When are we going to let go of this "god" thing? God was created by groups of people who had no planetary understanding, electricity, plumbing, medical knowledge, printing, computers, televisions, etc., etc., etc. But for some bizarre reason, it is accepted that these same people knew and understood the great mysteries of the world! "Bridging the gap" only serves to reinforce these unfounded beliefs. This is beyond irrational. As to the ceaseless creativity, we do not invoke god when a painter paints or a sculptor sculpts or an architect builds. Why? Because we know that the artist uses his hands and tools to create. While we may admire his skills, it is rare to call his work sacred. Despite myriad supported theories about how the world is created, we may not yet have all the answers, but that does not mean that our understanding of this creativity will not unfold at an increasingly rapid rate to expose the "hands" that create natural art. Just because primitive peoples used a deity to explain that which they could not, this certainly does not justify using the same methods in the 21st century. There is just NO NEED FOR GOD!

2 thoughts:

1. Other evolutionary mechanisms besides natural selection (and Kauffman's whatever he calls it) have strong theory behind them. Lynn Margulies (sp?) at Cornell first theorized endo-symbiosis as the origin of mitochondria. Symbiosis can also explain other evolutionary patterns found in nature. I will not be surprised when another evolutionary researcher theorizes yet another undiscovered, and rarer, mechanism. Evolution happens but it doesn't always happen by natural selection.

2. It has always seemed to me that the common usage of the word "God" (e.g. "God's Will") expresses exactly the epistemological uncertainty that Kauffman's ideas express. "God" is an ignorance-hiding way of saying "I don't know".

Ben Franklin observed that four of five men are slow suicides. That's certainly so today. Go to any parking lot and watch the waddling. Drive down any street and witness those drivers on cell phones. Go to any McDonalds and watch the supersizing of fat, sugar, and salt. Read the studies about the diabetes epidemic. We're mass suiciding. It's just that we're doing it so slowly that you can't descry it.

I suspect you're seeing me as a glumster. I'm not. I'm a cynic, but a merry cynic.

Merrily, cynically yours,

Bigguns

What is it about people that makes them so uncomfortable with the concept that the universe is essentially meaningless? Would anything change if suddenly everything took on this patina of meaning? Would we all suddenly become beautiful, intelligent, dashing, self-confident vessels ready to fill ourselves with endless layers of meaning? Answer: nothing whatsoever would change. If you have to go potty, knowing that you're doing it in a universe filled with meaning won't make one iota of difference. It's only because people aren't willing to "live and let live" that they feel this burning need to frame their lives and justify their actions against some grand exterior something-ness out there. It isn't so much that it's nonsense; it's just so completely unnecessary.

"For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For His invisible attributes, namely His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles." Romans 1:19-23

As an atheist I'm always astounded by people who feel the need to insert some mystical entity or force into the gaps where science has yet to find an answer. I myself am always in awe of my absolute good fortune to be alive and experiencing my natural surroundings. How things are nit together in such subtle ways, but to attribute this to some mystical "other" is not needed. The universe does not have a plan for us, whether we exist or not is of no consequence at all to the universe. This does not mean that your life has no meaning, you give it that yourself by how you live and interact with the world around you.

Mr. Kaufman is on the slippery slope of "intellegent design" here. Though I defend his right to believe as he will, he should keep in mind Humes' premise the one should investigate all worldly possibilities (scientific exploration) before positing that something from outside this world is the cause.

...is nobody else's god. I think many atheists are comfortable with the idea that there might be a creator force that set up the rules of the universe and threw down the laws, processes, and maybe thereby set in place the seeds of life.

But I don't see many religious people jumping on board this particular wagon. I might be nitpicking, but the difference between Kauffman's stance and Dawkins' is miniscule when compared to the difference between Kauffman's stance and that of any religious proponent or Intelligent Design backer.

I hope we can find our way to a global ethic, beyond just the love of family, a sense of fairness, and a belief in democracy and free markets.

Really? Beyond all that? Because I'd be pretty happy if the majority of the planet could agree to that much. The world would be a lot better for it.

Look at all the mud that never got a chance to stand and cast to bass!

We are the lucky mud.

And I'm not being snarky.

As far as the Bible quoter, their logic is more circular than my car tires:

God is all. How do we know?

'Cause the Bible tells us so! How can we believe the Bible?

'Cause God wrote it! How do we know God wrote it?

'Cause the Bible tells us so!

Repeat.

Repeat.

Repeat.