NP: Science and Ending the ‘god Delusion’
By James W. Astrada
The concept of the ‘god’ premise has always been a controversial subject in human history. Even though science and carbon dating are erasing the concept of a deity, people still want to/strongly believe there is a creator sitting in the clouds watching over us. As technology carries us forward in the 21st century, it has been postulated that perhaps science may one day soon eliminate the belief in a god with more evidence on how the universe works. If and when humans do figure out the vast complexity of the universe, there will be no more need for god.
Throughout human history, many belief systems have undergone a metamorphosis due to the discoveries of science. At one time there was a belief that the world was flat, but now all of humanity knows that it isn’t. During that same time, the belief that the center of the universe was Earth was also strong. Now we know that Earth is just a planet revolving around a star (sol); that happens to exist in the billions of galaxies we have in this universe. Many people still believe the Earth was created in seven days based on the biblical myth and humans were created 10,000 years ago in our current form. Technology and science have shown us that the Earth is 4.6 billion years old and has humanity has existed for over 200,000 years in many forms through evolution.
Many will argue that the ‘seven day’ theory is not based on our measure of time; however to even conceive that one has the ability to decipher or even attempt to translate how much time is absurd to say the least. It seems that when one fact after another destroys the religious fantasy, another invention or explanation is made to save the ideology from complete ridicule. As Christopher Hitchens most eloquently put it, religion is an inflatable airbag growing in size every time it needs to defend its existence. Throughout the many changes that cost countless lives (usually through religious intolerance) the premise that a god still exists even though science is now solving many of the answers is still alive.
Much of what once seemed mysterious: the existence of humanity, the life-bearing perfection of Earth, the workings of the universe all can now be explained by biology, astronomy, physics and other domains of science. Although the cosmos is the last frontier of man, theoretical cosmologist Sean Carroll from the California Institute of Technology predicts that eventually man will understand the universe and finally eliminate the grounds for a god-creator. Carroll argues that “god’s sphere of influence” has diminished drastically in modern times, as physics and cosmology have expanded in their ability to explain the origin and evolution of the universe. He stated that “as we learn more about the universe, there’s less and less need to look outside it for help.” Although most human minds cannot conceive the thought that science will explain everything, the possibility seems more a reality in terms of this focus of the need for a god savior.
Although consensus science believes in the Big Bang theory, religious fanatics attribute their god character to initiating the “bang” itself. Since everything in science is considered theory, proof will take the helm in finally destroying the creation fairytale. Carroll was able to destroy the Genesis theory by refuting the concept of sequential time and that there was no beginning:
“A foremost goal of modern physics is to formulate a working theory that describes the entire universe, from subatomic to astronomical scales, within a single framework. Such a theory, called “quantum gravity,” will necessarily account for what happened at the moment of the Big Bang. Some versions of quantum gravity theory that have been proposed by cosmologists predict that the Big Bang, rather than being the starting point of time, was just “a transitional stage in an eternal universe.”
Although other theories in physics do use the concept of sequential time, the god character is left out with no need. Not only do they describe the evolution of the universe since the Big Bang, but it also accounts for how time was able to get underway in the first place. These quantum gravity theories still constitute complete, self-contained descriptions of the history of the universe. In other words there isn’t a need for an external deity to bring these events into fruition at that moment.
The argument can go back and forth with no end due to unanswered questions such as “why are we here, why there is something opposed to nothing, etc…” with the answer for most obviously being god. This is not an answer in its own right. As Carroll most truthfully put it “There can be no answer to such a question.” Humans operate on a third dimensional plane with the universe containing 12 dimensions. Throwing in the multiverse theory makes this even more complicated in and of itself. It isn’t arrogant to admit that some things human may never get the answer for will remain unknown. Attributing the unknown to an imaginary deity doesn’t solve any riddles; rather makes us more ignorant from finding out a possible answer. It is better to say “I don’t know” than I say “I do know and I can even tell you where you go when you die…”
Carroll stated that people believe that the answer lies in just attributing these mysteries to a deity really doesn’t help the explanation, it only confuses it:
“Most scientists … suspect that the search for ultimate explanations eventually terminates in some final theory of the world, along with the phrase ‘and that’s just how it is. People who find this unsatisfying are failing to treat the entire universe as something unique — something for which a different set of standards is appropriate. A complete scientific theory that accounts for everything in the universe doesn’t need an external explanation in the same way that specific things within the universe need external explanations. Wrapping another layer of explanation (i.e., God) around a self-contained theory of everything would just be an unnecessary complication.”
It is true what that the god hypothesis was used in ancient times to follow rules and starve off the fear of death. As in ancient times, the belief system still stands today as people blindly follow these guidelines as to secure a place in the afterlife to escape from the toilsome trek in our physical life. As Daniel Kruger, evolutionary psychologist from the University of Michigan puts it “”We’re not designed at the level of theoretical physics. What matters to most people is what happens at the human scale, relationships to other people, things we experience in a lifetime.” Whatever the case may be, the intelligent thing to do in the author’s opinion is to be honest and state reality using rationality, logic and common sense: there are things in the universe that are unknown and perhaps we will never know. It is better to truthfully not know, than to believe a fantasy claiming that one assumes exists. Perhaps science may not answer all of the questions, but it is answering the question that more and more people are finding out the hard way: our concept of a creator god is not correct….
References
http://preposterousuniverse.com/writings/dtung/
Natalie Wolchover. “Big Bang Was Actually a Phase Change, New Theory Says.” Lifeslittlemysteries.com (August 2012).
Charles Q. Choi. “7 theories on the origin of life.” Live Science (March 2011).
Natalie Wolchover. “Cram Session: Parallel Universes in 200 Words.” Lifeslittlemysteries.com (April 2012).
Natalie Wolchover. “Will Science Someday Rule Out the Possibility of God?” Live Science (September 2012).
Hitchens, Christopher. God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything. Twelve Books (May 2007).
Dawkins, Richard. The God Delusion. Mariner Books (January 2008)
Astrada, James W. The “Nonsense Papers” 2012 and Beyond: UFO Anthology Volume One. iUniverse.com (September 2012).
© Copyright 2012. James Astrada.