Where do we come from

When they say “saved,” I think what they really mean is “used for spare parts.”

Isn’t that how atheist heaven works anyway?

Yes, but hopefully after a long, happy life. I don’t think the new overlords are going to be that patient. We’ll be more like veal to them.

Ooh, someone’s delusional about what year it is! :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

Mirror mirror

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Well, like I said, most people just ain’t that bothered. A bit of navel-gazing on the internets is about the most effort they’re interested in putting into it.

I won’t say it’s not an interesting question. Of course it is. It’s just not the sort of question that most people want to devote their lives to, especially not for a measly $5m.

Bollocks. Most of the everyday problems we face don’t depend on knowing the deepest secrets of the universe. A lot of the solutions depend on just not doing stupid things. For example, you can improve your health and reduce the chances of not getting chronic diseases by not sitting in front of the TV 24-7 and stuffing your face with twinkies.

It’s not a question of using scientific terminology or not. What you’ve done taken one experiment done in 1952, mischaracterized it, and used it to define the entire field of study. It was an important experiment–it showed that at least under some conditions, with inputs of energy into a closed system, amino acids could form out of more basic compounds. An important finding, but it was never intended to say “this is how life arose”. There’s a lot more going on in the field than that one experiment, and other potential energy sources besides lightning.

I doubt anyone in the field expects they’ll ever be able to definitively say “this is how life arose”. It’s always going to be an investigation of what’s possible. Whatever they find, it’s never going to negate the possibility that God had a hand in things, in the same way that many religious believers find it untroubling to accept evolution. In that sense, your choice of “God or abiogenesis” doesn’t hold water either, and who knows what other possibilities could be part of the true answer.

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So the appropriate response apparently to the question ‘where do we come from?’ is a) God, b) who knows?, or c) no one really cares.

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d) mommy’s womb

Philosophy students could spend a lot more time drinking and shagging if they’d just stick to this sort of reasoning.

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Which “God”? We may need to expand the options here.

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This thread needs some reality. We will , no doubt , get the answers eventually. Either through Science or the Second coming. Conjecture is fun but that is what it is.
I agree , for now, with the Lactose Practitioner.

Duh. The one wot created the universe, obviously.

That’s an interesting definition! Anything else we know?

It might have been a team effort, of course. I imagine there were some unpleasant scenes with Shiva the Destroyer. Artistic and creative differences, like.

Interesting. They usually seem more jealous. I’ll have to read up on Shiva but they have competition I think.

Why does the universe need to have been created? Maybe it’s just always been “there.”

In my book, in the larger sense, it’s about as plausible as a creative force of whatever kind that’s always been “there.” The caveat is that the universe does seem to have had a beginning, which could even have been the beginning of time and space. What that beginning truly represents, much less whatever else is going on in reality that we don’t necessarily know about, are open questions.

Thinking about it makes my head hurt a little. :face_with_head_bandage:

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Sorry, I should have said “multiverse,” in which ours is just one of many universes in varying states of creation and destruction, and which has itself always been “there.” Also, the very concepts of “beginning” and “end” imply a linear progression that may just be a function of the way we perceive reality, and which may not be a function of reality itself.

I think that is the crux of the problem. My friend and neighbour in the UK is a Quantum Physics Professor. Many hours of discussion with him changed my views a little. Physics will provide some of the answers but the goalposts keep moving. As you say , a lot of confusion comes from how we see the Universe, using the very small amount of information we have …Relatively ha.
If the Universe started with dense 'matter" , that exploded, where did the “matter” come from ?
You can not win against the Creator argument.
Reality may not be what we think. Speed of light , well, yes, but Quantum Entanglement confused the Hell out of Einstein. What chance have we got ?

Some of us will eventually figure it out and even understand it.
The others, get drunk, refer to religion or simply enjoy life.

What if the universe was created just for you? Another self-promoting Ted talk.
Before moving on to the next video I noticed that her zipper was open which made me watch it all the way to the end. What if the zipper was opened just for me?

A glance at the comment section revealed I wasn’t the only one.

So yeah, my wife came and called me an old peaking man.
What a universe!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48NRknBcz6k