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If God Was a Tiny Purple Simulated Armadillo, Would You Still Go to Church?
If this universe is just a computer simulation (read this), then somebody programmed it.It could have been a man, a woman, some advanced A.I. software, a very impressive chimpanzee, or more likely, a tiny pink dotted purple armadillo that loves ice skating on Tuesday nights and dislikes small talk with eels.
Would you consider this armadillo as God? Would you still go to church / synagogue / mosque / temple?
He coded and created all these wonders you see around you, and he can move you to the recycle bin by drag-and-drop if he’s bored, or even shift-delete this entire universe. He may be just a small armored mammal, but he is certainly all-knowing and all-powerful in our world.
Does the fact that he’s mortal (and purple) in his own universe matter? What qualifies an entity as God? Are you the God of the characters in your SimCity?
If his universe is also simulated by a higher level world, does that change the picture? Must God (if exists) reside only on the top level real (not simulated) world, or is he allowed to live somewhere lower down the simulated world tree? And even if God exists on the top level real world, don’t you agree someone from within a system cannot know the entire system from within? Does that forces God to live as a sole entity one level above the top level real world? Is that even possible?
~~~
p.s. I love my kid; sometimes even when he’s awake.
20 comments:
This thing wouldn't count as God most people imagine him, though it would count as God on some definitions.
It would obviously be able to do all the cool things that religious people are so impressed by, like wine into water etc...
So I'm not actually sure how the average christian would react.
i hope that you are ok
shalom
Better now, thanks :-)
Hi Uri, good post.
The question is how do you define God. In the jewish wisdom, we know that there are many gods in the world/universe and only one almighty god that rules them all.
So I think that you talked about these gods (also mentioned as Powers, angels, etc.) and the almighty god - well, we can't say much about him, Are we?
Yes, but are you the god of your SimCity inhabitants?
sure, why not?
That's only terminology. I control them, don't I?
In a matter of fact, if you played Sims then you know that many times they don't obey you at all (like when they desperately need to the toilet), so forget it.
Good, then you're one step closer to accepting a mortal god.
Like I've said, it's a matter of terminology. You can say that we're all mortal gods of our bodies, destinies, our Sims inhabitants, etc.
But I believe there is only one non-mortal god.
By the way, this is a very good post. I enjoyed reading it, like I'm enjoy ing reading all of your blog.
I say that it doesn't really matter. Fact: we're all going to die (except me) and life is not fair. Fact: The world offer so much that sitting a side can be a waste of time.
What I'm trying to say here is that it doesn't really matter. God may be a chimp, a purple Armadillo or Shakil Oneill (NBA superstar), still, it won't make such a difference to me. I love life and I hate to see people fight about "their God"(and what they are doing on its behalf).
I live in Israel damn it, I have enough fanatics around me that think I should die because of their beliefs.
I believe that we might be a small part of something bigger, but still, we have a short time in this place(I wonder if God has "restore from recycle bin" feature in MicroGod Windows 9000000000000000000) - let's enjoy the moment and leave the unknown to someone else.
Be good, enjoy what you have and influence others. The rest is up to someone else.
Hi Boogie,
- The fact that every human in recorded history died in the past (Logic element A), and the fact that you are human (Logic element B) does not necessarily mean you are going to die in the future (Logic element C).
- I think philosophy is useless by nature. It will not help us stop global warming, cure Cancer or reach Mars. Still, it is a beautiful field and we can’t help but ask these questions about the meaning of life and our place in the universe.
- As you know, I’m an atheist, but about 95% of the world’s population thinks I’m wrong.
p.s. If God was an NBA player, I would go with "His Royal Airness" not "Shaq".
I love your last line, "I love my kid, even when he's awake." Only another parent can truly appreciate that comment. :-)
wonderful post!!! thanks for linking us to this from blogcatalog.
Brilliant slant on an old thought, t's true we perceive things in certian ways and if that image is chnged how many would change their veiws.
I for one wouldn't, it's a bit like music, many people rave on about one person or the other but it's the music I go for, if a like it I buy it, to me it is not important what the person or band look like, to some it's far more important than the music itself.
Uri, hi - thanks for adding as a friend from Blog Catalog. I looked at your latest post and it held my interest but I wanted to think of a response.
Since this discussion came up on BC today, maybe I should make a response. I've got a couple of Christian friends who I love dearly. I've also come across other Christians who believe without question, in their God.
Me... I'm an atheist. But not in the zealous fanatical sense where I feel it is necessary to call anyone else's belief into question. The fact is, we all exist together as humanity, but alone as individuals. It does not matter what each one of us believes, life is all around us. I agree with 'oren ellenbogen' life is too precious to watch it pass by. It doesn't matter why we're here, the fact is we are here. It doesn't matter that we may die, right now we're not dying. Life is for living, doing and being. For trying to live peacefully and morally without hurting others. A human being doesn't need any religion to know those things (usually).
(this is a post I haven't really had time to think about, I hope it conveys my meaning).
nim, thats brilliantly put.
The Matrix. The best movie that I have ever watched.
When you know who the God is, he is not God. When you don't know who the God is, he is the God. :)
Precisely.
Let's say I'm an ant. I cross a sidewalk with my other ant buddies, and out of the heavens drops a monstrous object I've never seen before. It's dark--almost black--and crushes hundreds of my friends to death beofre disappearing back into space.
It is easy to think this an act of God; inexplicable, mysterious, overpowering. But somehow avoidable if this god is placated, or the ant lives a virtuous life.
Really, the explanation is that Headbang's husband ran out of milk and stopped to close the gate on his way out.
Is hubby a god? (I think so, but of course I'm biased)
If the "god" we humans love and worship is something akin to my hubster on route to the 7-11, then he (He?) fails to perform one of the key functions of an Abrahamic god.
That is, he provides no meaning to our lives. He provides no moral framework. We ants cannot influence when he runs out of milk. And my ant buddies have no better afterlife because they martyred themselves in the cause of my beloved's morning cornflakes. All that stuff.
HB8
P.S. Love the blog.
Oh, and Nim. Let me echo scruffyhippo. Beautifully put.
this is very brilliant sir. its my 3rd time to visit here and it constantly impresses me how you ruinated well with the subtle things around you. with regard to this post, i find it very disturbing that we sometimes think that God is a metaphysical entity which human logic cannot grasp. that might be true and may not be true as well. but with so much appreciation, i can say that you have a profound idea that you have elaborated well despite the brevity of your content.
may i have the honor to link you sir.
by the way sir, can you include me in you blogroll too? thanks! more power
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