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Spinoza’s God: Einstein believed in it, but what was it?

prospectmagazine.co.uk

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Re: Spinoza’s God: Einstein believed in it, but what was it?

#11

Post by wonderwonder »

forgotmypw17 wrote: post #3

Every moment of our existence brings about a certain amount of suffering, and a certain amount of joy. Depending on our choices and intentions, the amounts of joy and suffering for both us and other viewpoints varies. I believe that Universe is continuously solving for the maximum sum amount of joy from all the viewpoints combined. Of course, a certain amount of suffering is required to bring about the joy, whether b…

You seem to be espousing tenants similar to 'The Secret'. Which if that's what you believe, more power to you; each to their own. I tend to think the opposite though, I think the universe tends towards death, and suffering. In the absence of concerted effort death and suffering is the result. Only through hard work and effort is the chance for happiness attained. Although I guess my ideas also seem to espouse 'The Secret', just focused on a different view point.

Re: Spinoza’s God: Einstein believed in it, but what was it?

#13

Post by lalaland1125 »

It seems like the main purpose of Spinoza's God is to have an unfalsifiable God.

The problem with other Gods like the Christian God is that they tend to come with requirements about the world that are easy to disprove. For example, the Christian God is not very compatible with the existence of natural evil. By removing all of those implications and other attributes, you arrive a Spinoza's God, a God so vague / powerless that it cannot be argued against.

Re: Spinoza’s God: Einstein believed in it, but what was it?

#14

Post by wonderwonder »

Giorgi wrote: post #12

it"s pretty much "scared atheist's" apology for a god

I don't know, kind of struck me as god in the machine or algorithm approach. Everything works together to create an outcome but the process is unknowable but assumed to be weighted towards kindness. I identify as an athiest and I don't hate it.

Re: Spinoza’s God: Einstein believed in it, but what was it?

#15

Post by garbagetime »

NikolaeVarius wrote: post #8
EMM_386 wrote: post #4

I am extremely scientific and I believe in god. Not quite Spinoza's, more of a pantheistic view. If you think about it, the universe is conscious, because our conscious minds are part of it. And it's learning about itself.

> If you think about it, the universe is conscious, because our conscious minds are part of it Hell of a leap. I subscribe to the notion the consciousness is a illusion via chemical whatever and the universe doesn't give a damn anyway.

What does it mean for consciousness to be an illusion?

Re: Spinoza’s God: Einstein believed in it, but what was it?

#16

Post by luckyandroid »

mynameisash wrote: post #7
EMM_386 wrote: post #4

I am extremely scientific and I believe in god. Not quite Spinoza's, more of a pantheistic view. If you think about it, the universe is conscious, because our conscious minds are part of it. And it's learning about itself.

> If you think about it, the universe is conscious, because our conscious minds are part of it This seems like quite a leap. Parts of the earth are conscious, so is the earth conscious? Parts of the universe are alive, so is the universe alive? Every member of my family is conscious*, but I wouldn't say that "my family" is conscious. *Solipsism notwithstanding

The universe is a system. We a part of that system. So any traits we have are inherently traits that the universe has, even if parts of it don't share it. A human has a hand, the hand is part of the human, but the rest of the human is not necessarily a hand.

Re: Spinoza’s God: Einstein believed in it, but what was it?

#17

Post by EMM_386 »

seiferteric wrote: post #6
EMM_386 wrote: post #4

I am extremely scientific and I believe in god. Not quite Spinoza's, more of a pantheistic view. If you think about it, the universe is conscious, because our conscious minds are part of it. And it's learning about itself.

I don't believe in any particular god but I do think that the universe and our experience is ultimately unexplainable. So science can never have these answers therefore I am open to theistic arguments but ultimately even these arguments are unsatisfying because it just moves the level of unexplainability up one more level... who created god?

> who created god

That is why whatever that "thing" is, that's full-stop. That's why we refer to it as god.

It requires no explanation, it must be. It's sort of like asking "why do we have something instead of nothing?".

Because apparently that's the way it must be.

That sounds crazy to scientifically-minded people, myself included, because we want answers to everything. But the turtles will go all the way down until you just decide that there is a "god", whatever that is, and it is necessary.

And here we are.

Re: Spinoza’s God: Einstein believed in it, but what was it?

#18

Post by darkerside »

Barrin92 wrote: post #9

>For one thing, it manages to create a profound metaphysical intimacy with God without denying His transcendence. this kind of thinking which I often see when people express pantheistic views is exactly what turns me away from it. It's just as much of an anthropomorphization as the article accuses traditional conceptions of God of. I guess you can think that the universe is in some vague sense conscious, although I d…

There's a tiny part of your brain called the Ego that thinks it is human and special. The rest of your brain knows you are just part of the universe. Inextricably so, from before birth to after death. One and the same, like a drop of water returning to the ocean. What could be more intimate than that?

Re: Spinoza’s God: Einstein believed in it, but what was it?

#19

Post by badinfo »

forgotmypw17 wrote: post #3

Every moment of our existence brings about a certain amount of suffering, and a certain amount of joy. Depending on our choices and intentions, the amounts of joy and suffering for both us and other viewpoints varies. I believe that Universe is continuously solving for the maximum sum amount of joy from all the viewpoints combined. Of course, a certain amount of suffering is required to bring about the joy, whether b…

I'm imagining The Universe™ sitting in front of a crusty old interdimensional space laptop, thumbs-upping your actions in the ol' Fatebook once in a while. Probably The Universe™ ran out of space cats and you were the next best thing. What a fortunate turn of events.

Re: Spinoza’s God: Einstein believed in it, but what was it?

#20

Post by ImprobableTruth »

NikolaeVarius wrote: post #8
EMM_386 wrote: post #4

I am extremely scientific and I believe in god. Not quite Spinoza's, more of a pantheistic view. If you think about it, the universe is conscious, because our conscious minds are part of it. And it's learning about itself.

> If you think about it, the universe is conscious, because our conscious minds are part of it Hell of a leap. I subscribe to the notion the consciousness is a illusion via chemical whatever and the universe doesn't give a damn anyway.

How could you possibly deny the existence of your subjective experience? This is just utterly incomprehensible to me.
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