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Old 28th January 2019, 08:00 PM   #201
Wonder234
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Originally Posted by Loss Leader View Post
So, um, you think the only difference between a dead body and a living one is that the living one has free will? A living body takes in sugars to burn for fuel and oxygen in which to burn them. Living brain cells, fueled with such energy, release chemicals that communicate with other brain cells to release chemicals themselves. Living muscle cells can expand or contract, Living cells in the eye can react to patterns of light and transmit those reactions to the brain. Pancreatic cells produce stomach acid to break down food.

All those things are differences between living people and dead ones. You're essentially arguing that Volkswagens cannot possibly be driven on roads because some Volkswagens are damaged in junkyards and don't run. Thus, running Volkswagens have free will. That's your argument - volkswagens have free will.
I think you misunderstood me. I was saying that a living body is no better than a dead one when it comes to free will. The they both essentially lack personhood due to just being a substance like a rock. That free will must ultimately come from things that are people and that thus, to have free will a body must have a soul.






Originally Posted by Loss Leader View Post
Can you point to one observable event anywhere at all that demonstrates free will without the presence of a physical person undertaking physical processes?

And remember, you can't say "God creating the universe" as an example of free will, because that's the thing you're trying to prove. If that's your only example of free will that is not tied to a physical body, then you're just assuming the truth of your own conclusion. And that is not logical.
I don't know of any way to prove the existence of free will. The best I have to offer right now is that if there's no other way for a series of events to get started other than the use of something that sounds a lot like free will, then free will or something like it must exist.
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Old 28th January 2019, 08:03 PM   #202
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Originally Posted by Pixel42 View Post
I've highlighted the two incompatible words which make this a nonsensical statement.
Yes, it's hard to think outside of time. You can't even say before time existed because it uses the word before. I wouldn't know how to even say it and still maintain timelessness.
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Old 28th January 2019, 08:04 PM   #203
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Originally Posted by Myriad View Post
How can a being existing timelessly exercise free will?

If there is free will there is willful effect. If there is effect there is change. If there is change there is time. Which contradicts a condition of timeless existence.
Yes, if timelessness exists, then it is very hard for me to comprehend.
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Old 28th January 2019, 08:18 PM   #204
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Originally Posted by Archie Gemmill Goal View Post
No that's backwards.

Logic is a way we describe our observations of how reality works. If reality does not appear to obey logic then logic can be wrong.

Also, there is no reason to think that logic applies to the creation of the universe since logic is an observation of how the universe goes, not necessarily how a 'not a universe' goes.
When something is logical it is self-consistent. It should be self-evident that things that are self-contradictory have no way of existing. I don't know how to make it more self-evident than that. The universe must be entirely self-consistent, and since this self-consistency is what is logical, then you could say that reality can't not be logical. And I'm talking the correct logic, not when one falsely formulates a logical relation.
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Old 28th January 2019, 08:19 PM   #205
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Originally Posted by Archie Gemmill Goal View Post
As far as we know minds need brains. Minds can only exist in the presence of physical matter. Therefore there cannot be minds that exist prior to the existence of physical matter.
How a mind can exist without a brain is a tough problem and may take a while to figure out.
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Old 28th January 2019, 08:21 PM   #206
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Originally Posted by jrhowell View Post
It seems to come down to:

1. Every event needs a cause.

2. The exercise of free will is an event that does not need a cause.

Seems logically inconsistent to me.
Free will is an event caused by an agent.
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Old 28th January 2019, 08:27 PM   #207
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Originally Posted by Robin View Post
Again, you need to demonstrate this contradiction.

In order to demonstrate the contradiction you need to show that some premise results in "P and not P"

You seem to be confusing "it is counter-intuitive" with "it is illogical"
When I say reality must obey logic, what I'm saying is is that reality must be self-consistent, where illogical amounts to self-contradiction.

Here are some self-contradictory ideas:

1. A square circle.
2. A married bachelor.
3. The largest number.
4. A ball that is all white and all black at the same time.
5. Something that is infinitely large which also has a shape.
6. A straight line that is not the shortest path between two points.
7. A line that is the longest path between two points.

Just by examining these ideas you can see that they are self-contradictory, hence incoherent, and therefore impossible to actualize. Meaning reality must be entirely self-consistent/logical.
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Old 28th January 2019, 08:33 PM   #208
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Originally Posted by jrhowell View Post
So free will are events that cause themselves! Like the universe popping into existence because it popped into existence.



So those events are not caused by themselves. You need a soul or god to cause them. Doesn't this contradict the first statement?
I was speaking loosely, but an agent causes the event.
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Old 29th January 2019, 01:46 AM   #209
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Originally Posted by Wonder234 View Post
When I say reality must obey logic, what I'm saying is is that reality must be self-consistent, where illogical amounts to self-contradiction.

Here are some self-contradictory ideas:

1. A square circle.
2. A married bachelor.
3. The largest number.
4. A ball that is all white and all black at the same time.
5. Something that is infinitely large which also has a shape.
6. A straight line that is not the shortest path between two points.
7. A line that is the longest path between two points.

Just by examining these ideas you can see that they are self-contradictory, hence incoherent, and therefore impossible to actualize. Meaning reality must be entirely self-consistent/logical.
No. 6 is incorrect. Rhumb Line
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Old 29th January 2019, 05:48 AM   #210
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Originally Posted by Wonder234 View Post
When I say reality must obey logic, what I'm saying is is that reality must be self-consistent, where illogical amounts to self-contradiction.

Here are some self-contradictory ideas:

1. A square circle.
2. A married bachelor.
3. The largest number.
4. A ball that is all white and all black at the same time.
5. Something that is infinitely large which also has a shape.
6. A straight line that is not the shortest path between two points.
7. A line that is the longest path between two points.

Just by examining these ideas you can see that they are self-contradictory, hence incoherent, and therefore impossible to actualize. Meaning reality must be entirely self-consistent/logical.
Yes, just as I showed you your premise one led to a contradiction.

But show how indeterminism leads to a contradiction.
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Old 29th January 2019, 07:20 AM   #211
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Originally Posted by Wonder234 View Post
How a mind can exist without a brain is a tough problem and may take a while to figure out.
i notice something about the way you reason:

- When someone points out something that seems illogical or impossible in your argument (such as the above) you describe it as a problem that will be figured out
- When you find something to be illogical or impossible you assume it must be so and therefore that the opposite must be true.

Does this seem like a reasonable way to arrive at sound conclusions to you?

So far you have introduced a host of things that are unlikely, unproven and not reasonable.

You assert that free will requires a soul and yet neither free will nor the soul have been shown to exist.
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Old 29th January 2019, 07:21 AM   #212
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Originally Posted by Wonder234 View Post
Free will is an event caused by an agent.
How does the agent cause the event? And how does the agent cause the cause of the event? And how does the agent cause the cause of the cause of the event?
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Old 29th January 2019, 07:59 AM   #213
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Originally Posted by Wonder234 View Post
I think it just seems like they don't have a cause.

Mechanisms are the means by which events are actualized. Nothing can come to be without a mechanism that underlies it and makes it possible. To say that an event doesn't have a cause is to say that it doesn't have an underlying mechanism that allows it to happen. How can an event occur if you take away the very means for it to occur? To say that there is no mechanism for how it happens (a cause) you're saying that there is no way for it to happen.

This may sound like a cop out, but it's not, the being is eternal.
I think you contradicted yourself there. If nothing can come about without a cause, an eternal entity cannot exist.

Your first point might be right, your second cannot be by your own logic.
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Old 29th January 2019, 09:57 AM   #214
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IF your "god" caused the universe at some point, then there must have been a point where god had not yet caused the universe. There must also be a point before that, and before that, onwards to infinite regress. If god is subject to infinite regress, yet can still act, then eternal universes are not contradicted by infinite regress.

Saying god is "outside time" or "timeless" is just an apologetic to try to shoehorn a solution into a problem you created.
This particular instantiation of a universe could have popped into existence within a larger cosmos container, even causelessly. As you cannot rule that out, your necessary god......is not "necessary".
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Old 29th January 2019, 10:26 AM   #215
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Originally Posted by Wonder234 View Post
I think you misunderstood me. I was saying that a living body is no better than a dead one when it comes to free will. The they both essentially lack personhood due to just being a substance like a rock. That free will must ultimately come from things that are people and that thus, to have free will a body must have a soul.
Apply fairy dust until self/soul/freewill emerges
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Old 29th January 2019, 01:14 PM   #216
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Originally Posted by baron View Post
A complex being would be low entropy, not high.
Yes, you're right. I pretty much always get that mixed up.

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Old 29th January 2019, 01:31 PM   #217
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Wonder 234, to make your reasoning solid go back beyond the first point.

Prove god/eternal being

Without this factually evidenced the rest cannot stand. It is the foundation of everything you want to prove.
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Old 29th January 2019, 03:33 PM   #218
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Originally Posted by 8enotto View Post
Wonder 234, to make your reasoning solid go back beyond the first point.

Prove god/eternal being

Without this factually evidenced the rest cannot stand. It is the foundation of everything you want to prove.
To be fair, this entire thread is an attempt to do exactly that.
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Old 29th January 2019, 04:28 PM   #219
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Originally Posted by arthwollipot View Post
To be fair, this entire thread is an attempt to do exactly that.
Yes. If it was demonstrated that the best explanation for the existence of the Universe was an act of free will then that would also be a demonstration of the existence of a universe creating intelligence.

I have seen a few attempts to do this, none even remotely convincing.

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Old 29th January 2019, 04:37 PM   #220
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Originally Posted by Robin View Post
Yes. If it was demonstrated that the best explanation for the existence of the Universe was an act of free will then that would also be a demonstration of the existence of a universe creating intelligence.

I have seen a few attempts to do this, none even remotely convincing.

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And then we have the existence of an intelligence creating the intelligence and an intelligence creat ............

So deftly side stepped by our Wonder.
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Old 29th January 2019, 04:38 PM   #221
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So to use the cart and the horse analogy .


We see a cart. A horse must also be present somewhere close.

Unless the cart was brought by a truck or it had been made recently as lawn decor and no horses were ever required to be near it.

But we should choose to ignore all but one option?
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Old 29th January 2019, 05:07 PM   #222
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Originally Posted by Thor 2 View Post
And then we have the existence of an intelligence creating the intelligence and an intelligence creat ............



So deftly side stepped by our Wonder.
I see no problem with the idea that there could be something that exists but never began to exist.

Even under materialism something like that is probably the best explanation.

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Old 2nd February 2019, 04:43 PM   #223
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It's clear that this argument is too problematic to prove anything. I'll set it aside.
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Old 2nd February 2019, 11:39 PM   #224
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Originally Posted by Wonder234 View Post
It's clear that this argument is too problematic to prove anything. I'll set it aside.
This is what happens when you try to use logic or science to prove a religious proposition.

It it were that easy then you wouldn't need faith.
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Old 3rd February 2019, 07:43 AM   #225
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Originally Posted by Wonder234 View Post
How a mind can exist without a brain is a tough problem and may take a while to figure out.
Why not consider that the "mind" is simply a product of what the brain does? Why conclude minds and brains aren't the same thing?
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Old 3rd February 2019, 07:54 AM   #226
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Originally Posted by Wonder234 View Post
It's clear that this argument is too problematic to prove anything. I'll set it aside.
I assume that you are setting aside only this particular argument, not the conclusion.
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Old 3rd February 2019, 08:00 AM   #227
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Originally Posted by The Norseman View Post
Yes, you're right. I pretty much always get that mixed up.

So do I, I had to double-check.
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Old 3rd February 2019, 08:11 AM   #228
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Originally Posted by Wonder234 View Post
How a mind can exist without a brain is a tough problem and may take a while to figure out.
When you have an example of a mind existing without a brain then it can be something we can try and work out.
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Old 3rd February 2019, 09:09 AM   #229
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Originally Posted by Wonder234 View Post
How a mind can exist without a brain is a tough problem and may take a while to figure out.
Occult theology teaches we have several higher bodies and the soul and consciousness originate in the highest body. The soul body is a formless bubble of divine energy sealed off from the Godhead. Like a bubble in the ocean.
There are also the mental and astral bodies, and the etheric counterpart which channels consciousness down into the brain through the chakras, or energy centres.
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Old 3rd February 2019, 09:29 AM   #230
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Originally Posted by Wonder234 View Post
It's clear that this argument is too problematic to prove anything. I'll set it aside.
What does that tell you about your conclusion?
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Old 3rd February 2019, 09:33 AM   #231
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Originally Posted by Scorpion View Post
Occult theology teaches we have several higher bodies and the soul and consciousness originate in the highest body. The soul body is a formless bubble of divine energy sealed off from the Godhead. Like a bubble in the ocean.
There are also the mental and astral bodies, and the etheric counterpart which channels consciousness down into the brain through the chakras, or energy centres.
Evidence? Still waiting.
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Old 3rd February 2019, 02:27 PM   #232
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Originally Posted by Scorpion View Post
Occult theology teaches we have several higher bodies and the soul and consciousness originate in the highest body. The soul body is a formless bubble of divine energy sealed off from the Godhead. Like a bubble in the ocean.
There are also the mental and astral bodies, and the etheric counterpart which channels consciousness down into the brain through the chakras, or energy centres.

It also teaches (although one has to dig a little deeper into the material to find it) that no one can actually perceive or understand the true nature of reality. That is to say, narratives of spirits and planes and karma and vibrations and the Ring-Pass-Not and all the rest are not ultimate truth. They are narratives. They're mental models by which we try to make sense of our experiences and explore different ways of engaging with the world. Some of us, that is.

You can navigate successfully by observing and understanding the movements of the Celestial Sphere, but that doesn't require any such sphere or its movements to actually exist as anything other than a mental concept.

Have you considered that the etheric, astral, mental, and spiritual bodies, and even the Godhead itself, might all take place within the functioning of the physical brain? It wouldn't be the first time occult theology has proven to be mistaken about what is layered inside of what.
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Old 4th February 2019, 02:44 AM   #233
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Originally Posted by Archie Gemmill Goal View Post
... but if the evidence truly shows that reality was illogical we would need to dump logic or at least expand it to include this new event.
Your premise prevents you reaching that conclusion.
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Old 4th February 2019, 03:14 AM   #234
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Originally Posted by Scorpion View Post
Occult theology teaches we have several higher bodies and the soul and consciousness originate in the highest body. The soul body is a formless bubble of divine energy sealed off from the Godhead. Like a bubble in the ocean.

There are also the mental and astral bodies, and the etheric counterpart which channels consciousness down into the brain through the chakras, or energy centres.
That's nice and in Teletubby land the sun has a face!
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Old 4th February 2019, 10:24 AM   #235
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Originally Posted by Scorpion View Post
Occult theology teaches we have several higher bodies and the soul and consciousness originate in the highest body. The soul body is a formless bubble of divine energy sealed off from the Godhead. Like a bubble in the ocean.
There are also the mental and astral bodies, and the etheric counterpart which channels consciousness down into the brain through the chakras, or energy centres.
Occult theology also says that there is one immutable self and all the erst are 'shells'.
Qliphoth/Qlippoth/Qlifot קְלִיפּוֹת ‬
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Old 4th February 2019, 10:25 AM   #236
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Originally Posted by Darat View Post
That's nice and in Teletubby land the sun has a face!
That demonic sun!
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Old 4th February 2019, 12:15 PM   #237
JesseCuster
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Originally Posted by Wonder234 View Post
It's clear that this argument is too problematic to prove anything. I'll set it aside.
Don't 'set it aside'. Trash it. It's completely broken.

You've defined "determinate" and "indeterminate" in ways that exclude everything else. According to your definitions of those words, there's no room for anything else. All events or actions or whatever either 'determinate' or 'indeterminate'. You then later redefine 'indeterminate' as being something that can only lead to random events so you shoehorn in 'free will' as something that leads to non-random events, thus altering your argument mid-stream and blatantly contradicting yourself.

At this stage, it's not clear to me at all what you actually mean by determinate, indeterminate and free will. Not only are you not using any standard or common definitions for those, you're using your own definitions that you're changing on the fly in order to argue something or other, and the argument doesn't hold water even if your ever changing premises somehow lead to your conclusion.

That's only one example (and which many others have already pointed out) of what's wrong with your argument. It's just a mess of made up definitions, changing definitions, ad hoc arguments, etc. that doesn't go anywhere.

Instead of having a conclusion that you're trying to construct an argument around, why not just examine the evidence and see what conclusion it leads to? That's the way logic is meant to work.

Last edited by JesseCuster; 4th February 2019 at 12:16 PM.
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Old 9th February 2019, 05:37 AM   #238
Archie Gemmill Goal
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Originally Posted by sphenisc View Post
Your premise prevents you reaching that conclusion.
No more than relativity prevents us using Newton's laws. It would just be an acknowledgement that what we know has limits to its application
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Old 10th February 2019, 07:31 AM   #239
IanS
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Originally Posted by Wonder234 View Post
I think you misunderstood me. I was saying that a living body is no better than a dead one when it comes to free will. The they both essentially lack personhood due to just being a substance like a rock. That free will must ultimately come from things that are people and that thus, to have free will a body must have a soul.

Why must a body or "person" have a soul? What do you mean by a “soul”? Whereabouts in a human body is the “soul”?

Why does the exercise of what seems to us like our “free will choices” mean that we must have a “soul”?

Where did the “soul” come from? For example – we know where the body comes from (ie through a process of sexual reproduction etc.), but where and how did any “soul” appear?
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Old 10th February 2019, 10:45 PM   #240
pharphis
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Originally Posted by Wonder234 View Post
Tell me what you think of the following argument for God.

1. There are three ways that events come about in the world: free will, determinism and indeterminism.

2. The universe came into existence.

3.The coming into existence of the universe is an event.

4. The coming into existence of the universe can not be due to determinism. (This is because every deterministic event requires a prior event to bring it about and that event requires another event and so on to infinity. A deterministic system can not just initiate action out of nowhere or from a state of rest.)

5. The coming into existence of the universe can't be due to indeterminism (Since the macroscopic world is largely deterministic rather than indeterministic, what I'm referring to with this premise is the quantum or sub-atomic world. The reason the quantum world can not be indeterministic is because indeterminacy is incoherent and incoherent things can not exist. This turns quantum indeterminacy into determinism since it has causes rather than not having causes and since determinacy has already been ruled out as causing the universe, so too is the option of the universe beginning from quantum mechanical events ruled out.)

6. Therefore, the universe must have been brought into being through an act of free-will.(This is because there are only three ways events can happen and because determinism and determinism are insufficient, the only other thing that can bring the world into existence is free will. Free will works because it avoids the problem of determinacy (always needing prior events) by being able to begin a chain of events without needing a prior event.)

7. Only beings have free will. (Free will requires a mind in order to judge various options and choose)

8. Therefore, a being is responsible for the universe. (Since this description matches the idea of God, we can call this being God. But if not God then simply the creator of the universe.)
2. is not known to be true or false at present, and may never be. I know, I know, it seems intuitive but intuition and quantum physics don't go together
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