Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Objectivity and the assumption of God's existence

I know the question of God's existence is one that has been argued from both sides for an extremely long portion of our special existence; and I also know that anyone reading this will probably be able to argue for either side of what I present. I am not of the delusion that what I say will change anyone's mind about anything; but, I think I can at least spin the argument a way that perhaps you might not have thought of, yet. But maybe not, we'll see.

We observe things everyday, all day long, all year long, all our life. We never stop, except while sleeping. We do so without thinking about it and we do so in order to assemble an understanding of where we are in the world, how long we might be around, and what we can do or not do to live the longest, healthiest life possible. We observe with our five senses. For most of us, one or another of these five will take a more prominent role than the others in everyday life, but regardless of the comparative ratios of their use, it is only through these input portals that we can observe the world around us and assemble the info we need for life. We have no ability to observe without them. As observers, we stand outside of our observations. If we look at a sunrise over the horizon, we receive the photons of radiant energy from the sun through our eyes. We convert the photons into electrical signals, which then travel into our brains and undergo a process of interpretation wherein we "see" the sunrise. The observation of the sunrise we make, requires our outward vantage. We must observe the sunrise from an objective vantage, not that we purposefully do anything to the contrary. Obviously, we do not subjectively try and alter what we see coming over the horizon, we are just watching the sunrise. If we were to put on sunglasses, then we would be altering our observation subjectively, but our vantage would still be one of objectivity. We would still be removed from the event, only participating in it vicariously through our eyes. I picked a sunrise arbitrarily. The example could have been anything. Observation is an objective enterprise precisely because of the inherent placement of the observer in relation to the observed. If we shine a light on a particle to try and measure it's position, then we alter it's velocity (all particles are in motion). If we measure it's velocity accurately, then we sacrifice our knowledge of it's accurate position. The Heisenberg uncertainty principle exists and would seem counter-intuitive to the idea of objectivity but for the idea that the position of the observer of the particle is what is in question. For each of the proposed measurements (velocity and position), the observer standing away from the particle can garner an accurate and objective reading of one of them at any given moment, thus the objectivity of the observer is unaffected by the heisenberg uncertainty principle, in this case. Again, observation is inherently objective.
Now, back to how we gather our objective information. Remember, we do so through our five physical senses. There is no other path to our gathering data. Intuitive thought, might be popping into your mind right about now, but isn't intuitive thought simply the amalgamation of previously gathered information, stored in our memory and reassembled into previously not thought-of concepts? Intuition is based on our life of observations. So, with observation comes knowledge, or at least information. And objectivity is part and parcel of how we observe things.
So, who here has ever observed god? Most everyone believes they know there is a god, be he/she whatever particular form. You know. You have knowledge. Knowledge comes from observation, not feelings, intuition or whatever you'd like to label it. Observation is objective by it's very nature. So, god, if he were to exist, which he does not, would be required to be objectively observable, which he is not. No one has ever, demonstrably, observed god in action. the best that anyone can say, is they see his handiwork in the makeup of the human condition, or the physical at-large world. But, for sure, an objective observation of god has never been made, nor will it ever be made, because of the very incompatability between the supernatural god and the natural phenomenon of observation. By the definition, we cannot observe something which is supernatural, because it is outside of the natural world. Our senses, being ensconced in the natural world, will never be able to observe something from a supernatural origin. This being the case, and knowing that the only possible way to "know" something is to have observed it at some time (or its foundational components), we can rest assured that if god were to actually exist we would never know it, thus the whole point is a moot one. After all, what good is a god who can have no effect on us and indeed cannot even be known by us. Doesn't make him very god like, if he can't get past his own rules. Stop worshipping something which is wholly pointless, and instead start living the best life possible. Be the good person, religion says you should be, but do so without the shackles of eternal oppression if you don't.

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