Read details: Please explain for me your thoughts on the origin of life, universe and "Existence" at large?

Question

This question is deeper then what appears at first glance. I thought before dimissing this question you might want to know I am an Agnotsic, not a Religious fanatic. The Big Bang will NOT be a sufficient answer for this question. If you are going to cite the Big Bang Theory, be prepared to explain what caused the Big Bang, then a LOGICAL chain of causation until the beginnings of "Existance" at large. I ask this because I am in the middle about there being a "Superior and/or Supreme" being or entity and your beliefs, please help to clarify.

Regards,

Nicholi

Answer 1

I see the universe and can only see it coming in to being through being created by a supreme being. I believe in the supreme being in the Bible, but for this post I will not use any religious or faith-based arguments.

Note well that I do not intend to "prove" that the universe was created by God--that becomes a faith-based issue. What I do intend to show is a large amount of evidence supporting my thesis and some evidence that refutes the other logical possibilities.

So what are those possibilities? Here is what I see them to be:
1) The universe was created by an intelligent being outside of the universe
2) The universe was created through cosmic randomness and/or accident
3) The universe created itself
4) The universe has always been here
5) The universe doesn't exist and you are all a figment of my imagination.

I'm going to make an assumption now--that assumption is: The universe is here. Will you let me assume that and skip #5?

That leaves 1-4.

1) The universe was created by an intelligent being outside of the universe

I'll leave this for last.


2) The universe was created through cosmic randomness and/or accident

This is the position of many people in the world today. While the words "accident" and "randomness" are tossed around, the bottom line is that this belief holds that the universe came into existence through natural causes and not from intervention of a supreme being.

The problem with this are many: It calls for the creation of matter, it calls for the creation of energy, it calls for exact and complex order to come from non-order, it calls for the simple to be ordered into the complex, and it calls for development of many complex systems to occur in a specific order. While the example of "an explosion at a junkyard creating an airplane" is a popular one, it is over-simplified. It is much more complex of a method. Statistically, it is considered a mathematical impossibility for the universe to come into existence on its own.


3) The universe created itself

This argument calls for the universe to "will" itself into existence--meaning that the universe is the "effect of its own cause" (much like that one episode of Star Trek Voyager) where the "cause" happens after the "effect" -- while this makes for great science fiction, there is no evidence to support this possibility.

4) The universe has always been here

Even the scientists of the world dismiss this argument. If the universe were truly around for infinity, there would be large pockets of mass that have drawn into each other and, arguably, the entire universe would be compressed into one gravitational giant.

So in conclusion, the only choice left is #1--the universe was created by an intelligent being.

JT makes the comment: "Given the fact some of the most intelligent people who are educated on related matters are still studying the issue, how would you expect ordinary people to explain it?"

This, to me, is very arrogant--and very blind. One point that many athiests say is that we should question our faith. Well, I agree. Question, study, research--it's important! Don't blindy accept the word of a well-studied pastor, but don't blindly accept the word of an "educated scientist" either.

Answer 2

Christians believe that the world was brought into being by fiat. That is by divine decree. God spoke and so it was. Scientists at Bell laboratories were the first ones to discover the phenomenon of the microwave background radiation which had previously been thought to exist as a supportting pillar to the discovery of the expansion of the universe. The expansion noted by astronomers and physicists through the Hubble telescope and mathematically through Einsteins theory of relativity gave us the conclusion that the universe had a beginning. The background radiation for lack of a better example would be akin to the ripples on the surface of a still body of water after a stone is cast into it. By measuring the distance and rate of expansion between the objects in the cosmos scientists have came to the conclusion that all that is had a point of beginning and have made mathematical equations to explain the characteristics in occurrence at what they call "Planck" time. That is when the universe was 10 to the 43rd power seconds old. Before that time all the laws of physics break down. Before Planck time? God spoke and BANG!!!!! Space and time began. Someone with more Theological saavy can take it from there. Explain the cause and effect thing and all that other something from nothing stuff. Jesus lives.

Answer 3

I think the question you're asking is, what existed before anything existed?

I don't think that's an answerable question. It's a paradox.

Astronomers have only asked themselves about the origins of our universe. The most popular theory among them is the Big Bang, but they can't address anything before then, because there's no evidence of that for them to examine.

Religions have the same problem. Where did deities come from? Some religions say they just appeared. Others say they came from other deities or that they just happened to form from basic elements. A few say that deities only exist outside our universe. But none of their answers deal with what caused anything to exist in the first place.

Some philosophies say that the things we see aren't real anyway. It's all just a deity's dream, or a figment of our imagination, or a hoax being perpetuated by some entity that we can't identify. None of those notions explains the origins of the dreamer, imaginer, or hoaxer, though.

Answer 4

This is the most interesting question I've found on this website so far.

Setting aside the origins of life and the universe, I think at heart your question is, why is there something and not nothing? This is a serious philosophical question. Going back a few hundred years, the German philosopher Immanual Kant demostrated that the two competing answers to this question in European philosophy were flawed: the Empiricists argued that all events could traced back through a logical chain of causation, as you say, but this leads to the problem of an infinite regress. Infinity is impossible to comprehend. The Rationalists argued that the Universe was created by God, who essentially started the causal chain. But then you have an "unmoved mover", which leads to the question, 'what caused God'. Equally unsatisfactory.

My understanding is that Kant believed we are limited by the 'conditions of the possibility of experience', that is, we can only experience things in linear time and in terms of cause and effect. This is transcendental philosophy. Perhaps there are things beyond the limits of our experience?

Keep in mind, Kant was arguing, in part, to fend off Empiricist arguments that God does not exist. Kant was a very religious man, but that doesn't mean that Kant's philosophy was essentially an argument for the existence of God. Far from it.

Flash forward to the 20th century and you have Martin Heidegger attempting to uncover the very nature of existence, the beingness of being. His student, Emmanual Levinas, proposed that ontology, the study of being, was not, in fact, fundemental. In other words, we cannot fully comprehend our experience on the basis of existence alone. Thinking in terms of being and non-being is already problematic. The entire watershed of western thought dating back to the pre-Socratic philosophers is steeped in ontology. This may seem bizarre, but understanding the universe in terms of existance and non-existance is merely a tradition.

Way out on the fringe of academia in the 1960s, a few hippie linguists came up with the idea that we should stop using the verb 'to be' altogether, and even invented a version of English called e-prime in which the verb 'to be' is never used. That might be going a little far, but who knows? It makes sense that existence is a frame of thought, but can we really think outside of it? Theres no question that thinking ontologically can be very useful, but I have my doubts as to whether it can lead to any ultimate truths, whether it's regarding the origins of the universe or life or anything.

Answer 5

I'll only say this. This planet teems with life in thousands of forms and variety. The Universe abounds with mind boggling wonders, endless energies and infinite space. So first, I cannot imagine that it just all "happened".

Secondly, I have spent my life in technical pursuits and learned much of science. The only thing is has convinced me of is its own fallibility. I have become convinced we are wonderful observers and that we can made good use of our observations.
But I also believe all basic theory is flawed and transient.

Third, despite the poor stewardship of man, this planet fits me and its other life forms to a "T". That says to me that either it was made for us, or we were made for it . And it isn't just physical. I can survive without beauty, yet a sunset can fill me with serenity and a walk in the woods with peace.

Fourth, my life has always been full of unexpected circumstances, long periods in which it seems nothing new happens, sharp turns in the road, inexplicable occurrences, and downright miraculous happenings. Though it all I have experienced every emotion at very level of intensity.

All in all it says to me that there is something beyond the here and now and something beyond the audible and visible. So I am a theist, and my theism is Christianity.

And my experiences tell me I'm on the right track. Something is listening to me. It accepts and even loves me. And it intervenes on my behalf in every case except those in which intervention on my behalf will deny the will of another.

Answer 6

The universe & life have always existed.

The "big bang" was an event, it was not a "creation."

Given the fact some of the most intelligent people who are educated on related matters are still studying the issue, how would you expect ordinary people to explain it?

And, if it was explained to you in scientific terms, you would probably not understand it.

In other words, what explanation are you looking for?

You either accept the idea that an invisible, non-existent (in any tangible form) "creator" did it, or it occurred through naturally occurring processes still being studied.

There are no other answers.

Answer 7

I would say no one can tell you.

There is none.
You can believe all you want, but that belief is still a matter of opinion until it is proven.

So, you show me what facts and evidence you have for ANY thoery, and we can see if we can prove it.
Further, it has to stand up to any counterexample brought forth against it to be the real deal.

I personally do not see this happening in my lifetime, or anytime soon for that matter, which is why I no longer go to church.

Answer 8

Imagine a model of a molecule next to a model of the universe, solar system, or the orbit of the moon around the earth.
Very similar huh...Perhaps we live on a sub-atomic particle orbiting a nucleus which is an atom in the zit puss on God's ***.

Answer 9

these are my thoughts. i wont claim that they are right, but they make the most sense to me.

i believe that god=universe. he is life itself, the energy force that keeps the world operating. i believe that one day this energy force, would be detected by scientist. i dont think i have to bow down and worship this energy force. religious faith that teaches that god wants us to worship him makes no sense to me, because it makes him sound like a dictator: he created us soley to worship him? couldnt be, if he is SO good.

i believe everything, and i mean everything has this god/energy within it. for living creatures it might be considered the soul. we're all connected to this energy... we're part of it. as a result, we can manipulate this energy through such practices as prayer, meditation, witchcraft, feng shui, etc. i believe in mind over matter... great amounts of faith, can move mountains...

i believe in evolution. i think the universe has always existed, though planet earth hasnt. like i said, to certain christians, this cant be so hard to believe being that they think an omniscient, omnipotent god has always existed. i say the universe has always exsted, because no one has actually every made anything. everything in the universe is always recycled, which is also why i believe in reincarnation, because, the soul energy is also recycled.

i think jesus christ did exist. but i think he was a prophet, like mohammed. i think many of them knew the truth of the universe, but could only explain the importance of being good to others, by using "god" to explain it. at the time, and now we're still too small-minded to figure it out for ourselves

Answer 10

Do the science have all these answer? Do they completely know what is within this universe?