I am intrigued with your invitation to discuss. Seriously? I usually refuse to comment on the grounds that "discussion" often means "destruction and villification". However, the subject for my final grade is just too good to pass up, and I do hope it can be taken as a discussion.
God and Man are both Necessary and Contingent. The existence of one depends upon the other. The mind of man evolved to recognize and name God, therefore, God's existence is contingent upon man. God is also necessary because, logically, if Man, and the Mind of Man exist, then so too must God exist. And vice-versa. Man, or rather the mind of man, is necessary to recognize God and therefore bring God into existence. (The mind of) Man is also contingent, for without God's need or desire for recognition, the development of (the mind of) man would be unnecessary. Would God exist without man? Yes, and no. Yes, the essence of god, the life force, the unknown, the infinite, is and always will be(I hope). And no, the God man has concieved is a construct of the mind of man. Thus, when we reach the point of singularity, when the intelligent machine overtakes the mind of man, will God still exist? Not as we know him. Who will be the god of machines, the deity of artificial intelligence? Math, of course! Which makes math both necessary, and contingent.
Thank you for your comment. We agree about pickles. ;-)
This subject will continue to be developed on this site (inshallah); to select just this thread, minus all the woodchucks and movies and whatnot, just click on the Label "Realism". I shall principally be defending the Realist thesis w.r.t. mathematics, since we know more about that; but the parallel with theism is ever-present.
> the mind of man, is necessary to recognize God and therefore bring God into existence
To be addressed (d.v.) in a future post; meanwhile cf. the philosopher Michael Dummett:
"If we think that mathematical results are in some sense imposed on us from without, we could have instead the picture of a mathematial reality not already in existence, but as it were coming into being as we probe. Our investigations bring into existence what was not there before, but what they bring into existence is not of our own making."
I am intrigued with your invitation to discuss. Seriously? I usually refuse to comment on the grounds that "discussion" often means "destruction and villification". However, the subject for my final grade is just too good to pass up, and I do hope it can be taken as a discussion.
ReplyDeleteGod and Man are both Necessary and Contingent. The existence of one depends upon the other. The mind of man evolved to recognize and name God, therefore, God's existence is contingent upon man. God is also necessary because, logically, if Man, and the Mind of Man exist, then so too must God exist. And vice-versa. Man, or rather the mind of man, is necessary to recognize God and therefore bring God into existence. (The mind of) Man is also contingent, for without God's need or desire for recognition, the development of (the mind of) man would be unnecessary. Would God exist without man? Yes, and no. Yes, the essence of god, the life force, the unknown, the infinite, is and always will be(I hope). And no, the God man has concieved is a construct of the mind of man. Thus, when we reach the point of singularity, when the intelligent machine overtakes the mind of man, will God still exist?
Not as we know him. Who will be the god of machines, the deity of artificial intelligence? Math, of course! Which makes math both necessary, and contingent.
Pickles, on the other hand, are contingent.
Thank you for your comment. We agree about pickles. ;-)
ReplyDeleteThis subject will continue to be developed on this site (inshallah); to select just this thread, minus all the woodchucks and movies and whatnot, just click on the Label "Realism".
I shall principally be defending the Realist thesis w.r.t. mathematics, since we know more about that; but the parallel with theism is ever-present.
> the mind of man, is necessary to recognize God and therefore bring God into existence
To be addressed (d.v.) in a future post; meanwhile cf. the philosopher Michael Dummett:
"If we think that mathematical results are in some sense imposed on us from without, we could have instead the picture of a mathematial reality not already in existence, but as it were coming into being as we probe. Our investigations bring into existence what was not there before, but what they bring into existence is not of our own making."
In any event -- God be with you.