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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?

#91

Post by Galaxeblaffer »

NikolaeVarius wrote: post #68
toolz wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have intimate relationships with rocks? and if so can you describe what that relationship is like? Does your conscious self acknowledge this relationship or are you just speaking in some metaphysical sense that is completely intangible?

Like I said, people have intimate relations with dolls, 3d waifus, and goddamn robot dogs. Its extremely closed minded to think intimate relations are limited to human -> human interactions https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/intimate Nothing in the definition requires two humans

And rocks I'm sure

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

#92

Post by wonderwonder »

beaconstudios wrote: post #88
wonderwonder wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 Se…

Your position is basically that of Camus' absurdism, if you wanted to dig further into the philosophy.

Thank you, I will check it out

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

#93

Post by LesZedCB »

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

your family might not be on our human plane of conciousness

but, a family might make decisions to prolong it's lifespan and reproduce itself. like the parts of our bodies, stomach, brain, eyes work to achieve these goals for ourselves, the family members likewise engage in similar decision making in it's own self-interest.

it can engage and interact with society as a unit, though it is comprised of distinct actors.

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

#94

Post by bobthechef »

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…

> It's just as much of an anthropomorphization as the article accuses traditional conceptions of God of.

For the record (just to clarify the overall context), the traditional conception of God, in the Catholic view, is not anthropomorphic. From metaphysical analysis, God is the Ipsum Esse Subsistens, the Subsistent Act of Existing Itself[0]. You see this declared in the Torah in Exodus 3:14[0]. Faith only enters into the picture with the identification of the God of Scripture with the God of philosophy, but it is not much of a leap given the agreement between the two.

That God is personal does not imply anthropomorphism. That the Logos became incarnate does not imply anthropomorphism.

Also, w.r.t. "God without denying His transcendence", the traditional Christian view of God is one who is both transcendent and immanent.

[0] https://www.newadvent.org/summa/1003.htm#article4

[1] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus+3:14&ver...

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

#95

Post by andybak »

anthk wrote: post #32

I'm tired of these anti-scientific threads pushing superstituous nonsense as science.

Would you feel that way about an article on metaphysics or any other branch of philosophy outside of mathematical logic?

How about ethics, anthropology or another branch of the humanities that isn't amenable to the scientific method?

I suppose I'm asking where you draw the line between "distinct from the sciences" and "anti-scientific"?

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

#97

Post by forgotmypw17 »

keithnz wrote: post #51
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…

Universe solving for the maximum sum amount of joy? Universe is setup such that many things will form, then ultimately be annihilated. suffering is such that it can instantly end joy. Joy has to do a lot of work to end suffering. Entropy generally brings about suffering, joy requires a lot of energy to create situations that relieve / protect from suffering temporarily. So the universe seems more optimized for suffer…

In my opinion, the abundance of darkness is what makes the light so special and joyful.

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

#98

Post by forgotmypw17 »

wonderwonder wrote: post #11
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 Se…

Have you heard that there is no objective reality, that each of us is living their own subjective experience, a reflection of our own mental models?

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

#99

Post by [deleted] »

toolz wrote: post #30
darkerside wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

To follow this line of thinking, are you suggesting I can have an intimate relationship with a rock? If you're not speaking to the point about intimacy, what point are you speaking to, because your post isn't very clear what point, if any, you were trying to make.

[deleted]

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

#100

Post by forgotmypw17 »

7373737373 wrote: post #23
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 wondering whether there is a metaphysical law of conservation of valence - where positive qualia have to be balanced by negative ones in some way > When I set my intentions for maximum joy and follow through on them, the Universe "likes" and "assists" this in amazing and miraculous ways, which bring about even more joy, and so on. > I believe that Universe is continuously solving for the maximum sum amount of joy…

I think it is easy to form a bleak picture of the world when one is feeling bleak themselves.

You are of course correct that there is no universal truth, and each of us is living their own reality.

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