There's Something There - Part 2

It apparently happened in Korea and became a boy band.
Nothing right and good about that.

I read the other day that the Big Bang didn't happen in space.

Which makes sense, since there was no space yet for it to happen in.

Still. That's hard to get.

So there was no Where that it happened in.

But there was a When.

Big Bang happened in a When, but not a Where.

It happened in time, but not in space.

OK, it's on Mondays at 9. See. It happens in time.
Even if you count syndication.

So if you were to ask, sweetly, naively, where did Big Bang happen, thinking, sweetly, naively, that there had to be a point where it all started, the answer is ...

There is a point where it all started. But it's a point in time, not in space.

So the evidence in science has taken us to a place in nature where our brains cannot go.

Big Bang happened in time. Not in space.

Do you want a list of all the other places that the evidence has taken us that our brains cannot go? Just go back and read some of the earlier posts. Any of them.

So now, let's talk about God.

Pay attention. This is the subtle and clever part.

1) I understand God as well as I understand him because the theologians have gone out of their way to explain him to me, and 2) I understand that my understanding of God will change with further information, and 3) it might change quite radically in quite unexpected sorts of ways, but 4) I have personal experience with God. That is, 5) evidence has been presented to me, and 6) I have personal evidence as well.

This would be the Ironic God. Ha. So funny.

God exists for me because I have some experience with him.

It is not the same experience that anyone else has had, though there is a lot of overlap, so it is both unique and universal at the same time.

Unique and universal. How...

Intriguing.

Now, I could go through the evidence for God that might exist in nature, but I've kinda already done that for like almost an infinite number of earlier posts (OK, 24, but still. It was a lot.), and here's what's happened. I predict. 

Yes, it's a chaotic, unpredictable universe, but only mostly, so I'm gonna live on the edge and make a prediction.

Those who already believe in God were like, YES!, and, AWESOME!, except for those who don't like Big Bang, but you probably stopped reading a long long time ago, which was foolish. No offense. OK, maybe a little. But you're probably not reading anymore anyway. No offense.

And those who don't believe in God were like, oh, seriously, all of this crapload of pseudo-scientific religio-babble AGAIN?!?! When are you religious morons gonna catch a clue that there is NO EVIDENCE for God to be found in nature?!?!

You should maybe dial it down a little. Fewer all caps. By everyone.

Anyway. Here's the thing.

We're all looking at the same evidence. But we are each reaching a different conclusion.

Same evidence. Different beliefs.

So it's not really about the evidence. I mean, it helps. But when one group looks at Big Bang and says, whoa, looks like God to me, and another group looks at the same Big Bang and says, wow, looks like a pretty cool accident of nature to me (and a third group looks at the same Big Bang and says, don't even THINK of trying to tell me that the God that I believe in would have used Big Bang to create the universe.)(Sorry about the all-caps.), then ...

It's not really about the evidence.

I had a guy tell me once over and over for weeks that there could be no evidence for God in nature. Not that there could be but we haven't found it yet. Whatever we found, was not gonna be evidence. No matter what it was. Like, God's t-shirt. His driver's license. His bowling league medals. Even his reserved parking spot.

When I mentioned that there were a host of notable scientists who believed that there was some evidence for God, this guy just said, well, they're all wrong.

When I told him that all of the scientists were a lot smarter than he was, he said, no, they're not.

Gotta admire his commitment to his beliefs. Takes some backbone to say that evidence is not evidence and is never going to be

evidence and that on the basis of this assumption, and this alone, that he is smarter than all the scientists except for the ones that agree with him.

Faith. That's what it takes. Faith.

Of course, what he believes about God or science or evidence or nature or the universe is, as we've said, irrelevant.

God exists, or he does not.

Even if there is no evidence, God still might exist. Even with lots and lots of evidence, he might not.

So how in God's name are we supposed to figure it out? So to speak.

Here's a proposal. Here's what it takes. Here's how to start. 

It's like, an equation.

It's evidence plus experience plus faith.

Plus one more entirely interesting, controversial, subjective thing that depends entirely on one's interpretation. Kinda like quantum mechanics. Lots of interpretations. Only one is right. We just don't know which one.

Anyway. One more thing.

It's evidence plus experience plus faith plus revelation.

Oh, yeah. It's an equation. It's gotta "equals" something.

No, not a revolution. A revelation.
Same thing, maybe.

Evidence plus experience plus faith plus revelation equals maybe there is a God.

We might start with that. Revelation.

If God created time and space, then God is outside of time and space.

And therefore we can't find him unless he wants to be found.

That is, you can't go on a search to find God. Well, you can, but good luck with that.

It's like the Ultimate Hide-&-Seek game. Ha ha, you'll never find me because I'm outside the universe.

Here's what Big Bang cosmology says: Space and time ... came into existence in a tiny tiny tiny fraction of a second, everything coming from nothing, out of nothing, caused by nothing.

And God. Has to be in the nothing.

And we can't go there.

He. Has to come here.

Ah, shoot. I went and gave it all away. Spoiler alert. I HATE it when that happens.

Fewer all caps. Gotta work on that.

And here's the really devious part. Let's just assume for fun that God is in the fifth dimension. No, not the old rock group, though God could clearly be black and groovy. Or hip. Or whatever.

We live in 4 dimensions, 3 of space, 1 of time.

So let's go with God lives in a 4th spatial dimension. I don't know if he does, but I don't know that he doesn't, so it'll work.

Now. Consider that there might be a world that exists in 3 dimensions, 2 of space and 1 of time.

Flatland. Like a table top. The people are flat people and they only know of 2 dimensions. This way, and that way, but not up or down.

And you live in 3 spatial dimensions, just like you actually do right now anyway.

Now. How close can you get to the Flatlanders without them seeing you? Because you are in the 3rd dimension, and they are only in the first two.

Take a flat surface right now and see how close you can move your hand without it touching.

Very very very close.

So if God lives in a 4th spatial dimension, how close can he get to you without you knowing about it?

Very very very close.

And you would never know that he was there. Unless he wanted you to know. And that would only happen if he ...

... touched your version of Flatland.

Now I got goosebumps.

There's Something There - Part 1?

It's Part 1 because there might be other parts, but I don't really know yet. We'll just have to see.

Anyway. Since we're being provocative ...

What you believe about _______ (go ahead, fill in the blank) is irrelevant.

OK, I'll fill in the blank for you.

What you believe about God is irrelevant.

And ...

What you believe about the Universe is irrelevant.

Why, you may ask, am I making such obnoxious statements? Why, you may ask, am I being such a jerk?

Here, let me add some emphasis, see if that helps.

What you believe about God is irrelevant.

What you believe about the Universe is irrelevant.

Let me explain. We'll start with the Universe.

Here's the Thing. The Universe is the way that it is regardless of what you believe about it. It doesn't care what you believe. As we already said that Neal deGrasse Tyson said, the universe is under no obligation to make sense to you. Or to anybody.

If you think it doesn't make sense, that's not the Universe's fault or problem. It's your problem.

This picture is not the universe exploding. It's just your garden-variety
star exploding. Actually, not exploding. Collapsing and bouncing.
The nothing didn't explode either. It just expanded really really fast.

You can believe that it's infinitely large, or not.

You can believe that it had a starting point, or not.

You can believe that it's 6000 years old, or 13.8 billion. Or infinitely old.

All that you, and we, and everybody has to go on is the evidence that we have been able to uncover, and will presumably continue to uncover, and we interpret that evidence from our tiny perch in time and space as best we can.

And as we have seen, the evidence changes, and so our understanding of the Universe changes, and presumably it will continue to do so, whether we like it or not.

If Monte Vaughn had shown this much emotion
when I asked her out, well, a win.

The Universe is indifferent to your feelings about it. It's like that cheerleader that I asked out four times in college. Her name was Monte Vaughn. I still remember her name. She was ... indifferent. And remained indifferent. She did not go out with me. She does not remember my name. She may not have actually been a cheerleader, either. But it's a better story that way.

The Universe does not remember your name. It is the way that it is, and it will continue to be that way (that is, dynamic and constantly changing) regardless of your thoughts, opinions or beliefs about it. 

If it's helpful to rename the Universe "Monte Vaughn", go right ahead. It is unimaginably beautiful. And it is not interested in going out with you.

Now. God.

God is something like the Universe.

Either God exists, or he does not. What you believe about that is irrelevant.

That's harsh, but true. But you will not eliminate God with your lack of belief, if he exists. Nor will you cause him to exist via your beliefs, if he does not.

Either he does, or he does not.

(I'm using "he" because constantly having to say "he, she, it or they" is awkward and irritating and so I'm not really saying God is a man or male, but that he is surely more than an "it". "They" would work, but it will irritate the non-Trinity folks and yadda yadda yadda. Live with it.)

Either he does, or he does not.

Your opinion about that is immaterial.

Now isn't that a curious thing? It causes one to wonder, ok, NOW what am I supposed to do?

Well. We could talk about evidence for, let's say, the universe first. But we will quickly run into theories that say, as we have said in

other earlier blogs, 1) the universe is a hologram (and therefore not really here) or 2) the universe is a computer simulation (and therefore not really here.

Plus, since we don't know what either Dark Matter or Dark Energy are, 95% of the universe is a complete mystery to us.

Plus, the universe might be 10**26th times bigger than the part that we can see, and we'll never see any of the rest of it and will never know anything about it,

Or, it might be infinitely big, which is a lot bigger than just 10**26th times bigger, and so the part that we do know something about is infinitely smaller than the rest of it, and (just do the the math) is therefore not really here,

And that's THE OBSERVABLE UNIVERSE, of which you are not even a measurable part of, either. Well, measurable maybe. But very close to infinitely insignificant,

And the part of the universe that we can see, we will never ever be able to go to any parts of it, apart from the part that we are in. Like, even getting to Neptune seems like a stretch. Frankly, even Mars seems like a stretch. I think you could put all the people who've been to the moon in an egg carton. OK, a large egg carton. One that would fit people. Or a roller coaster that seats 12. Like that one. That many people have been on the moon.

And we will never ever know for sure where the universe came from, or whether it is unique and there are lots of other universes, or maybe just a couple or four, a dozen maybe, a gross of universes.

(OK, to be honest, you can't actually be "very close to infinitely insignificant", but if you could, we would be.)

So your personal evidence for the existence of the universe is anecdotal and highly suspect. I would not choose to believe in the universe based solely upon your personal experience. And I don't give a rat's patootie who you are, because even you, you universe scientists, you cosmologists and astronomers, even you have only seen or experienced a tiny tiny fraction that (if the universe is infinitely big) is infinitely smaller than the actual universe itself, and you don't even have much of a clue what it is, either. And you keep changing the story.

No offense. It's kinda hard. I get that. That's actually the point.

I should say, BTW, that I do in fact believe in the actual universe.

Pay attention. This is the subtle and clever part.

1) I understand the universe as well as I understand it because the cosmologists and astronomers have gone out of their way to explain it to me, and 2) I understand that my understanding of the universe will change with further information, and 3) it might change quite radically in quite unexpected sorts of ways, but 4) I have personal experience with the universe. That is, 5) evidence has been presented to me, and 6) I have personal evidence as well.

The universe exists for me because I have some experience with it.

It is not the same experience that anyone else has had, though there is a lot of overlap, so it is both unique and universal at the same time.

Unique and universal. How...

Intriguing.

There's Nothing There - The End

Now I'm going to say something that will irritate some of you.

Here it comes.

Nobody is smart enough to be an atheist.

Go ahead. Write me nasty letters. Be a troll. Find your inner troll and let it out to stomp me into troll-stomping oblivion.

Wait, though.

I'm going to say something that will irritate the rest of you.

Here it comes.

Nobody is smart enough to be not an atheist.

Go ahead. Write me letters that pray for me and consign me to the darkest depths of hottest hell. Send the demons after me. Find your inner demon and let it out to stomp me into demon-stomping oblivion.

Wait, though.

Let's think about it for a minute.

'Cause what we're really saying is that belief is not really a matter of intelligence.

Now THAT will open up dozens of worm cans. Cans of worms. Whatever.

Belief is also not a matter of information. As in, the more you know, the less you believe.

There you go. More worms in more cans.

Let's do the easy part first.

As in. No matter how smart you are, there's somebody smarter who has different beliefs about The Old One (as Einstein called God).

Bingo. Einstein believed in The Old One, and he is officially smarter than nearly everybody except for maybe Isaac Newton (who believed) and maybe da Vinci (who believed, even though he painted naked people)(that is, he painted pictures of naked people, not, he painted

people who were naked. I mean, he did, but not on their actual nakedness.)( I think he may have opened a tattoo parlor in his later years.)(Some of that was not strictly speaking true.)

So. But. Einstein was not a practicing religious person. Not as a Jew. Not as a Christian. Not as anything.

So he's the metaphor. If you want to disbelieve, you can't point to Einstein as your example, and if you want to believe, you can't point to Einstein.

And you are not smarter than Einstein.

Of course, you're not smarter than Newton or da Vinci, either. Sorry. No offense.

For most of you, there's a lot of people that are smarter than you.

Some of them believe. Some of them don't.

So it's not really an intelligence thing.

How about information then?

Well. The problem with information is that it changes all the time.

And when information changes, evidence changes.

And when evidence changes, facts change. 

And when fact change, science changes.

'Cause science is about facts, facts come from evidence, and evidence changes all the time.

We used to think, for example, that the universe made sense. That it was predictable. That the laws of physics caused everything to happen. That we didn't need God to explain anything. That the universe was infinitely large and old and everything had always been here, including the laws of physics.

But we didn't know what the laws of physics were yet.

We thought there was just gravity. And as it turns out, we didn't even understand gravity.

And then when Einstein explained gravity to us, all of sudden, the universe wasn't infinite at all.

And the laws of physics hadn't always been here. Which means that something that wasn't the laws of physics caused the laws of physics.

And boy, were they weird.

So everything changed. All of science changed. All the evidence changed. All the information changed.

And it might change again.

No. That's wrong.

It will change again.

So you can't base your beliefs on information that can and will change.

Sometimes it'll make it seem like there is no God, no creator.

Sometimes it'll make it seem like there might be one. Or there must be one.

And then. It'll change again.

So even if you are Ed Witten. He's the smartest guy alive at the moment. Or Stephen Hawking. Or Marilyn Vos Savant (she has the highest IQ on the planet). Or my friend Chip Diggins (his IQ is scary high.) Or Richard Dawkins (he's only kinda smart.) Or Father Andrew Pinsent at Oxford (my very very smart friend Simon says Fr. Andrew is smarter than Simon is.)(Simon got his PhD in particle physics from Oxford and did his dissertation at CERN, so as we say in Texas, he's pretty dad-gummed smart.) Or Rev. John Polkinghorne. Or Paul Davies. Or Fred Hoyle. Or Neil deGrasse Tyson. Or Stephen Weinberg. Or, frankly, anybody. Even Sheldon Cooper.

It doesn't matter how smart you are, or how much you know. Because there's someone smarter who believes differently than you do, and what you know, will change. And then it will change again.

It's not about intelligence. It's not about information. It's about something else.

And what, you may ask, might that be?

Now that is a stellar question.