Responding to this article on yet another religious nutjob who thinks evolution is "just a theory" but in this case feels he has faced nutty discrimination for a job at the University of Kentucky.
There's an intriguing theory penned a few years ago by Nick Bostrom at Oxford University titled "The Simulation Argument" which posits that we're living in a Matrix-type reality. It has been discussed widely on the web and appeared on MSNBC. It's a theory batted around by philosophers all the time, e.g. are we brains in vats? Or in this permutation, are we living in The Sims? To me, this is essentially a Creationist argument with a downside: God is a gamer.
(Didn't you sort of suspect it all this time??)
Point is, it remains a compelling logical syllogism that gives a 99.9~% chance of probability if you follow the narrative. How might spiritualists 2000 years ago try to explain this insight without a useful technological metaphor?
Not to fall victim to the fallacy of probably - that just because something has a high probability of happening it did - but the same can be said for other theories of how we got here. The truth is out there. Perhaps WAY out there. We don't have to agree with each other to have reasoned and spirited debates. I like to imagine that if indeed we are living in an ancestor simulation that we're not provided that fact because it would seriously affect the already chaotic variables in the complex adaptive system we call human civilization.
But it doesn't matter now because the whole shebang is shutting down on December 21, 2012. At least according to the Mayans. Better hurry and level up, folks.
As I recall, Ph.D. means Doctor of Philosophy. We all need to defend the academy against dogma in whatever form and encourage our right to noodle on deep questions. Just because it isn't your primary field does not mean you cannot weigh in. Same for everyone else (though PLEASE cite your sources!) Personally, I find evolution compelling by what to my mind is overwhelming evidence, but we'll only be able to rigorously repeat the experiment when we have more powerful simulation technology and us "sims" are allowed to think for ourselves.
Or take the blue pill. Your choice. It's still a free country, right? [Could someone kindly help me with this citation? Someone not from U. of Kentucky?]
So if you're celebrating the birth of the world's most famous liberal Jew this season, praise Him for not making us have to code.
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Some things I don't get about the arguments for and against:
1) Ok, I get it, evolution is a theory both by name and as accepted by scientists. But what is "creationism"? Is it a theory? A postulate? What is "creationism"? Is it not a religious belief? So many want to suggest that somehow it is scientists vs., um, well, who exactly? All people who have faith in a god? Really? Is there like a union of the faithful who speak with one voice about creationism? Do all people everywhere believe in The Bible as the word for word literal truth? Isn't "creationism" really only a theory of those who believe in The Bible? Wait, do Muslims believe in the creation story? How about Hindus? Taoists?
2) Why are evolution and creation at odds with one another? Does evolutionary theory have any problem with the creation story? If X evolved into Y evolved into Z, is it not true that one could say that Z is the result of X? So if the creation story says that man was created by God from dirt, do evolutionary scientists debate that?
So, in the end, isn't this really about some Christians (not all), who argue against a scientific theory, and that those scientists are ok with that? Who has the problem here? And does the theory change their faith? I'd think not--that's why they call it "faith."
3) As for the Matrix and the like, the logic to me is that these newer stories play off of Bible stories. I don't see it as the other way around. Mankind has been telling that kind of story for a long time.
4) And as for me, I'm ok with being part of the grand experiment. And isn't that, in some ways, faith?
Thanks for more thought-provoking thoughts.
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