Tuesday, July 27, 2010

On atheism, god, life, intelligent life, and the existence of this universe (and more)

Those among us who don't believe in the existence of an omnipotent and omnipresent god (myself included) cite science as one of the reasons for their disbelief. Since god is typically associated with magical/supernatural phenomenon, scientists routinely deny the possibility of presence of god.

A thought just crossed my mind - isn't the very existence of
  1. The universe
  2. Life on earth
  3. Intelligent life, in the form of human beings
magical enough or supernatural enough to make the (possible) existence of a god less magical and less unbelievable?

Should (or shouldn't) the skeptics, including me, look at the world around us, the life in little babies and chicks and puppies, and the intelligent life in homo sapiens as a real-life demonstration of the supernatural, right in front of us, making the very thought of the existence of an all-powerful entity more believable?

11 comments:

  1. Yes, those things make the existence of a god less unbelievable, which is why primitive man used gods as an explanation. The difference between then and now is that we have access to much more evidence which points overwhelmingly in the other direction.

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  2. @Pippa Clark

    But we don't have any 'explanation' as to 'why' at all does the universe exist, or why at all does life exist...

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  3. Everything cannot be understood on the basis of intelligence... for finding answers to some queries we even have to be wise… & this whole concept of God & His creation can be in a way understood better if we apply our wisdom also along with our intelligence.
    It feels bad when this beautiful natural universe & its entities are considered just like any other experimental material in a lab with the intent that yes we can duplicate it… To me…it’s an imprudent assessment.

    Of course it’s our right to explore and create something good if we can… So science must do its work… but where science remains only to be intelligence & doesn’t embrace wisdom, it remains incomplete & can even be harmful!

    Apart from this, believing in God makes our life much easier & less worrisome...!

    ...Welcome the new thought happily...it's the ultimate truth!... :)

    God Bless!

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  4. I think instead of "cannot be", it's more appropriate to say "hasn't yet been", because how is it possible to conclude/prove that "Everything cannot be understood on the basis of intelligence..."?

    Also, can an entity (living/non-living) be wise without being intelligent? I don't think so (I'm referring to the classical definition of intelligence, rather than the one that implies brilliant/genius/etc.).

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  5. haan bilkul...
    but i never said that wisdom exists without intelligence...
    ( I wrote
    (1.) wisdom along with intelligence
    (2.) intelligence embracing wisdom )

    point is that wisdom cannot be pictured without intelligence but intelligence can exist without wisdom...& when this is the case then it may lead to imprudent assessment & even at times detrimental actions.

    let me share something...
    once upon a time there was a man resting under the ber (fruit) tree, and he saw a pumpkin vine along the side. And instantly an intelligent thought pricked his mind that ber fruits are so small & light & they grow on strong branches of tree while pumpkin even being so big & heavy grow on weak vine...it should be the opposite way...God has goofed. but then only a ber fruit falls from the branch above and hits his eye & then he realizes the wisdom that if it actually had been the other way round then he would have got one eye blind today...

    ...so i think that some queries do require an extra bit of wisdom & they "cannot" be answered with intelligence alone . We can put it like this, 'Wisdom is the pointer while intelligence is the pivot which holds it in the compass'...

    Wisdom is like our elders/seniors...whom we have to consult many times along the path of our journey even if we are intelligent enough...We cannot do without it!

    ...all this IMHO ... :)
    I can never be brief...Ah!

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  6. So?

    What has wisdom got to do with the existence of god being more believable (or less unbelievable), because the very existence of this universe, life, and intelligence life is 'a magic in itself', no less (apparently) than the possible but oft-denied existence of god?

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  7. Whatever I wrote in my 2nd comment was in reference to ur comment & not to ur post...& in ur comment it was basically wisdom being questioned.

    ...and about what wisdom has got to do with 'no less than possible but oft-denied existence of God'...if u remember i forwarded 1 mail regarding conversation b/w Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Azad & his atheist professor. I am resending it...might be then my point will be clear...

    again...it's just my opinion...I am here just to share my view & not to draw conclusions.

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  8. You can draw conclusions as well, no worries :)

    Although it seems to have become an accepted belief, there's no rule saying that blog posts and comments therein can't be used to draw conclusions (aside from sharing opinion/viewpoint)!

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  9. What science cannot explain is attributed to God and His miracles.

    We'll probably have to wait till Science can explain ALL of it....

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  10. @Isha

    I think you've nailed it - what contemporary science is unable to explain, is typically attributed to god. Day and night, diseases, lightening, weather and so many other magical things of the past are commonsense now.

    Am wondering why that simple thought didn't strike me!

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