Philosophical musings on Quanta & Qualia;  Materialism & Spiritualism; Science & Religion; Pragmatism & Idealism, etc.

Post 6. December 01, 2017

Alternative Theory of Reality & Deity

   
  Worldviews and God Models
 

This blog proposes the ultimate conspiracy theory : there's someone or something out there manipulating the world by mysterious means. But it's not about polytheistic pantheons, or monotheistic tribal gods, or science-magical ancient astronauts, or even about annoying elves, fairies, or jinn. It's about the mysterious source of order & organization in a world presumed to be evolving randomly, yet with natural selection of the best fit for each environmental niche. As Dr. Ford said in Westworld, we sentient beings are products of trillions of random mutations. But somehow, some of those “mistakes” are chosen via mathematical necessity to populate the next generation of creatures in the gradually glacially ascending ladder of natural evolution1. So, who was the implicit mathematician who programmed Nature to compute a progressively complex and conscious world?

Who indeed? Polytheism typically assumes that the world has always existed, along with natural laws. So the human-form gods are themselves subject to omnipotent faceless formless Nature, otherwise known as the implacable force of Fate. Theism instead proposes a single eternal, though also humanoid, creator as the First Cause of evolution, and the determiner of our individual fates -- perhaps with a modicum of free will. But the variety and incompatibility of those disparate god-models makes choosing only one of them problematic, without recourse to irrational faith and prejudical feelings. Consequently, uber-rational Atheists reject any and all of those super-natural entities.

Nevertheless, a massive majority of people, of all times & places, have intuited that some force above & beyond the limitations of physical nature must be a logical necessity for a complete understanding of the world. So, conceding the statistical wisdom of crowds, my BothAnd worldview straddles the line between Theism & Atheism, and assumes -- as an axiom, not a proven fact -- that there is some mysterious metaphysical entity/deity performing the essential function of First Cause, Prime Mover, and Creator of the expansive universe we know with our physical senses. But beyond that vague assertion, I can't claim to know, via extra-sensory perception, the true Source of the cosmic sphere, or to understand, via personal revelation, the ultimate purpose of our ever-changing habitat. Yet, I can have my religious cake, and eat scientifically too, by assuming an immaterial-yet-naturalistic deity, who incorporates both the indisputable Quantitative and the debatable Qualitative aspects of the world.

Therefore, this mundane Alt-Reality theory must include a sublime Alt-Deity in order to provide a full explanation for both the physical and metaphysical aspects of the world. As with most hypothetical postulates though, this one is neither true nor false, but merely valid or invalid, believable or unbelievable. So, since I can't completely reject the religious views of all world cultures, I must be tolerant of religious diversity. Therefore, I sought a belief system that can harmonize critical thinking, and abide different opinions. As far as I know, only the progressive religious philosophy of Deism can accomodate some aspects of intuitive open-minded Polytheism, pragmatic Buddhism, rational rule-based Theism, and skeptical empirical Atheism. Moreover, it offers a middle path of peace & reason for the political & religious world stuck in a continual chaotic state of dueling dogmas, in part by adopting the superstition-busting skeptical stance of modern science.         

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1. The standard definition of Evolution portrays it as an aimless process, which is equally constructive and destructive. That seems to be true in general, but on our local planet Evolution has proven to be con-sistently progressive, as single-cell creatures have eventually learned to act cooperatively, and intelligently, as multi-cellular human beings. If that’s not progress, then what is?