h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Oops.. how did that happen? Sorry.

In his book Life Between Life, Dr, Joel L. Whitton quotes the Greek philosopher, Plotinus;
The infinite can only be apprehended by a faculty superior to reason, By entering into a state from which the finite self must withdraw.

Alji

God is a puzzle for us to solve, but a puzzle that stands outside us and "wants" us to solve it. There's a vicious circle there (as in much of this thread), and I just don't believe in it. There, I've said it.

Beautifully put, John Luke. I'll second that.

After a couple of creative collaborations, I'd almost started to feel like a brother to MoG. Does that make me Uncle of God?

Mund is trying to make the elementary point that the word 'God' can fit into a valid syllogism. Another elementary point is that validity does not imply truth or falsity.


For instance this is a valid argument:

God is a teacup
A tea cup is usually kept in a cupboard in the kitchen
Therefore God is usually kept in a cupboard in the kitchen


Truth or falsity isn't in the argument - an argument is merely valid or invalid - but in the assertions, such as 'God is a teacup'.


Grime

Actually, it's not valid

This is, though:

God is this teacup
This teacup is usually kept in a cupboard in the kitchen
Therefore God is usually kept in a cupboard in the kitchen


Grime

TS Eliot once said "The living an know only life, the rest is not our business."

But was he right?

When Moses first met God he lived on a mountain and told him that he really wanted to live in a box, which Moses supplied so he became the God of Moses' tribe.

Maybe this box is just a mistranslation of "cupboard in the kitchen".

LOL


Grime

Of course he was right, but it misses the point, death is the difining notion of life, so to understand life, "our business" be must look beyond it to what it is bourne out of. God is just a good peice of algebra to do that with. He's like the square root of negative one, he doesn't exist in any real sence but we can theorise him to find valid answers, as long as the answers don't contain him also.

Rather than the square root of -1, I'd suggest God is more like 0/0 or infinity/infinity.
It can mean anything you want it to, but if you end up using it in a calculation, it means you probably made a mistake earlier.

I still think that logic is the wrong tool to describe god or religion for that matter, it's almost like asking a blind person to describe the color red. The tools he has to describe to you what the color is are inadequate for the job. Language simply doesn't have the words.

In addition to the fact that logic does not have anything to do with validity. It may be logical-sound but it does not mean that it is true-valid.

Somebody asked what the spirit is.....this is difficult because I would say that this is something that is outside of the realms of language. I realize this isn't an adequate answer to those who prefer things to be literal and spelled out.

I am curious what those of you who have been following this line of thought have to say about the spirit-soul(whichever word works best).
What is it? I have my own opinions, but what do you think?

I would say that spirit/soul is a word made up to describe a creative fiction... much like the word "god."

Then again, I suppose you knew I was going to say that.

I would also say that it's become a useful metaphor to describe the strange feeling of being alive. It's understandable why people would want this sensation to continue indefinitely.

I think when many people talk about the spirit, they're talking about that which they feel differentiates them from animals and which isn't an opposable thumb.

People who think we're at all different from animals didn't have any good pets as children. Beyond our ability to communicate, which enables us to pass on knowledge far better than our peers, we are not any different than the rest of the mammal family.

Isn't this why people have funerals for their cats?

What about the ability to retain knowledge and use it in different situations? just a thought

God is a teacup.
Teacups are often found in cupboards.
So God is often found in a cupboard.

Validity is no guarantee of usefulness or truth.

*sips some divine tea*