God, defined.

[Flint]

Originally Posted by Clodfobble

I like to imagine what would happen if we were all given instantaneous enlightenment, suddenly possessing a complete understanding of all the things that we do not and cannot possibly comprehend with our tiny human brains... I think that, in that moment, the entire population would point and yell with satisfaction:

First half: "Ha! Finally we see God's face! God is the completeness, as we have always said. Now those unbelievers have to admit that there is a God, because here he is!"

Second half: "Ha! Finally there are no mysteries left! Everything has a scientific explanation, as we have always said. Now those religious crackpots have to admit that there is no God, because we've pulled back the curtain and seen all there is to see."

Yes, completely this. Joseph Campbell tells the story of the African trickster God who wears a hat that is blue on one side and red on the other. He walks down the road, followed by arguing mobs, each insistent of the hat color that they saw--each believing that the 'other side' is ignorant.



My definition of God begins with the understanding that 'intelligence' is simply an organization of matter/energy. At the largest scale, given all of the matter/energy that exists in the universe, or multiverse, the highest level of organization is God. This is something we are simply not designed to understand.

I believe that there is a 'God' of human experience. This is the organization of all matter/energy that is perceptible to--within the range of the sensory apparatus of--humans, i.e. having existed within the ecosystems where humans evolved. Certainly this is the highest God that would be useful to us. Incidentally, this God would be 'God' and 'the Devil' at the same time.

The lesser God, as segmented from the Devil, cannot resolve to a valid concept, because who does the separating? It's completely subjective, so this is not useful to anybody. This is guaranteed to cause arguments, hatred, war and bloodshed.

Best case scenario, we're--all--talking apples and oranges.