Originally posted by Dolos
Digi I read a post on facebook a while back that basically said exactly what you just said about being Batman in some universe somewhere. So I recalled it instantly when I read your post.
Oh, sure. I've seen that.
But no, I had the idea years before that stupid meme. I didn't use Batman though...must have subconsciously been channeling that story when I was typing on the last page.
Wonderful deconstruction of various religious moral frameworks.
I do think he stumbles a bit in his attack on those who were born outside Christianity. However, we need to remember that Harris is speaking against not just the moderate Christians that would agree with that particular point, but many others who do think such vile things.
Where he shines is in how people justify evil in the world via religious mechanisms, and glorify their own successes through God in a sort of religious narcissism. Also in his very matter-of-fact and uncompromising attack on the Bible and those who created it.
Okay; here's another way to explain this hypothesis of mine, and a MIND BOGGLING one at that:
Think of everything beyond existence, everything that doesn't exist, nothingness, as the mathematical concept of zero. Zero is an absolute, like infinity, it requires infinite calculation, numerical infinity. This is impossible to achieve as you can always add or subtract one. Canceling out gives you zero sure, but it doesn't give you the true definite value of zero because zero has no definite value. With such a logic shattering value you could divide by zero because you know what it is. The thing is, it's nothing.
Here's the crazy part, perhaps any insoluble paradox always beckons something else to come solve it, something from the beyond. This God has one way to work it out, by narrowing down the options. This takes infinite time, and infinite things, infinite possibilities. Apropos, you get the multi-verse; you get M Theory. But also, you get the rejection of non-existence, God defies paradox; when a consciousness ends it doesn't really end because, from the non-linear point of view God holds, God's already worked out infinity and has defined zero. God's in and of Godself beyond logic realm. A consciousness cannot go to zero, it cannot end, but it certainly transforms to Gods perspective. By this logic: Who's to say a sinner, upon achieving Gods perspective, doesn't feel enough shame to cancel out the bad karma in a previous life by doing better in another one? Heaven and hell, misery and joy, are regulatory functions that allow infinite possibilities throughout eternity and allow God to solve the insoluble by virtue of being at the end of the infinite equation via beyond-linear, beyond-spatial perspective.
Before intelligence can even test this hypothesis, it should already be able to identify exactly what dark matter and dark energy are, it has to be way beyond our current scientific understanding. Why? We're talking beyond the multi-verse, about something like Super M-Theory.
I've changed my mind, I find the idea of any afterlife absurd and creepy. It disturbs me to think some hobo-ghost is watching me right now. It's just hard for me to think about accidentally getting set on fire and losing most of my flesh but living and there being no edifice. I've seen corpses in burned apartments. The problem with science, that I keep forgetting, as that it's about the work - and everything is true, you just have to show said things as being likely. The more "scientifically literate" you are, the more mathematical likelihoods for a truth you can uncover, nothing changes other than the fact that you've maybe improved your ability to make money, or you've invented technology or methodologies. But you've gotten no closer to finding real meaning. And I need to stop putting poetry and meaning to science, but at the same time I need to have enthusiasm or I won't get very far.
As Oliver said, the scientists who make the technology will have access to it, they'll patent it, they'll reap the benefits of it, they'll rule the world with their money, and I'll be doing my pseudoscience.
Originally posted by DigiActually, he may be closer than we think...
I'm happy you're working through your stuff, Dolos. But take it somewhere else. Your last two posts are barely about religion...
Originally posted by Digi
YouTube videoWonderful deconstruction of various religious moral frameworks.
I do think he stumbles a bit in his attack on those who were born outside Christianity. However, we need to remember that Harris is speaking against not just the moderate Christians that would agree with that particular point, but many others who do think such vile things.
Where he shines is in how people justify evil in the world via religious mechanisms, and glorify their own successes through God in a sort of religious narcissism. Also in his very matter-of-fact and uncompromising attack on the Bible and those who created it.
If you want to really see a debate in which Craig gets his arse handed to him, I recommend the one he had with Ray Bradley about objective morality, the problem of hell etc.
Damn, I am using too many etceteras in my post.
Originally posted by TheGodKiller
I don't know. As far as I recall, Craig appeared to win that debate, and it seemed to be more than the usual strawmanning/Gish gallops/circular arguments/quote-mining etc. that did the trick.If you want to really see a debate in which Craig gets his arse handed to him, I recommend the one he had with Ray Bradley about objective morality, the problem of hell etc.
Damn, I am using too many etceteras in my post.
I saw the whole thing at one point, and disagree. Agreeing with someone doesn't mean they won, but I do think he "won" soundly.
He had a wonderful interview on Bill Maher one time as well. Harris is consistently one of the most well-spoken atheist advocates out there. And he also doesn't command the hatred of Dawkins, Hitchens (RIP), and some others.
My personal favorites are Penn Jillette and Michael Shermer, but at least Shermer isn't quite as well known outside the skeptic community.
Infinite phenomena occur in 11 dimensional hyperspace as it possesses infinite possible and impossible universes so 11 dimensional hyperspace could be the by-product of a mathematician solving infinity. 11 dimensional hyperspace could be what's on the other side of a black hole into a place of infinite density. Fall through a black hole, or just die and become zero (zero is nothing so you need infinity zeroes to define anything), you create the multiverse and therefore you become/join the Lord. 🙂
Zero is a curved line going negative one way and positive the other and meeting and going round forever. Zero IS infinity and infinity must be the multiverse.
Theoretically.
When a Buddhist dies he'll experience reincarnated, when an atheist dies he'll no longer experience anything, when a Satanist dies he'll experience eternity melting in a fire-river, when a Christian dies he'll experience being judged by Jesus, when I die I'll be born again in 1993 - only with a dad who continually gets raises and becomes a Bill Gates and I relive my life as a care-free kid.
You know? Isn't that a neat speculation? You become able to shut off infinite phenomena, collapsing experience into select conscientiously desired phenomena. Infinite knowledge into selected knowledge.
The scientific method is good for many things, but not for speculating on the religious implications of concepts like zero and infinity. For that you need the imagination.
Scientists, plausibility, what does that lot matter here? Scientists are only capable of being on the brink of the unknown, always and forever. With infinite universes with infinite physical laws, nothing is implausible.