But you do believe in statistical and philosophical impossibilities. You'd be better off believing in some of those fairy tales.I can fully accept, and actually revel in, the fact that my individuality and that of every other individual and species are the results of a LONG series of randomly selective hits and misses.
I no longer accept the tales of Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, or the Tooth Fairy......
IBTL
I don't know about youse guys, but I'll be dancing with Ashley Judd, .
Really? I'd jump at the chance. I am not one to discount an afterlife. What shape it takes I don't know, but I've seen too many 'things' to poo-poo it.When she was getting close, my mom offered to come back as a ghost and tell me about it. I politely declined.
Well it's the only way I communicate with the living... but I'm not dead yet.I think people that post on here as guest are dead. Its probably the only way to communicate with the living.
What I've been wondering about death is this -- can I log the flight as PIC if I die during the flight?
I have always heard that when you die, you drop a log, does that work for ya?What I've been wondering about death is this -- can I log the flight as PIC if I die during the flight?
First, what's a "philosophical impossibility" and how is that an argument against evolutionary existentialism?But you do believe in statistical and philosophical impossibilities. You'd be better off believing in some of those fairy tales.
I think our brain it's just an antenna receiving a signal. Like a radio. It's just parts. The information (life if you will) comes from somewhere else. My brain is mapped to this frequency and gets the Bryan signal (or soul or whatever it is) My guess anyway. We are just radios on different stations.
Are you surebut I'm not dead yet.
It's a decent song, but Clapton has done better.
First, what's a "philosophical impossibility" and how is that an argument against evolutionary existentialism?
And second...."statistical"? - work those numbers for me please.
...but when I am done in this life I want to come back as one of my wife's horses...they get treated a lot better than her husband.
Roger Penrose, an Oxford mathematical physicist calculated that the likelihood of the cosmological forces being what they needed to be to sustain life is equal to 1 part in 10 to the power of 10 to the power of 123. I'm not a math guy, but that is essentially a probability higher than the number of atoms in the known universe. It would be impossible to even write out that number because there aren't enough particles in the universe on which to place your zeros! If you break down the forces individually, it is even more overwhelming. There are more than 30 physical or cosmological parameters that must be precisely what they are to sustain life. Take gravity, if it were to change the equivalent of a fraction of an inch on a scale representing the entire universe, life would be impossible. Considering all the forces and their precision, and Emil Borer's statement that anything beyond 10^50 will not occur, it is not an unreasonable statement to say that the universe randomly popping into existence and the forces of nature being exactly what they need to be is a statistical impossibility.
A similar approach can be taken to the formation of the first proteins from a "soup" of amino acids. I've seen the number 10^14,000 just to get the amino acids into the proper form so that a protein is possible. When you start forcing these things into a timeline, the magnitude of improbability becomes evident.
Philosophically impossible could be re-phrased philosophically untenable if that is easier for you. If I were to say that I am a father, and then I said that I am a son, you would immediately interpret my statement that I had at least one child and of course I had parents. But if I were to say that I am a son and a father to the same person, you would rightly correct me and tell me that was impossible. If you found your kid with something that did not belong to him, and he answered that it spontaneously generated into his possession, you also would rightly correct him. We assume as part of every day interaction that statements cannot be true and non-true at the same time. If I told you that I was diabetic, and only moments before you had heard me tell someone else that I was not diabetic, you would probably ask me to clarify as both cannot be true, at the same time. That is what I mean by philosophical impossibility.
I'm not sure what you mean by evolutionary existentialism, but I would guess that it means you attribute your existence to evolution and nothing else. That evolution is a comprehensive and conclusive explanation of life and existence as we know it. But the problem with evolution as a comprehensive explanation is that it starts too far down stream. It does nothing to explain the origins of life or the universe, it only provides a possible explanation for why life looks the way it does. Evolution necessarily assumes a self-replicating entity, but cannot answer for how that self-replicating entity came to be.
Now when I said that you believe in a philosophical impossibility, I am pointing out that you believe that the universe "popped" into existence with no prior cause. It just happened. Something exploded, but nothing existed prior to the explosion. In secular naturalism, you eliminate the possibility of a transcendent cause and accept a "something from nothing" impossibility.
Thanks for the questions, could you clarify what you mean by evolutionary existentialism?
Or my wife's dogs! My dad's best friend used to say, "If there is reincarnation, I want to come back as a Bleakley dog!"Don't know what happens when one dies, but when I am done in this life I want to come back as one of my wife's horses...they get treated a lot better than her husband.
Cooter--
I've long had two "evolution" questions that I would love someone (some "evolutionary existentialist" someone) to answer. Very simple, very basic questions:
But I like your dissertation above, covers the major points very succinctly.
- Before the Big Bang, all the attention in the universe existed as a single point to of infinite density. Where I'd "all of the matter in the universe" come from?
- Then it exploded, in a very big bang! What set it off? If it was so unstable, how did it ever gather into a point concerned traction in the first place?
Now it's time to fly, but I'm still waiting on my magneto to come back from where the overhaul people shipped it to the wrong place . . . So I'm hanging out and philosophizing on the interwebs instead.
Or my wife's dogs! My dad's best friend used to say, "If there is reincarnation, I want to come back as a Bleakley dog!"
Mine too. Slackers don't pay rent, get good quality food and treats, get lots of daily pets and attention, regular trips to play with other dogs, free medical and dental, fairly regular table across of tasty morsels, and 2 acres to run around in.
Not to mention, I bought a pontoon boat because the dogs had a had time getting into the center console and they like to go on boat rides!! LOLMine too. Slackers don't pay rent, get good quality food and treats, get lots of daily pets and attention, regular trips to play with other dogs, free medical and dental, fairly regular table across of tasty morsels, and 2 acres to run around in.
I don't know, but there may be some physicists who have some pretty good theories. In the end though, at least to me, it matters not a whit.
- Before the Big Bang, all the attention in the universe existed as a single point to of infinite density. Where I'd "all of the matter in the universe" come from?
- Then it exploded, in a very big bang! What set it off? If it was so unstable, how did it ever gather into a point concerned traction in the first place?
Mine too. Slackers don't pay rent, get good quality food and treats, get lots of daily pets and attention, regular trips to play with other dogs, free medical and dental, fairly regular table across of tasty morsels, and 2 acres to run around in.
And it only costs them their freedom, the ability to empty their bladder when they want, oh, and their testicles . . . .