The matrix is a movie plot, and it could also be called a philosophy. It is one way of looking at how ‘things’ are. Things? What are things? How did things get here? Where, and what is “here”, and last but not least, who cares? Well, some of us do, and some of us do not.
There are basically two types of people in the world. Those that wonder why anything exist at all, instead of nothing. Then, there are those that really don’t care, and wouldn’t give it much thought. So basically, you could say there are two completely different world views, from which all of our thoughts seem to come, as a people. There is also an ongoing debate that has forerunners on both sides of these world views. We have Dr. William Lane Craig. They have Dr. Richard Dawkins (just to name two). Consciousness (from ‘my’ viewpoint) can not be measured, even if ‘they’ think it can. Okay, so I have this idea. Where did it come from? What some people don’t get is that you can’t measure everything. Also, not everything is physical.
Again, this is from my viewpoint. Is this just my opinion, or am I “right”, and others “wrong”? What would make me “right”? Simple, and it’s what some of us search for. It’s called truth. So, we need to know how we can know what the truth is for sure, and how we can be sure we have it.
The other side considers all matter and substance to be physical, and therefore testable, and explainable. The problem I see with that? Simply that what can not be explained is labeld anyway, so as to assume some sort of knowledge about it. Then it is either dismissed, or “termed” as a categorical delusion, and/or misconception, or some other word, or term.
Translated, it means ”we will figure it out later, and until then, we will continue on this same path we are on, and consider anything outside this framework to be a distraction”.
My view came from where? The Bible? God? Was it ingrained in me from an early age? Am I “now” doomed to see things only one way? (This is what the Atheist view is, to some extent). Or, is there such a thing as truth, understanding, and knowledge? Can I know the actual truth about “things”, and logically understand it? Since my view is theistic, let’s go back to the beginning. When (or “if”) we were created, and what happened “next”?
God stepped back in the beginning, to see what Adam would call everything. (Genesis 2:19). So from this view it would seem that man has been a “labeler of things” from the “beginning”. He is also a collector of things. I would like to point out some things about man in general, and look at this from a human nature viewpoint. Remember to also keep in mind the other points of view, and keep it in mind that this is where my thoughts came from…
…they come partly from what I see. There is however, another factor in my thinking. I have been taught to think a certain way as well. Lets look at a brief summary of man…
Science, technology, thoughts, emotions, consciousness…all could be said to have played a role in taking man to the moon. Wow. So man made it to the moon.
Okay,
…what did we do when we got there? We took billions of dollars worth of technology, and brought back a sack of rocks. Here’s where I’m going with this before the scientist here blow a fuse. If we evolved like some say, why is gold not “just a pretty yellow rock”? How does a rock differ from an emotion? How about a thought…or love, or even hate?
Things such as perception of personal reality, and conceptional consciousness, are hard to talk about. It’s hard to pin down to a definition as well, because everything is a part of it. Aliens, ufo’s, ghost, religion, Bigfoot…
( yes, I went there) etc. What do these things have in common? Perception. Also, a seemingly limited perception. In my opinion, this debate is a simple matter. Some people see things that others do not, or can not see. Enter now some of the categorical labels that have been created for the ones that can not see some of the things others do…”Supernatural”, “Delusional”, “Hallucination”, and so on.
From my world view, this only helps the ones that do not see these things cope with their inabilities. Abilities? Okay, now we’re getting to my point. Where do they come from? As a species, we are learners. As learners, we have to have had teachers. There has to be someone “before” us, or we would not be here. This is my world view.
It would help if people sometimes took a hillbilly approach to things, and simplified their thought processes. Example…
Man has invented the wheel, or did he? For now, it doesn’t matter. Let’s just say we have had the wheel for quite a while, and that for quite a while this has been the pennicle of our technological achievements. For thousands of years, we advanced only from the invention (or discovery) of the wheel, to horse and buggy. So, from way back in horse and chariot days until around the mid 1800’s, that was it as far as technology goes. It was then that we saw “horseless” buggies. Then, in less than 100 years, we’ve gone from horse and buggy, to electricity, to space travel.
Space travel went from being just laughable creative imagination, (or for our purpose, one of the categorical impossibilities, and labels for them) to, “how much is this going to cost?” All this in less than one hundred years.
So, am I to believe that we as people thought this up on our own? Lets look at some basic human traits. People are like this:
1) How do they know how to tie shoes, or even that we should tie them? They learned it from someone else, either by direct contact with a teacher, or simple observation. My point is, a child does not come up with these ideas on their own.
And 2) People like to take credit, and feel good about the ability to tie their shoes, and so they do. Smile. From a Biblical viewpoint, someone wanted credit for what someone else did. Thus we have the two views…
God did it (or helped us do it), Or, we did it on our own.
And God said, “who told you you were naked?” My point is that we have a beginning, and (obviously) a teacher, and parent that (again, obviously) came before us. Most of this ongoing debate centers on origins, and beginnings, and if we in fact “began to exist”, and the why, how, when…etc.
Now, all that to say this. Looking at this from a human nature standpoint, can we logically assume that after thousands of years of horse and wheel, we just dreamed up these lasers, space traveling crafts, and computer sciences we now enjoy on our own? Were we in a cave one day, and caveman Sam simply said, “Ahh haa! I know…let’s just dig in the ground, get some dino remains…reprocess it into grease…you know…for the gears we are about to dream up. Then we can refine the remains into oil, and rule the world… Don’t worry about how we’re going to dig two mile deep hole. I’ll invent a boring machine, right after I discover electricity, and the idea to turn rocks into steel, that we will shape into…
Where do “Ideas” come from? Some may argue this or that, but were you to take a baby, and isolate it, would it will still have ideas? In my opinion, it would simply die.
This is the first installment of a new series I am doing about this ongoing argument. It has some serious things to realize hidden underneath it’s seeming innocence. The Atheist vs Theist, God vs no God argument. I would like to introduce the latest from our leading advocate, Dr. William Lane Craig. It is called, “The Cosmological Argument” Evolution? It simply doesn’t address the origin of life, and especially intelligent life. As far as our origin (after all, isn’t that what this is all about?), what’s the most reasonable assumption? What’s the most probable? Does the universe have a beginning? Does time, and space, and physical matter have a beginning. More important for this series, does conscious intelligence have a beginning? I say yes, and hope to shed some light on this. Also, the fact that we come from a line of shoe tying experts…
…and lines have beginnings, and therefore beginners.
To some theism makes no sense. To others it does. Why? Dr. William Lane Craig, as I have said, is an advocate for my world view. I will be discussing points from some of his debates, lectures, and quotes from his books, as well as information I have collected over the years from different sources. I will try to post links to all my reference material. I plan on posting at least one installment a week, as my schedule permits.
Until next time, Peace all.