Is consciousness among an unconscious world evidence for God?
Posted on: August 9, 2010 - 6:44am
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Is consciousness among an unconscious world evidence for God?
No other thing or creature that we know of has an awareness like mankind. No thing or creature has consciousness like mankind. Isn't consciousness among an unconscious world evidence of a divine nature from a divine creator? Among all the unconscious natural world isn't the very fact that we are able to deny God a supernatural act in favor of his existence.
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No. We have not even properly defined consciousness yet. Do some animals have consciousness expressed through communication, empathy displays, teamwork and a sense of self? They clearly do - particularly the great apes. Elephants, whales and dolphins seem to as well, though none are as well developed as we see in humans.
What you are really saying is does something that is inexplicable about the observable world allow me to suppose something that I cannot possibly know - the existence of a supernatural creative being existing outside the universe - in order to create a cognitive shortcut that saves me from the challenge of accepting there are things I cannot know.
I think not.
"Experiments are the only means of knowledge at our disposal. The rest is poetry, imagination." Max Planck
Wow, you sure like to through up random assertions without evidence. Hope you are planning on sticking around to explain them. Are animals really unconscious? As an avid hunter I think animals are a lot smarter, aware and emotional than most people give them credit for. Especially when you are talking about the larger mammals, they are quite developed. And again, even if your random assertion was somehow true that does not prove a divine creator. It only proves humans are that much more advanced than our fellow species.
If, if a white man puts his arm around me voluntarily, that's brotherhood. But if you - if you hold a gun on him and make him embrace me and pretend to be friendly or brotherly toward me, then that's not brotherhood, that's hypocrisy.- Malcolm X
No.
Are you a drive-by theist who posts 3 or 4 posts on an atheist board then never comes back to follow-up? If you don't answer, I think the answer is yes.
“Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid.”
..........No. But your ideas on an unconscience world sound different enough, so stick around and tell us more. Mostly I like the real world so when your devine creator becomes real, you would let me know please.
"Very funny Scotty; now beam down our clothes."
VEGETARIAN: Ancient Hindu word for "lousy hunter"
If man was formed from dirt, why is there still dirt?
Other creatures have awareness. Some can even process abstract information. Sure, we're the best . . . just like cheetahs are the best at running, whales are the best at eating tons of plankton and krill, sharks are the best at making fishy bad guys in movies (though Piranha 3D is coming out soon! Huzzah!), and so on. Different animals have different skills, and some are the best at what they do. We just happen to be the best at abstract thought.
As for the rest of the universe: we've not explored any of the universe. We haven't even finished exploring our own tiny portion of the universe. There are at least 100 billion stars in our galaxy alone. There are at least 80 billion galaxies.
So tell me -- how is it you came to the conclusion that no thing or creature has consciousness like mankind? How is it you assume this is an "unconscious" world? (And what exactly do you mean by that?)
And how is it evidence of anything divine at all? Why isn't it simply evidence that, once life emerges, intelligence is likely to emerge, and the first species to specialize in intelligence is going to ask, "Why am I the only one that has specialized in intelligence?" Isn't that like the first person across the finish line looking around, seeing she is the only one there, and asking, "Wow! Am I the only one in the race?"
"Yes, I seriously believe that consciousness is a product of a natural process. I find that the neuroscientists, psychologists, and philosophers who proceed from that premise are the ones who are actually making useful contributions to our understanding of the mind." - PZ Myers
Consciousness is like Pointillism paintings. Look up close and it looks like a lot of meaningless dots, but look at the whole picture and it seems like more.