It's Either Intelligent Design, or Absurdity

If one accepts the physicalist paradigm, then one accepts an arbitrary universe.  Multi-verse does not solve the problem, because then the multi-verse becomes arbitrary.  If one resorts to an infinity of infinities physicalism, then one abandons cause-and-effect cosmology, and replaces it with pure randomness which is itself arbitrary, because randomness can operate only within non-random parameters (the dice must be designed and manufactured to specifications).  Intelligent Design is therefore the most plausible explanation for the origin and structure of the universe.

Free will has nothing to do with uncertainty.

Free will has no relationship to randomness or chance.

It demonstrates our sovereign independent agency,

introducing meaning and purpose into an otherwise futile reality.

 

Free will, like consciousness, is a fundamental, an absolute reality 

that does not arise from the material universe.

 

Combined with Life (or élan vital), consciousness and free will

define our nature as spiritual beings inhabiting physical form in a material (created) universe.

Why Science (but not Scientists) Advocates Belief in God

The scientific support for belief in God is overwhelming.  Individual scientists, in many cases, oppose that conclusion.  Let’s look at both of these statements.

Science has a lot of unanswered questions, but two of them are relevant here.  They are (1) Fine Tuning of the Universe and (2) Consciousness.

(1)     The universe is so precisely conditioned (by Fine Tuning) to support the existence of life that no reasonable person believes it is all coincidence.  There are at least twenty-seven physical parameters that govern the universe, and each of them must fall within a narrow range of values if the universe is to support life, human life, and human civilization (including science).  One of those parameters is so precise that were it to differ by an unimaginably tiny amount, the universe would be more like a brick of steel than the dynamic place it is.

(2)    Consciousness is so profound a mystery to science because it is the only observed fact which observes itself.  Your inward experience of consciousness cannot be expressed in any physical terms that fit into any scientific explanation.  Consciousness is scientific evidence that we are spiritual creatures inhabiting physical bodies.  Consciousness does not arise from anything physical.  It is its own, separate thing.

In short, science can explain everything except science and scientists.

Some scientists reject a belief in God, not for scientific reasons, but because of a philosophy which they mistakenly believe is supported by science.  That philosophy is called, physicalism.  Physicalism states that nothing exists except the physical.  That philosophy has no explanation for fine tuning and consciousness, except for vague ideas that have no compelling physical basis.

In short, then, science supports faith in God, no matter what some scientists say or believe.

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LAMENTATION IN BABYLON

(an end times poem by me)

Life.

Normal.

Pleasant.

Why should anyone worry?

Prosperity abounds.

Minstrels sing.

Brides marry.

Shall it not continue in this way?

Forever?

But the children know better.

A thief came in the night.

He gave no warning.

We were singing and dancing,

the streets were filled,

merry folk laughed and smiled.

But suddenly it all came to an end.

The children know the story.

They’ve seen the ruins, the ashes, the utter desolation,

That once was mighty Babylon.

O, Babylon!

mighty Babylon, what befell you?

How fell you so?

How far you fell!

But one hour, one brief hour,

Separates blissful past from the dreaded now,

Which sleeps upon your wounded brow.

So brief an hour, that endless hour

of horror!

Those who remember it tell

of a bright light,

A blinding light,

The scorching light of truth,

Which flashed from east and flashed to west,

So that everyone saw, and everyone feared,

And everyone fled for their lives,

Lives already lost in lies.

And then the darkness swiftly fell,

And earth became a living hell.

The men,

The mighty men suddenly quivered in fear,

Their knees turned to water,

Their marrow to ice.

They groveled at the feet of their gods.

But the gods now fell silent,

Impassively still,

Unheeding, uncaring,

Had you sacrificed your children to them?

The gods knew nothing of that.

Had your children cried in terror and pain?

While you passed them through the flame?

While you killed them?

The gods cared nothing for that.

Had they laughed?

The gods.

Only stone, only wood,only gold.

Only falsehood.

And the men,

those wise men,

O they of hair,

Now grey of hair,

now grey of flowing beards;

How they wept as their clay tablets broke,

How they wailed as they watched their wisdom thrown down,

Like so much clay.

broken clay,

the shattered wisdom of fools,

Haughty fools!

And the rich men--- suddenly poor!

With not a shekel to their names,

Neither gold nor silver adorned their wives,

Anymore,

Nothing but shame,

With not a shekel to hide their shame,

and disgraces. Poverty haunts their gaunt faces,

and hollows their sunken eyes.

What of them? Where could they go? What did they know?

But only the children knew.

For the mighty said war,

A war had brought this doom.

But the wise men spoke of a meteor,

A meteor had wrought this gloom.

While the rich men said famine.

A famine had silenced the loom,

Which had woven their silks and their gold.

But, truth be told, only the children knew.

They lectured their elders, and said,

Was there not a prophecy of doom?

Had we thought ourselves immune?

In but one hour we are ruined.

And the whore of Babylon led you here, among the dead.

To here, to her empire of the dead.

Was there not a prophecy of doom?

Had no one asked the children?

For only a child could lead them, in truth,

in blessed truth,

only the children knew.

Upon her throne the queen had sat,

And ruled the drunken throng.

I shall know no sorrow,

She had said,

From upon her fearsome beast.

But she, too, had been drunk,

And one final time,

lifted the cup to her lips,

One final time to savor the shed blood of her vanquished foes.

Then the beast devoured her,

And she is no more.

If only she had known,

What the children only knew.

Walk now amid the ruin and see,

Where once the minstrels sang,

Where once upon a long ago,

The laughter filled the air.

Walk gingerly, and take great care,

Step not upon the dead.

For this, their grave, is now the lair,

Of demon, snake, and birds,

Of the air.

Here, once, twin prophets walked the street,

To speak with mighty voice.

Take not the mark, heed not the beast,

But in your God rejoice.

For He is light, and He is truth,

And He shall lead the way.

Heed not the beast,

But fear the lamb,

A child shall lead the way.

But no one heard

The mighty word

Which these twin prophets spoke.

The beast arose and struck them dead,

The people laughed and joked.

But when the prophets rose again,

Were lifted up to life,

The laughter ceased,

The people feared,

And then began the strife.

And God had said

This chance I give,

At last you may repent.

But still they shook their fists at Him,

And at Him curses sent.

So, Babylon, why did you die?

Did God then strike you dead?

No, not your God, but that--- your beast--- the wound upon his head.

Sweet Mary bruised her heel on him,

The serpent sought her child.

But God the Father carried Him,

Away into the wild.

And then the serpent ruled this world,

You gave him all your crowns.

You worshipped him,

And cursed your Lord,

And struck His children dead.

But could the beast deliver you,

And give you sinful bliss?

The prophets came to worry you,

That nought could come of this.

A mighty tree grows in the wood,

Its branches tall and wide.

But in this tree there is no strength,

For rot is all inside.

And though that tree stands proud and tall,

And rules the forest now,

Its outward might shall be its fall,

Inner emptiness its curse.

And he who claimed the throne of God,

And sat there in His place,

Demanded that you worship him,

But loved you not a trace.

The Son of God who died for you,

Implored you every hour,

To turn away from this false beast,

For this beast had no power.

The Son of God who died for you,

Who loves you every day,

He warned you not to trust the snake,

The dragon must betray.

And then its evil treachery,

Descended on you when,

You would not choose to die for him,

As God’s saints died, martyred men.

And then the beast knew finally,

That he could never win.

For God is great, for God is good,

But Satan’s power is sin.

The beast could have the majesty,

As oak trees clothed in leaves.

But never in God’s place could stand,

Despite its treacheries.

The power of God is the power of love,

And Satan rules with hate.
In death is life, in suffering joy,

And therein God is great.

For though the martyrs died for God,

‘˜Twas God who died for them.

And though the martyrs love their God,

God much more does love them.

Now Babylon is passed away,

Its horrors are no more.

And every tear is wiped away,

The former things are passed away,

And now they are no more.

God lives with us,

And we with Him,

And this my friend is true,

The Bible tells us what we know,

And what the children knew.

The Brain Chip: A Science Fiction Story

--by Robert Arvay

        It was the year 2218 when the problem was discovered.  No one knew what to do about it.

        Beginning fifty years earlier, in 2168, everyone had begun being implanted with a computerized micro-chip, in their brain.  It took ten years to insert all the chips.  This included the time it took to hunt down all the hold-outs, and to enforce compliance.  After ten years, almost everyone was a “chipper,” a person who had the chip.

        The chip was deemed to be necessary.  Life had become too complicated for most people to manage.  Suicides were on the rise.  Crime had dramatically increased.  Masses of people were either uneducated, or mis-educated, because few people could agree on what was fact, and what was opinion.  Chaos threatened to destroy society.

        Technology had empowered individuals to such a degree that it was all but impossible to maintain law and order.  A grade-school kid could figure out how to hack the computer systems of banks, nuclear missile silos, and even their own report cards.

        Something had to be done.  Something was done.

        The brain chip solved the problem.  Inserted into the brain early in life, even as soon as a month after being born, everyone could think alike, or at least, enough alike to forestall the radical disagreements which previously had threatened civil war.  The chip had its own microcomputer program, and it could in turn program, in a sense, the human brain of the recipient.  Human brains were then programmed to agree on the most controversial issues which previously had been tearing society apart.  Chippers obeyed the rules, and therefore, chippers could be trusted.

        Even better yet, the brain chips could all receive periodic updates from time to time via signals transmitted from satellites.  This allowed the government to revise failed social programs without the traditional bickering that had previously disrupted every major social program change in the pre-chip years.

        At first, many people had objected to the brain chip.  It was itself the most controversial technology that had ever been introduced.  At first, the chip had been surreptitiously inserted into the brains of children during doctor visits.  Parents were either not told what was happening, or else were given false information.  As word of this leaked out, dissent increased.

        After a few years, however, everyone could see that children with the chip did better in school than most other children.  They were better behaved, more obedient, and easier to raise.  After that, more and more parents clamored to have their own children implanted, and finally, adults themselves began asking for and receiving chip implants.  People with the chip earned much more than most people without it, because with it, they became much smarter than before.

        What no one was told, until there was no denying it, is that once the chip is implanted, it cannot be removed without tragic consequence to the recipient.  Painful deaths occurred whenever a chip was removed.

        For nearly fifty years, no one requested the removal of chip implants.  Everyone who had one was happy with it.  No chipper ever felt depressed, worried, or in doubt—about anything, not even about the chip itself. 

        Unlike as with drugs, the chip enabled the chipper to cope with problems, and to devise solutions, because the chip enhanced intelligence.  Everyone who had it had automatic encyclopedic knowledge of virtually every subject taught in any school.  Since the knowledge was stored, not in the brain, but in the chip, the knowledge did not occupy one’s thoughts until and unless he needed it.  Then, he could access the needed information immediately.  For example, anyone who needed to learn Swahili (or any other language) could instantly master it, and speak it with as much proficiency as any native speaker.

        But one day, the Great Problem was discovered.  It was discovered that the chip had an embedded error in it, an inherent and irreparable malfunction which would eventually, but inevitably, cause the chipper to go suddenly and incurably insane, and violently so.  The incidence of this form of insanity suddenly began to increase, and no one knew how much worse it might get.

        At first, there was general panic in the population, not only panic, but anger.  Who had designed the chip?  Why had it been put into patients without thorough testing beforehand?  Which government officials had authorized the surreptitious implants into children?  How dare they?  The possibility of rebellion loomed large.

        The panic suddenly ended when the next update was made via satellite transmissions.  Everyone suddenly assumed that the problem was only temporary, and that a fix had already been devised.  The fix would be implemented soon, very soon, even as soon as tomorrow.

        Nobody resented the fact that tomorrow after tomorrow came and went, with no solution, because after all, the problem would be fixed tomorrow.

Chirality (Huh?)

One might ask the question,

if you were speaking to an alien on another planet by radio,

could you explain to him, which is your right hand?

Not, unless you could establish some common point of reference.

But that is the point.  According to current physics,

there is no preferred point of reference, no preferred direction in space or time.

Yet, we know from biology that chirality is critical.

Amino acids are chiral.  Your body uses left-handed amino acids only.

If all you had to eat was food with right-handed nutrients,

you would starve to death.

It can be argued that chirality is purely relative, and therefore irrelevant.

Life forms on other planets may use right-handed amino acids.

It will be interesting to find out.

But the metaphysical question before us is whether reality has arbitrary parameters,

or is there indeed some basic principle that provides an absolute, universal reference point?

Chirality is the example, but in general, other examples could also be used.

For example, there is now evidence that the universe is "lop-sided," or anisotropic.

If so, then this might (or might not) be extremely important.

It might lead to the question, is the universe moving, or rotating,

or otherwise interacting with a larger multi-verse?

I think that chirality is an under-appreciated facet of metaphysical speculation.

Free Will: the Final Analysis

If one has no free will, then he cannot choose whether to believe he has it.  That choice is made for him. Therefore, there would be no point in debating it.  In fact, there would be no point in anything.

If one does have free will, but chooses to believe that he does not, then he is engaging in an exercise in self-contradiction.