In the past I’ve been known to claim my religion is Norse. I was basically
treating the whole idea of religion as a joke, which isn’t really all that
useful. I’ve been doing some thinking and I’ve come up with some slightly more
mature ideas on the subject. My new collection of beliefs have all
of the aspects of religion that I view as positive, without some of the stuff I
don’t think is so great. Let's talk about it.
If I had to
sum up my beliefs in one word it would be pantheism. Basically, I see God as
being indistinguishable from the universe and its laws. God isn’t a great word
since it implies an amount of anthropomorphization, so it would be more
accurate to say that I feel the universe possesses a level of divinity. I’m
awed by many aspects of the universe; the consistency and power of mathematics,
the grace and opportune qualities of the physical laws, the beauty and
efficiency of nature, and the seemingly endless breadth and depth of the
universe. I wouldn’t say that I worship these things, because I don’t have any
sort of rituals or observances, but my regard goes beyond a simple appreciation
of science and nature. Close inspection or reflection on everything I perceive
can cause simultaneous feelings of wonder, excitement, disbelief, and warmth. The
ability of my mind to comprehend concepts from infinity to simple geometry
(there is no such thing as a straight line in our physical reality, they exist
only as an idea, which is fantastic), the way simple rules can be used to predict or
achieve complex actions (like understanding the orbits of the planets, and
then landing robots on those planets), the myriad of systems that work together
in biological organisms (me for instance) to perform even simple operations
(like closing my hand) or between organisms (like gut bacteria; I have an
ecosystem inside me), and the fact that the universe simultaneously has no edge
and has continued to produce ever smaller particles (wave-particles, or
whatever they prefer to be called) as fast as we can find them (it’s turtles
all the way down, but also all the way up) are just a few examples of things
that fill me with amazement.
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| I love giant space cameras |
My faith in the existence of these
things (I’ve never seen an atom and haven’t personally dissected animals to see
how their organs work) is very important to me. This faith isn’t just believing
what scientists tell me. I also fully accept causality (that causes lead to
effect), persistence (that the backs of objects are still there even if I can’t
see them or that the laws of gravity will continue to function in the same way),
and that my senses give me an accurate representation of the world. These may
not seem like concepts that can be doubted to most people, but I’m not most
people. I’m some sort of crappy pretend philosopher who writes rubbish on the
internet. I’ve always had a strong skeptical streak (I once failed a true of
false quiz about the Titanic, not because I didn’t know the answers, but because
I was doubting our ability to site history as absolute fact), and I could easily fall into a solipsistic world view. My beliefs are
an active choice, made because they make my universe more stupendous. They also
have quite a bit of utility (it is hard to pursue pleasure if you don’t believe
in the existence of your body).
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| This could be a fake picture and I would never know |
This whole “religion” thing is
based around my abnormal view of the world. I mean, I lost sleep the other
night because I was so excited about a number series that I had thought up
(numbers that are the least common multiple of sequential numbers: 1, 2, 6, 12,
60, 60, 420, 840…). Another good example is the fact that I write
introspective essays and post them on the internet. Speaking of which, I think
this is enough for one go, so, TO BE CONTINUED.
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