Question of Evil
May. 6th, 2008 03:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jackIf you were the God, and all possible parallel universes existed side-by-side, what would you do? Would you delete most, or transform them into copies of the one where people were happiest? Or let them run?
To me, that thought experiment relates to several questions:
* The problem of evil "If God existed, and were omnipotent and good, why would he let there be bad things". If you can even conceive of God not reordering all his universes to be "best", that is one possible answer to the question. (Not that I think that's true, but it's possibly a rebuttal to the argument that "There are bad things, therefore God is at most two of good, omnipotent, and existing")
* A logical extension of local morality. People naturally care more for people close to them (both friends, and people similar to them, and people physically closer to them). To a greater or lesser extent depending on circumstance. This has bad effects, that far away tragedies can get ignored, but good effects, that people can choose to help some people close to them, even if this is a drop in the ocean compared to everything else, but a lot better than just freezing up. But if all possible parallel universes existed, it would make it obvious how every thing you chose to do was an essentially arbitrary decision about how people close to you matter more than everyone else,
To me, that thought experiment relates to several questions:
* The problem of evil "If God existed, and were omnipotent and good, why would he let there be bad things". If you can even conceive of God not reordering all his universes to be "best", that is one possible answer to the question. (Not that I think that's true, but it's possibly a rebuttal to the argument that "There are bad things, therefore God is at most two of good, omnipotent, and existing")
* A logical extension of local morality. People naturally care more for people close to them (both friends, and people similar to them, and people physically closer to them). To a greater or lesser extent depending on circumstance. This has bad effects, that far away tragedies can get ignored, but good effects, that people can choose to help some people close to them, even if this is a drop in the ocean compared to everything else, but a lot better than just freezing up. But if all possible parallel universes existed, it would make it obvious how every thing you chose to do was an essentially arbitrary decision about how people close to you matter more than everyone else,
no subject
Date: 2008-05-12 05:35 pm (UTC)- go and have a lovely holiday on a Scottish island, get friendly help from total strangers, and get in the habit of smiling and acknowledging everyone I passed (I say lovely holiday because I was consequently in a good/happy mood)
- return to southampton via rush-hour London (yay sleeper trains) and find myself on busy trains with this attitude of smiling/nodding at people and finding that they were all stonewalling like I (and everyone else) were so many trees, and quickly back off into doing the same myself
- shortly after that read about the monkeysphere
so I guess I fed the monkeysphere thing straight into my recent experiences. it's still stuck with me though. i also think of it when my sweet gentle sister is swearing at the other drivers down the motorway...
no subject
Date: 2008-05-13 12:11 am (UTC)Although come to think of it, there are actually very practical reasons to be blank on the tube: not getting trapped into a conversation if you'd rather not. (There's definitely also a monkeysphere inability to empathise with fifty people at once, and an embarrassment at singling someone out.) But is there any good way of saying "Hi, hey, I'm human, I hope you're having a good day, but I don't want to talk"? Maybe wearing earphones, but nodding/smiling at people?