Re: Ch. 1 - The Mystery of Being
Posted: Sun Oct 24, 2010 3:32 pm
From Do You Plan to Participate in this Discussion?
Building on the ability of modern science to provide an ultimate and absolute factual cosmology to the extent we need one, what is at issue is that scientific knowledge provides us with enormous quantities of data, but meaning and significance refer to how we process this data, how we develop a theory of value.
As I see it, the challenge within a theory of meaning is to see how we can base values on facts, how we can assign significance to the most important evidence and develop objective criteria to rank the importance of evidence.
Speculating beyond our knowledge to imagine a turtle at the bottom of the universe is frustrating and pointless. However, the case can be made that the old Indian myth of Kurma the Turtle is a fable based on observation of the Large Magellanic Cloud. This mythological reading brings the infinite imagination of the 'turtles all the way down' type back into the framework of finite observation, enframing cosmology within human ability to find meaning in what we see and know.
I understand that Hawkings' new book includes imaginative speculation on big questions that are beyond human knowledge such as the origin and extent of the universe. I tend to agree with the Buddhist view that "The Buddha who had truly realized the nature of these issues observed noble silence. An ordinary person who is still unenlightened might have a lot to say, but all of it would be sheer conjecture based on his imagination."Jim Watters wrote:I believe Hawking's hypothesis is that life evolved on Earth because we live in a Universe that supports the various chemical bonds (a couple dozen precise physical constants) to allow complex molecules to develop, multiply, evolve and then it's survival of the fittest for billions of years. Our Earth is in a very opportune distance away from our pretty much stable Sun that allows water to evaporate and freeze with active tectonic plates, erosion, and weather patterns to spice things up. Jupiter pretty much protects us from most asteroids.
To me, it all comes down to the Big Bang. Was there absolutely nothing including space and time "before" the Big Bang? Shifting the creation of the Universe to a "Creator" just hides the initial cause. What was "God" doing "before" the Big Bang? Yet people want to find purpose as to why we are here. Sometimes the answer is just pure luck. We evolved into naked apes that had superior brains that would dominate the Earth....scientific objectivity, while necessary, is not sufficient to explain meaning and significance in human life, and that philosophy is needed to enframe science within a wholistic worldview.
Building on the ability of modern science to provide an ultimate and absolute factual cosmology to the extent we need one, what is at issue is that scientific knowledge provides us with enormous quantities of data, but meaning and significance refer to how we process this data, how we develop a theory of value.
As I see it, the challenge within a theory of meaning is to see how we can base values on facts, how we can assign significance to the most important evidence and develop objective criteria to rank the importance of evidence.
Speculating beyond our knowledge to imagine a turtle at the bottom of the universe is frustrating and pointless. However, the case can be made that the old Indian myth of Kurma the Turtle is a fable based on observation of the Large Magellanic Cloud. This mythological reading brings the infinite imagination of the 'turtles all the way down' type back into the framework of finite observation, enframing cosmology within human ability to find meaning in what we see and know.