What is this stop business? I have it on good authority that it’s turtles all the way down.
Comment on Can't we just talk about it without the maths? Guys?
m_f@midwest.social 11 months agoThe argument I’ve heard is “It must stop somewhere, and whatever it stops at, we’ll call that god”. It’s not a good argument, because it then hopes that you conflate the Judeo-Christian deity with that label and make a whole bunch of assumptions.
It’s often paired with woo that falls down to simply asking “Why?”, such as “Nothing could possibly be simpler than my deity”
jadero@mander.xyz 11 months ago
Belgdore@lemm.ee 11 months ago
It’s just the one turtle flying through space, the Great A’Tuin
NattyNatty2x4@beehaw.org 11 months ago
Agreed, the big issue with their argument here is that “god” implies sentience, which isn’t something we have any reason to assume exists for whatever at the “stop somewhere” point. If energy was the starting point for example, I doubt these people would be down with calling heat a god
jaycifer@kbin.social 11 months ago
On the contrary, I’d argue energy mostly meets many of the philosophical criteria for God.
Omnipotence: It literally is what drives stuff to happen.
Omnipresence: It is present to some degree in all things everywhere for all time, though you could argue about vacuum.
Omniscience: See omnipresence, although having knowledge implies some level of consciousness, which is pretty debatable. My psychedelic phase tells me that it’s totally a thing, but I’ll be the first to admit that’s not a rational argument.
Omnibenevolence: I don’t understand why God needs to be good.DroneRights@lemm.ee 11 months ago
Unless we adopt conscious realism, which holds that conscious agents are what the universe is made of, and matter and energy are fake
Knusper@feddit.de 11 months ago
It’s also a bad argument, because the concept of things being ‘created’ is an entirely human one. It’s us who decided that if a pile of pre-existing atoms are moved into the shape of a chair, we’ll say that chair was ‘created’.
Aside from this conceptual creation, nothing is ever created in the universe, as far as we know. Atoms don’t ever just pop into existence out of thin air.
I have heard the argument that the universe was just as well ‘created’ in the conceptual sense, so everything existed beforehand, it was just moved into a shape that we recognize as ‘universe’ today.
But that would still mean there’s no argument for a creator and of course, this is simply not what most people mean when they talk about the creation of the universe.Kyyrypyy@lemmy.world 11 months ago
If I remember correctly from my hazy years of school philosophy classes, it was Thomas Aquinas who suggested it. Who was a friar, so that’s why the assumption of the religion.
Also, I understood the core idea being that God isn’t what IS the beginning, but that the point where human mind can’t comprehend beyond is God. Which, back then, and even now, I considered to be a lazy copout for a philosopher, as the point of a philosopher is to test the limits of our understanding.
Then again, for friar to state that the end solution is not god for their thinkings, at that time and place, would’ve probably result in being positioned as a centerpiece of a bonfire.
JackGreenEarth@lemm.ee 11 months ago
So if it stops at the universe, the universe itself is called ‘God’?
Nougat@kbin.social 11 months ago
To which I would ask, "Why are you using the word 'god'?"
acockworkorange@mander.xyz 11 months ago
Everybody asks what is god, why is god… Nobody asks how is god.
…and it’s pronounced “jod” BTW.
m_f@midwest.social 11 months ago
Yeah exactly, though then you’d generally get arguments pushing you towards “But it’s actually totes Jesus”.