Surety, then ruin (Engıa pára d'ate)

Religion is philosophy to the extent it adopts & practices the philosophical method à la the scientific method which is, for simplicity's sake, use your head or, in formal terms, be rational.

"Hamlet" is a string not a character. — SolarWind

:up:

Hamlet is a character in a famous play. — TonesInDeepFreeze

:up:

The Trinity doesn't make sense additively because 1 + 1 + 1 = 3 (there should be 3)

The Trinity makes sense multiplicatively because 1 × 1 × 1 = 1 (there's still only 1). The Trinity is 1 cube with a length of 1, a width of 1, and a height of 1. We could say the Sancta Trinitas is our 3D universe.

What about time, the 4^th dimension? :chin:

P.S 1 × 1 × 1 = 1³ = 1.

is this universe, this world, worthy to be a good/honorable citizen to live in? — javi2541997

:confused:

It's not that evolution has a telos, it's that such an interpretation is possible. It's not that you committed the murder, it's that it looks like you did. That should count for something, oui?

If there was a designer, given the cirucumstances, evolution via random genetic mutation is exactly what this designer would have opted for. Mind, no mind, there's no difference.

Does existence, at all times, make something greater? For instance, taking a page out of antinatalism, a case can be made that nonexistence is (far, far) better than existence. Then there's the intriguing expression "too good to be true", suggesting the impossibility of perfection, at least when it comes to goodness, and God is good, actually omnibenevolent and thus that much more unreal.

Gödel's proof too, if I'm correct, relies on the greatness of existence. I remember meeting this woman and thinking "you're too good for me." Is the universe, this world, too bad for a being so good as God?

Signing off...

Something's off about deducing the divine command theory. It's like arguing that arguments are no good. Sawing off the branch on which you've plonked your booty. If you trust your rationality enough to prove to yourself that divine command theory is correct, shouldn't you also be rational on the matter of ethics? Just sayin'. May be it's just me.

I find 3. particularly appealing. What might be the first step along this path? — jgill

I haven't the foggiest.

He observed the bamboo for many years hoping to understand the truth. However, he barely learned anything from the bamboo. — Howard

:rofl: The fractal nature of the universe would suggest that a bamboo contains a miniature version of the universe. Theoretically (Dalai Lama style), Xinxue should've cracked the problem in no time.

There appears to be a rather disturbing connexion between (omni)potence and logic in re (the law) of noncontradiction. If I'm correct, there was a time when constitutions contained a clause that stated that some individuals (monarchs and some others) are above the law which, to me, means such persons were capable of contradictions: it could be illegal to kill, but they could (with impunity).

So yeah, power does allow one to defy logic(al aws). God, being a king (of the kingdom of heaven), it is his prerogative to both obey AND disobey the laws of logic. In other words, reasoning with God is to ask for the impossible.

Interesting ideas, yours. Please keep posting.

I asked because there's this joke about the purpose of children (bit dark so prepare yourself for some heartache).

The purpose of children:
1. You needed a free dishwasher
2. You needed a retirement plan
The list goes on...and on...much to my dismay I must confess.

Unknowns (kind courtesy of Joesph Luft, Harrington Ingham, Donald Rumsfeld, & Meno)

1. Known unknowns (do aliens exist?)
2. Unknown knowns (Forgotten knowledge. What was the color of Aristotle's hair?)
3. Unknown unknowns ( :zip: )

Each category of unknowns might deserve separate treatment (definition refinement, methodological differences, and so on)

Re: Meno's paradox

Good argument OP! Using symmetry, yin-yang, to prove the impossibility of an experience machine is a breath of fresh air in an otherwise done-to-death topic.

I hope I don't have the wrong end of the stick though.

Experience machine" = lobotomy plus a continuous 24/7 morphine drip ... — 180 Proof

Keep it coming!

So, scientific (physics) progress $\rightarrow$ mind.

Undiscovered science is simply unthought thoughts!

:chin:

Most people care about what happens after their death.
— Andrew4Handel
.
Rationally, one 'ought to care' first and foremost about what happens before one's death: agency; beginning, daily, with
Aligning expectations with reality
— 180 Proof — 180 Proof

:clap:

We should care if only because if none us of care, it violates what I call the No All Law which is that every law/rule/pattern (usually) has at least one exception. There was/is/will be, no matter what, at least one person who (really) cares!

Great post OP. I know now how to reconcile theism with atheism: God did exist (theism), but God's dead i.e. God doesn't exist (atheism).

One question: God's afterlife?

IIRC, with respect to physics, yes. — 180 Proof

Great answer!

I say that parts and past and future exist as one.
— Gregory
Yeah, like one's present-self IS a future-self of one's past-self (re: temporal mereology) ... ↪180 Proof — 180 Proof

Was Albert Einstein a determinist?

God does not play dice. — A. Einstein

In 1975, Sebastian von Hoerner proposed a formula for population growth which represented hyperbolic growth with an infinite population in 2025. — Wikipedia

The year is 2022. Just 3 more years, and we'll, or our children will, see an actual infinity.

Hyperbolic growth has something to do with positive feedback loops:

1. Population goes up.
2. More intelligent people.
3. The carrying capacity of the land increases.
4. Go to 1.

Isn't this really weird? There's a bloody algorithm? Who the hell is running this simulation we call our world?

Posting again, not an annoyance hopefully.

What does the OP mean by "is $\pi$ an exact number?"

First things first, $\pi$ is a number! That's that!

What's exactness in re $\pi$?

The first mathematician to use an algorithm to calculate $\pi$ was Archimedes and he used a rational approximation (vide infra).


$\frac{223}{71} \lt \pi \lt \frac{22}{7}$ (Inexact, to be exact)

So, yeah $\pi$ isn't exact if you use rational numbers (something like that).

Basically two things:

1. Definitions
2. Justifications

@tim wood (thanks Harley Davidson) is very particular about both, going through the trouble of educating novices and issuing gentle reminders to veterans on both matters: he even has two/three threads on these topics (use the TPF search feature to find them).

Speaking for myself, I try not to criticize people on these points for the simple reason that I can't tell the difference between bad definitions and unique definitions & bad reasoning from peculiar, idiosyncratic, ergo interesting, reasoning.

More can be said, but my brain's taken a holiday.

What's the difference between bushido and suicide? Nippon has a suicide culture I heard.

Courage, the cowardly dog.

That God dangles before us the ecstacy of heaven is proof enough that the earth is a shitty place to live in. Then, he plays a diabolical psychological trick (there must be a name for this) on us: he says "look, it could be worse" and points to hell. So, are we to thank God that He didn't send us to hell? Isn't that like someone asking you to be grateful that s/he didn't chop off both your hands, just your right hand? May be we should be appreciative of such magnanimity! God's evil and that's Him at his best! :lol:

The Father = Omnibenvolent, Omniscient, Omnipotent. :ok:
The Son = Jesus (an actual person whol lived in Judea). :ok:
The Holy Ghost = ? NOT :ok:

Is this Oedipus doing time travel? The son, travels back in time, meets his wife (his mother) and has a child (himself) i.e. Jesus is his own father and his mother is his wife. :chin:

The expressions on the Holy Ghost's face :roll: :scream:

Also, why does the Sancta Trinitas collapse into the Father (God) Matryoshka doll like? :chin:

Self-serving bias? You atrribute the good that happens to you to your own astounding abilities, but if things start going sideways, it isn't you, it's bad luck!

God's responsible for your happy moments; you're responsible for the rest of your life which is one big mess!

God had a purpose for this person! God saved them for a reason! — makayla harris

:rofl:

There was a time when there was no time! God hadn't created time then.

Then God created time!

The problem, the way I see it, is that we've been habituated to using a spatio-temporal frame of reference. We immediately, reflexively as it were, latch on to, like an infant to its mother's nipple, time (and space). We have to, naturally, break the habit of looking at our watches or the wall clock in our study.

The puzzle may be "solved" so to speak if we reorient ourselves in a Minkowskian-Einsteinian sense (time as the 4^th dimension). We can imagine 2D space without a 3^rd dimension, no (a flat sheet of paper?)?. Now simply extend that to 3D space missing the time (the 4^th) dimension. The universe could attain a timeless state, God may have simply added the 4^th dimension to a 3D world.

13I

1 & 3 are Arabic numerals!

I is a Roman numeral!

There, 3 distinct characters. Eureka!

Good question OP. At some point Christians will have to stop their preaching and ask this question :point: Where did Jesus get his ideas from?

I suppose this question doesn't make any sense in revelatory contexts (from God, through angels, duh!)

However, ignoring this point, it would be very interesting and highly informative if we could trace Christianity's origin to Hellenistic philosophy. Platonism, Aristotelianism, Soticism, etc. are known to have had some influence on Christian thought. Unfortunately, my memory fails me and I can't fill you in on the details. Someone could! Let's hope s/he'll read this thread while it's still alive & kicking!

There's a hole in my bucket dear Liza, dear Liza!

My best shot.

General solution: $x3y$, where $x$ and $y$ are a character/number/symbol!

Examples: 13I [there a 3 distinct characters: 1 and 3 are different Arabic numerals and I is a Roman numeral]

Someone here is a buffoon. — jamalrob

:point: Agent Smith. AI, buffoon, what's the difference? :rofl:

A Christian's journey ends in paradise; A Buddhists journey does not. Christian morality is Kantian-like (the decalog); Buddhist morality is utilitarian + Kantian (you're permitted to harm one to save the many, but you still incur a karmic debt to the one you off). There's more, but I'm all out.

God" is an anxiety (like death), not an entity. — 180 Proof

:rofl: I've seen God then, I suffer from an anxiety disorder.

You exist. — vanzhandz

Cogito ergo sum. — Descartes

Alright!

Time exists. If time did not exist then one would not have the ability to discern past from present. — vanzhandz

A circulus in probando. Some don't mind it, but some do.

Reality can not make mistakes. — vanzhandz

&

Reality has a blue print. — vanzhandz

There have been (documented) complaints against Intelligent Design. For example, the recurrent laryngeal nerve which in a giraffe's long neck starts at the base of its brain, descends all the way into its chest and then does a U-turn and extends back up to where it does its thing, the larynx. The assumption here is that an intelligent blueprint would avoid such a roundabout way of innervating an organ (it's equivalent to using your right hand to scratch an itchy left ear).

Staying in the neck region of humans, our ability to speak thousands of languages comes at a price: risk of choking (the food and wind pipes are too close to each other).

What is the negation and opposite of nothing?

1. Negation of nothing? Something...or is it Everything?

2. The opposite of nothing is nothing itself (0 is its own opposite 0 + 0 = 0).

The negation of infinite is finite.
The opposite of infinite ($+ \infty$) is $- \infty$.