Religious folks argue that their deity is intelligent, but yet exists outside of time (because time was only created when the deity created the universe).
Well, what kind of intelligence can you describe that doesn't exist in time? Intelligence means the ability to acquire knowledge, to perceive new information and make sense of it, to make decisions, to design, to create and so on. All these things require the passage of time - they all require a 'before', when the thing hasn't happened yet, and an 'after', when it has. Moreover, the only kind of intelligence we know about involves growth, development, acquisition of tools and skills etc., so not only does it require time, it also means change from a state of lesser intelligence to a state of greater intelligence - It doesn't make any sense to imagine intelligence fully formed with no 'infancy', no growth, no development.
How can you explain an intelligence that could exist before there was time or a universe to develop in?
2006-09-23
14:53:10
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17 answers
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asked by
Anonymous