Here you and I agree. I just is!! But what is it? The universe is
not designed for us. We are temporary inhabants just like the
dinosaurs and millions of other life-forms. What is the universe
designed to do? I believe it is designed to acquire awareness. The
awareness starts in the various life-forms throughout the universe and
it eventually is accumulated elsewhere. Identifying this elsewhere is
the big problem.
As for free will, I believe nothing stops us from doing anything we
want except our own mental limitations. It does not matter to the
system because we will either pass the test and continue to exist or
fail and die. The system does not care. The system is designed to
create by trial and error the most efficient product. We humans are
not the best example of this process nor is it clear we will pass the
coming tests. We will only pass the tests if we play by the required
rules. To do this, we must understand the rules. Unfortunately, this
understanding is severely lacking.
Ed
On Feb 15, 2013, at 11:49 AM, Chris Zell wrote:
First, I used to be an ardent Creationist but realized that nature
does not allow for such a notion. There's far too much that exists
that's just horrible - and ( seemingly) Really Well Designed - such
as Guinea worms, Crocodiles, Tyrannosaurus Rex and more. A personal
Creator would have to be a psychopath and would resemble something
out of a H.P. Lovecraft novel.
However, that still allows for a transcendent impersonal God who
operates as a system - and might even answer prayers.
I think the human race has a perceptual block in that they use the
brain as an analogy for a God as Designer instead of seeing "Him" as
being more like the body - a marvelous system of systems that needs
no immediate conscious direction to grow or exist ( I still breathe
and my heart still beats even though I don't think about it)
As for symmetry and more, I have one thing to say: Folks, at some
level, the universe "just is". Yep, that's right - reductionism
fails, ends, no mas..... Victor Mansfield realized this ( Buddhist
physicist) - so have some atheist scientists who critique
entanglement results ( Victor Stenger)
Which leaves me wondering, what in the macro world might "just be"?
Ghosts? ESP? Bigfoot? I don't know but I do get a laugh whenever
some Great Authority pontificates about what can or can't exist
according to some neat, elegant theory of reality. Ultimately, it
all, 'just is'. That's why I had no trouble believing that Cold
Fusion could be real. Plasmons and such are nice but , in the end,
stuff 'just is'.
