Under what circumstances would scientists seeking intelligent life elsewhere in the universe conclude they've discovered evidence for something humans might consider a god? More than a life form that is far superior to humans in intellect or technology, this figure has the ability to seemingly transcend space, time, energy and matter. Maybe it's able to defy our known laws of physics.
Humans may consider god an entity too strange for it's attributes to be understood , seen or explained . Let's name this entity X Now if we follow your logic and X is too complex to be conceived by humans there is always the possibility of an entity named Y which is too complex for X to understand and so on. If we are unable to describe something human brain is wired to grand it supernatural powers , for example X can be seen as omnipotent and omnipresent but this will only be an assumption , not knowing means not knowing and nothing else. Given that earth is a pretty old planet , it is just where it is suppose to be, it has a gas giant to protect it from most meteors and random historical events forced evolution into cutting edge innovation chances are that most species out there will be far less intelligent from us and we are not even that smart.
I'd hope a scientist would make such an emotive conclusion but would just report the facts and let people apply their own definitions. Scientists are just human beings doing a job though, so I wouldn't be surprised if they did. I'd think Clarke's Law applies; Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. Magic and god are pretty much interchangeable in this context. That has a couple of key consequences, first that it would be easy for us to consider something god-like that was nothing of the sort (as humans have been doing throughout history) and secondly that the point at which we might consider something else god-like is going to ever increase as we develop our own knowledge and technology. Of course, it's equally possible that we encounter sentient alien life that is so much less advanced then us that we're the ones who appear god-like. The other problem is that something that is truly god-like could appear to us as literally anything it cares to or not at all. You might even suggest that anything that looks like a god probably isn't.
now, LY, you are doing just what I complain of in your mirror image there, YL you made this up: You dont know that to be true, statement of fact not in evidence, aka.....
You are infatuated with mocking people who believe in God. You need to have your hand held by other heathens on an Internet forum to give you that warm and fuzzy otherwise totally absent in your godless world view. - - - Updated - - - Weren't you trying to convince me that I don't actually believe in anything? I think you were headed down the path of some determinism philosophy or something.
Nope, missed again. Perhaps you are thinking of my observation that fundies of the 'park sort who think they are gifted with infallible readin' dont really believe the bible, they believe themselves. That dont sound like you.
How can I be infuriated with something that doesn't exist. Your arguments are getting less cognitive with each post. I think you need to pray harder.
How would scientists be certain that they've discovered something with the powers of god? Record its activity. You said: " this figure has the ability to seemingly transcend space, time, energy and matter. " If the god creature would just volunteer to do his/her/its thing over by the sensor it would save a lot of time and unneeded drama. If the sensor isn't sensitive enough today, maybe, one day, it will be more able in the future after we improve it.
Yes, but there was a question from this topic that deserved an answer. And, I gave my honest opinion. Perhaps you should do the same, or is this it?
I think those of us who chose to give serious answers were wasting our time. The OP only seemed interested in playing in the gutter with the other trolls.
But we do get another hint that nobody really has any concept of what a god IS. And without such a concept, identifying one in practice isn't possible. As people have demonstrated throughout recorded history.
That's right. I chose my words carefully. If it were a matter of disagreement, people could examine evidence to see how well it fit their concepts. But as you point out, nobody has a clue what would even BE evidence, because there are no concepts.
A necessary-being and all of the omni-implications that implies. An omni-being with no potential to come to know, come to emote, come to will, come to be or not be. Such a being would not be material because all matter is subject to constant change. Such a being would be personal because we are persons and no effect can transcend its cause.
One's soul is a complex of one's intellect, emotion and volition. It is not material, spatial or temporal. It is metaphysical, spiritual and eternal.
the "soul" is a hocus pocus fantasy...you die, you decay back into the earth and that's it, there is nothing after...no magical spiritual salvation, you're dead, gone forever as if you never existed and far as the earth is concerned you never did exist...and this is the only reason for the invention of religion/soul the fear of death, fear of the big dirt nap...
