Sophie's World-Try To Understand

[hiddlestoned]

We all know the big questions of the universe. 'Do people have souls?' 'Is there anything after life?' 'What is free will?' 'Is there such a thing?' In a book called 'Sophie's World' the autor adressed all of these questions and more. It is truely mind boggling. I was thinking that I could post a bit of each chapter (mainly the questions) and we could all discuss what we think on it. ^^ Sound good? Here's the first question:

Where does the world come from?

There are two approaches we can take for this problem. One-religiously (as in 'God created the World' and Two-Scientficly (as in the Big Bang theory and such). What are your thoughts and I'll try to catch you on them. ^^-

 

[AHazzamLeonA]

My guess is: both of them. Physically, the world has to have a beginning, a detonation maybe or some kind of event that provoked the conception of reality, space and all things. But now then, who or what made this possible? It's like depending on numerical chances (which, actually, are very low) to explain what happened and WHY it happened.

I'm not Christian or anything like that. But, at least from my point of view, there MUST be some kind of "superior being", which just watches... Giving us chances, no destiny's written. As we walk on our paths, we try to reach that "superior being" one way or another. By succeeding, by trying to find happiness, who knows.

So, my opinion is that everything began like the Big Bang theory says, but it was impulsed by something more powerful, something that trascends human power an knowledge. Call it God, if you wish.

I say this because this world is so perfect, and we humans made it imperfect. If you look around at nature and everything that surrounds you, you'll be amazed of all the beauty that lies hidden inside every single dewdrop. There is so much beauty, perfection and chaos in this world...  

[S u g a h b o p]

Jules Clairt

My guess is: both of them. Physically, the world has to have a beginning, a detonation maybe or some kind of event that provoked the conception of reality, space and all things. But now then, who or what made this possible? It's like depending on numerical chances (which, actually, are very low) to explain what happened and WHY it happened.

I'm not Christian or anything like that. But, at least from my point of view, there MUST be some kind of "superior being", which just watches... Giving us chances, no destiny's written. As we walk on our paths, we try to reach that "superior being" one way or another. By succeeding, by trying to find happiness, who knows.

So, my opinion is that everything began like the Big Bang theory says, but it was impulsed by something more powerful, something that trascends human power an knowledge. Call it God, if you wish.

I say this because this world is so perfect, and we humans made it imperfect. If you look around at nature and everything that surrounds you, you'll be amazed of all the beauty that lies hidden inside every single dewdrop. There is so much beauty, perfection and chaos in this world...

Doesnt that create the question, where did that God come from? If you create a theory there will aways be another question(s) created from that. Until eventually you have a great big ball of useless questions that arent going to get you anywhere apart from closer to dying.

Sure, this world is perfect, but Humans generally have no need for the beauty in it ( except maybe to become inspired ) we just need it to live on and create whatever we like on - be it chaos, or some sort of material beauty. I disagree that we made it imperfect, we just made it comfortable for our standards even if that means we're killing our selfs in the process, that is just part of our idiocy.

Also, I disagree that we are trying to reach that 'superior being' down our paths. The majority of us are just impertinent and really just want to get on with our life and become comfortable in our own way, sure if it does mean reaching that superior being, or just getting rich quick.

Maybe we got left behind by something? We might have even been a mistake, or just a lost cause created by some scientific bomb.
All in all we cant know, because its a lost history that no one bothered to write about.

 

[kakteed]

S u g a h b o p

Jules Clairt

My guess is: both of them. Physically, the world has to have a beginning, a detonation maybe or some kind of event that provoked the conception of reality, space and all things. But now then, who or what made this possible? It's like depending on numerical chances (which, actually, are very low) to explain what happened and WHY it happened.

I'm not Christian or anything like that. But, at least from my point of view, there MUST be some kind of "superior being", which just watches... Giving us chances, no destiny's written. As we walk on our paths, we try to reach that "superior being" one way or another. By succeeding, by trying to find happiness, who knows.

So, my opinion is that everything began like the Big Bang theory says, but it was impulsed by something more powerful, something that trascends human power an knowledge. Call it God, if you wish.

I say this because this world is so perfect, and we humans made it imperfect. If you look around at nature and everything that surrounds you, you'll be amazed of all the beauty that lies hidden inside every single dewdrop. There is so much beauty, perfection and chaos in this world...

Doesnt that create the question, where did that God come from? If you create a theory there will aways be another question(s) created from that. Until eventually you have a great big ball of useless questions that arent going to get you anywhere apart from closer to dying.

Sure, this world is perfect, but Humans generally have no need for the beauty in it ( except maybe to become inspired ) we just need it to live on and create whatever we like on - be it chaos, or some sort of material beauty. I disagree that we made it imperfect, we just made it comfortable for our standards even if that means we're killing our selfs in the process, that is just part of our idiocy.

Also, I disagree that we are trying to reach that 'superior being' down our paths. The majority of us are just impertinent and really just want to get on with our life and become comfortable in our own way, sure if it does mean reaching that superior being, or just getting rich quick.

Maybe we got left behind by something? We might have even been a mistake, or just a lost cause created by some scientific bomb.
All in all we cant know, because its a lost history that no one bothered to write about.

It could be that the Big Bang created God and everything launched from there. I don't believe in any deity and I know that the Big Bang Theory is only a theory thus, but it's possible.

The world is not perfect. If it was perfect, there'd be no need to adapt to it. Though, because we came from this earth, via God or evolution or both, it adapts to us just as much as we adapt to it.

So the human race was a mistake made by 'some scientific bomb'? Or that 'its a lost history that no one bothered to write about'? Well then, who made that bomb? And what if it was destroyed instead of not written down? There were so many texts in old Greece and the cities around it, not to mention the Jewish texts burned in the Holocaust, that were destroyed, never to be learned from again because of book burnings and purgings.  

[S u g a h b o p]

kakteed

S u g a h b o p

Jules Clairt

My guess is: both of them. Physically, the world has to have a beginning, a detonation maybe or some kind of event that provoked the conception of reality, space and all things. But now then, who or what made this possible? It's like depending on numerical chances (which, actually, are very low) to explain what happened and WHY it happened.

I'm not Christian or anything like that. But, at least from my point of view, there MUST be some kind of "superior being", which just watches... Giving us chances, no destiny's written. As we walk on our paths, we try to reach that "superior being" one way or another. By succeeding, by trying to find happiness, who knows.

So, my opinion is that everything began like the Big Bang theory says, but it was impulsed by something more powerful, something that trascends human power an knowledge. Call it God, if you wish.

I say this because this world is so perfect, and we humans made it imperfect. If you look around at nature and everything that surrounds you, you'll be amazed of all the beauty that lies hidden inside every single dewdrop. There is so much beauty, perfection and chaos in this world...

Doesnt that create the question, where did that God come from? If you create a theory there will aways be another question(s) created from that. Until eventually you have a great big ball of useless questions that arent going to get you anywhere apart from closer to dying.

Sure, this world is perfect, but Humans generally have no need for the beauty in it ( except maybe to become inspired ) we just need it to live on and create whatever we like on - be it chaos, or some sort of material beauty. I disagree that we made it imperfect, we just made it comfortable for our standards even if that means we're killing our selfs in the process, that is just part of our idiocy.

Also, I disagree that we are trying to reach that 'superior being' down our paths. The majority of us are just impertinent and really just want to get on with our life and become comfortable in our own way, sure if it does mean reaching that superior being, or just getting rich quick.

Maybe we got left behind by something? We might have even been a mistake, or just a lost cause created by some scientific bomb.
All in all we cant know, because its a lost history that no one bothered to write about.

It could be that the Big Bang created God and everything launched from there. I don't believe in any deity and I know that the Big Bang Theory is only a theory thus, but it's possible.

The world is not perfect. If it was perfect, there'd be no need to adapt to it. Though, because we came from this earth, via God or evolution or both, it adapts to us just as much as we adapt to it.

So the human race was a mistake made by 'some scientific bomb'? Or that 'its a lost history that no one bothered to write about'? Well then, who made that bomb? And what if it was destroyed instead of not written down? There were so many texts in old Greece and the cities around it, not to mention the Jewish texts burned in the Holocaust, that were destroyed, never to be learned from again because of book burnings and purgings.

I see, but this still backs up my opinion on the great ball of questions. I'm not dissagreeing with the big bang, or the possibility of a God. I just disagree that any of us could know what truely happened.

I agree with what you say there, that this world isnt perfect. I stand corrected. [: olol.
But to be honest, I'd rather question what's going to happen next in the human races future, than that of what has already happened.
The one thing I think I've learned about human beings is that as soon as we are born we start dying, and by the time we realise what we could be doing we're already half way through our life span and that we generally know nothing.  

[Gunr]

r y d e n at the disco

Where does the world come from?

Does it matter? Will knowing the answer change how you live your life? The world was here before you and will likely be here when you are gone.  

[bluecherry]

ninja To the question in pink above:
The World ;D
The Earth
Existence as we know it?
And actually, depending on how you think the world came to be, it will greatly impact what you think the nature of it is now and what it means for you now and in the future and so what you need to do. People who think the world came to be from sitting atop a bunch of animals riding on a giant turtle may worry about what sex the turtle is and/or want to go around placing tiny weights to try to ensure they stay balanced up there, people who think we came about in a matter of matter acting through natural law without all kinds of magic and such and that the world is round and there isn't some giant turtle we're balanced on, would have much different concerns.

 

[Gman6817]

Jules Clairt

My guess is: both of them. Physically, the world has to have a beginning, a detonation maybe or some kind of event that provoked the conception of reality, space and all things. But now then, who or what made this possible? It's like depending on numerical chances (which, actually, are very low) to explain what happened and WHY it happened.

I'm not Christian or anything like that. But, at least from my point of view, there MUST be some kind of "superior being", which just watches... Giving us chances, no destiny's written. As we walk on our paths, we try to reach that "superior being" one way or another. By succeeding, by trying to find happiness, who knows.

So, my opinion is that everything began like the Big Bang theory says, but it was impulsed by something more powerful, something that trascends human power an knowledge. Call it God, if you wish.

I say this because this world is so perfect, and we humans made it imperfect. If you look around at nature and everything that surrounds you, you'll be amazed of all the beauty that lies hidden inside every single dewdrop. There is so much beauty, perfection and chaos in this world...

This kinda goes back to another topic already in the forum about whether or not a god exists, but it's a little deeper I guess. I made a point about how gods are used to define something that we're not quite sure about. There are some pretty interesting theories out there about the creation of the universe but one I'm inclined to believe is the one that says the universe has been growing and collapsing forever (sorry i don't remember the name off the top of my head). If that theory is true and many prominent physicists believe it is, than it would mean that there is no creator, there was no beginning, and there is no end. My mother would say that it's sad that I have such a bleak view, that there is no heaven and what not. But I find it rather inspiring to think that we are all (the universe I mean) comprised of the same basic material molecularly speaking. We were there in that instant that the universe expanded from infinitesimally small to this incomprehensibly vast place it is now and we will be there when it all comes together again.
I don't know if that's true but i'd like to believe it is. I think it's pretty cool that I share some atom with our sun or even some star in another galaxy. It kinda makes you feel really small but really big at the same time.  

[bluecherry]

I've heard of that one. According to wikipedia, that sounds like it is called the "oscillating universe theory." IE, a big bang and then big crunch repeating forever as after the big bang after a while gravity pulls everything back in again and we reach the state of another big bang and keep repeating. This is one reason why I said in my post above linked to the big bang not "the universe" as in it created everything, but instead "the universe as we know it?" because such I thing I don't think would be creating stuff, it would just be reorganizing things that already existed. One problem I see with people looking for how existence itself was created is it assumes existence requires a beginning. However, "begging" and "ending" are occurrences, they require time to exist and things to exist to be doing things, "beginning" is a concept that applies to cause and effect, it applies to how existing things behave - "beginning" is an idea that exists only to be applied to describing how things work in existence, it is about how existence works and therefore to try to say we need to apply the idea to existence itself is a mistake.

And indeed I've seen things saying about how all our material elements are made in stars, and that I think sounds pretty neat too. I've already said in another thread why I don't think our mortality makes life dreary. My mother also has the complaint that she thinks life isn't good enough as it is so wants to believe in something better after death. I've told her that wish doesn't make it so and instead I accept what is and because I do know this is all there is, I'm that much more inspired to try to improve what I have to live with in this world. 3nodding