go quite that far, but as a philosophical worldview, it's at least a positive take on the human experience, as representatives of G*D in the world. Which aspect do you express : the Divine or the Satanic?
Wholly Other :
The term “wholly other” is used in Christian theology to describe the difference between God and everything else.
https://carm.org/dictionary/wholly-other/
Footprints in the Sand :
https://www.onlythebible.com/Poems/Foot ... -Poem.html
Panendeism :
http://www.supra-id.org/panendeism
God becomes the universe :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_becomes_the_Universe
Pretty much true, but it's more correct to say: "we're not godly enough to Him" — SpaceDweller
Let's see what Gnomon has to say. — Agent Smith
No. That's a Calvinist Christian notion of "Sinners In The Hands of an Angry God", who sees us as loathsome insects fit only to be burned. https://wwnorton.com/college/history/ar ... h03_03.htm
The Creator of an imperfect, but evolving world, couldn't reasonably expect perfection from fallible creatures in an imperfect immature world. So we can only make the best use of whatever messy situation we find ourselves in. My god-model is more like the one expressed in the poem below.
Desiderata :
. . . . . . Therefore, be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams; it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful.
https://www.sfu.ca/~wainwrig/desiderata.htm
Paradoxically, G*D (Programmer ; Cause ; Source) is both "wholly-other" and "all-encompassing". In the sense of being unbounded by space & time, G*D is in a completely different ontological category from the creatures bound to live within the constraints of an imperfect, but evolving, physical world. However, in the Enformationism thesis, we humans are integral parts of the Whole System, in a concept similar to PanPsychism. Metaphorically, we are all ideas in the Mind of G*D.
So, in an Ideal sense, G*D is US --- we are real forms of the ideal Form, we are chips off the old BEING. According to PanDeism (all is god), G*D, whose substance is EnFormAction (energy ; power to cause change, to create), converted some of His/Her metaphysical substance (ideas ; mind) into physical substance (matter). Moreover, PanEnDeism (all in god), is based on the notion that we creatures are integral parts of the ultimate Whole. But, if you are uncomfortable with overtly religious god-models, you could simply say that we are the offspring of Mother Nature.
Presumably, the Creator/Programmer knows everything we know, and feels all that we feel. We are G*D experiencing what it's like to be finite & time-bound. Some have said that we creatures are how an Ideal G*D experiences Reality. When we suffer, G*D suffers, and when we exult, G*D is elated. Unfortunately, this is all hypothetical from our narrow perspective inside the system. But, at least, it gives us some reason to feel a philosophical kinship with our silent & remote Creator, who doesn't intervene but conjoins. Some religious believers express that notion of oneness in various metaphors, such as the Footprints In The Sand poem. You may not go quite that far, but as a philosophical worldview, it's at least a positive take on the human experience, as representatives of G*D in the world. Which aspect do you express : the Divine or the Satanic?
Wholly Other :
The term “wholly other” is used in Christian theology to describe the difference between God and everything else.
https://carm.org/dictionary/wholly-other/
Footprints in the Sand :
https://www.onlythebible.com/Poems/Foot ... -Poem.html
Panendeism :
http://www.supra-id.org/panendeism
God becomes the universe :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_becomes_the_Universe
Pretty much true, but it's more correct to say: "we're not godly enough to Him" — SpaceDweller
Let's see what Gnomon has to say. — Agent Smith
No. That's a Calvinist Christian notion of "Sinners In The Hands of an Angry God", who sees us as loathsome insects fit only to be burned. https://wwnorton.com/college/history/ar ... h03_03.htm
The Creator of an imperfect, but evolving world, couldn't reasonably expect perfection from fallible creatures in an imperfect immature world. So we can only make the best use of whatever messy situation we find ourselves in. My god-model is more like the one expressed in the poem below.
Desiderata :
. . . . . . Therefore, be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams; it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful.
https://www.sfu.ca/~wainwrig/desiderata.htm
Re: TPF : First Cause necessary
your EnformActionism is, to my reckoning, what religion will look like in the distant future (say a 100 to a 1000 years from now). It blends old ideas with new ones, in the most elegant of ways I might add. Moreover, it's got a little bit of everything in it (eclectic/mashup/remix)! — Agent Smith
I doubt that anything like the reason & science-based Enformationism worldview will ever become a popular religion. For one thing, it's too broad & general. Yet, it works as an intellectual-philosophical attitude toward the ("stranger in a strange land") world we find ourselves trapped in (Heidegger :"thrownness"). But, a popular religion requires an emotional commitment, based on faith & hope for something better than the current imperfect world of pain & suffering. Some New Agers seem to feel a connection to something "bigger than us", as in Paganism & Panpsychism & Tat Tvam Asi ("thou art that"). And some may mistake Enformationism as a love-is-all-you-need New Age religious philosophy. But for me, it's merely a way to make sense of the mysteries (Why) that remain after materialistic Science has done all it can to reveal How the world works.
PS___The G*D that I envision is not omnibenevolent to human creatures, but simply an impartial Observer watching the Game of Life unfold, as the players struggle to survive and to score points for their team. I haven't been able to work-out any scheme of Salvation or Deliverance, except in the hypothetical possibility of Re-Enforming (reincarnation), which recycles the Data of which I am made. But the Un-Known On-Looker hasn't revealed His/Her plans for me after the game is over. Nevertheless, we can always hope for the best. And try to win for The Team (humanity ; ecology, etc), not for the Spectator, who roots for both sides (Good & Evil).
PPS___My philosophical god-model is a form of Deism, specifically PanEnDeism. Some have tried & failed to make a viable religion of such an abstract & dispassionate concept.
Thrownness :
Geworfenheit—a kind of alienation that human beings struggle against, and that leaves a paradoxical opening for freedom.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thrownness
"Into this world we're thrown /
Like a dog without a bone"
Riders on the Storm The Doors
Deism :
belief in the existence of a supreme being, specifically of a creator who does not intervene in the universe. The term is used chiefly of an intellectual movement of the 17th and 18th centuries that accepted the existence of a creator on the basis of reason but rejected belief in a supernatural deity who interacts with humankind.
___Google
I doubt that anything like the reason & science-based Enformationism worldview will ever become a popular religion. For one thing, it's too broad & general. Yet, it works as an intellectual-philosophical attitude toward the ("stranger in a strange land") world we find ourselves trapped in (Heidegger :"thrownness"). But, a popular religion requires an emotional commitment, based on faith & hope for something better than the current imperfect world of pain & suffering. Some New Agers seem to feel a connection to something "bigger than us", as in Paganism & Panpsychism & Tat Tvam Asi ("thou art that"). And some may mistake Enformationism as a love-is-all-you-need New Age religious philosophy. But for me, it's merely a way to make sense of the mysteries (Why) that remain after materialistic Science has done all it can to reveal How the world works.
PS___The G*D that I envision is not omnibenevolent to human creatures, but simply an impartial Observer watching the Game of Life unfold, as the players struggle to survive and to score points for their team. I haven't been able to work-out any scheme of Salvation or Deliverance, except in the hypothetical possibility of Re-Enforming (reincarnation), which recycles the Data of which I am made. But the Un-Known On-Looker hasn't revealed His/Her plans for me after the game is over. Nevertheless, we can always hope for the best. And try to win for The Team (humanity ; ecology, etc), not for the Spectator, who roots for both sides (Good & Evil).
PPS___My philosophical god-model is a form of Deism, specifically PanEnDeism. Some have tried & failed to make a viable religion of such an abstract & dispassionate concept.
Thrownness :
Geworfenheit—a kind of alienation that human beings struggle against, and that leaves a paradoxical opening for freedom.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thrownness
"Into this world we're thrown /
Like a dog without a bone"
Riders on the Storm The Doors
Deism :
belief in the existence of a supreme being, specifically of a creator who does not intervene in the universe. The term is used chiefly of an intellectual movement of the 17th and 18th centuries that accepted the existence of a creator on the basis of reason but rejected belief in a supernatural deity who interacts with humankind.
___Google
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