Do you believe in some sort of God, higher being, creator?
 

What would happen if we created a computer simulation with various smart evolving Artificial Intelligences? We don't give them any data about us, as far as they know we don't exist. Would they eventually ask themselves why they exist. Would they begin to believe they were created... would they form religions... go to war over their beliefs? However long it takes, eventually the AI's would have one idea for the answer to their existence. If their answer was that they were created by a superior being, I think we can safely say that we were created by a superior being.

Are we intelligences calculating existence for God/our creator(s) to understand their existence?

If you believe in evolution then you don't necessarily believe you were 'created' by a superior being. You more or less believe that you have evolved from prior beings, you being the current 'superior' being as you are alive and the past is dead.

There is no possible way that we aren't. We can't just appear from nothing. We have a creator, the rest is logistics.

Of course I am obliged by law to ask the simplest question that will always beat that logic.

Who created the creator?

Which, by its nature, is an infinitely recursive question.

To which die hard christians will reply...

He has always been there, always watching and waiting.. We're his children and he has always been looking down over us

BOLOGNA

I like to think of our existence as being on an infinate conveyor belt that just looops at half of infinity and goes back around, never stopping.

I'm not sure, but it makes logical sense to think that God is on a differnt plane of existence, being that this was created for us, and He is on another level outside of this zone we can comprehend. I know it's a fun concept, but it makes sense to me. Saying there is no creator/God I feel is silly, as we cannot have just appeared from nowhere.

Evolution... We didn't appear out of no where, we evolved over millions of years into what we are today. In another million years we will look 150% different then we do today.

Ever see the episode of The Simpsons when Lisa makes an entire civilization with a soda can? What if our god is like that, just some dork with a big brain, and we are starting to get to smart for our boots so he plans on ending our existence in 2012.

If we fast forward about 1000 years or so, and imagine the technology we would have in that time, an entire colony of people could equal an ant farm that a child owns.

If you think about how small we are, what stopping us from just being some experiment in a laboratory?

I like to think my personality, what makes me me, isn't the result of pond scum evolving into me.

According to christianity god knows everything you do before you even think it. His plan is working perfectly and you are his pawn. When he is done with you he tosses you aside 6ft under. If he wants to to choke you choke, if he wants you to sing you'll sing. According to christianity you are nothing but zombies walking the earth and are nothing more then a crazy sadistic moron's imgination of.. the eprfect world.

If evolutionary theory is correct, we're all just slaves to hormones, instincts, and different biological algorithims. I don't really see much difference.

God:
Controls your ever move, makes you think what you think, makes you do what you do. (no control)

Evolution:
Slaves to hormones, instints, and different biological algorithims. (control)

With one, someone is basically pulling your strings and making you type what you are typing, it is not you decided I want to say this hahaha, It is god.

In the other, you are basically your own man. You follow a destined path of death and evolve but, in the end - you get to where you needed to be. We adapted to weak fingertips, so we evolved over time and grew fingernails. Not because some man made us do it. But because we found that without them we were a weaker species.

according to Christian extremists, not all of us believe that. The bible was set in place as an example of how to better our lives, and live in the "grace of God". We also believe in free will, which prohibits God from directly interfering with our lives.

God isn't supposed to be "pulling all the strings like a puppet." The christian philosopher Augustine introduced us to the importance of "will." In fact, a big part of religious philosophy is making our OWN choices and dealing with the consequences.

Also, you gain purpose. The purpose suggested by Augustine is that we were created to "love and be loved." Hell, that's better than being a shitstain on the universe. I'm not saying I totally believe in divine intervention, but it sure seems a lot of a lot better.

No offense but how can you speak on behalf of Christianity if you don't know anything about it? You have said that the Bible predicts California is going to break off from the United States, (The Bible does not state that anywhere.) and you have also said that the Bible predicts that the earth will end in 2012. The Bible didn't predict that either, people think that because the Mayan calender stops in 2012.

Maybe you should read the Bible before you say you know what's in it. ;)

Your assuming he read the same Bible as you. You do know there are multitudes of branches of religion, and many of them have a book called The Bible...

edit: Also I am just making the assumption that he did read that in a bible of some sorts. Of course he could be making false statements...

Well, he seems to be speaking on behalf of a Christian in most of his posts, so I would assume he's talking about the Christian Bible.

If he read the Quran (The Muslim Bible) and is talking about what the Christian Bible says, then we've got some problems...

I didn't read any bible, nor do I plan to. However, when my grandmother died my mom went really religeous on us boys and forced us to go to church and watch religious programs on the tv. On one of the programs I was watching It was talking about this 'book', or 'article' or something or another that has been predicted everything that has happened in the world thus far. That is where I got the idea that in 2009 CA goes away, and in 2012 the world ends.

Reread my posts, I'm pretty sure I said "bible or something like that." I'm not gonna make a specific claim I know nothing about, but if I did, then ram it up my ass till I say uncle..

That doesn't mean all, most, or even 33.333% of Christians believe that. I'm not really a "christian", but I believe there's a pretty decent possibility there's something beyond this fickle existance. I really hope so, at least.

That truly is the great thing about this situation us living creatures are in. If this is afterlife, wow, awesome, caught me off guard. But if there is not, you wont even know it so it wont matter at all.




heh... Imagine if you did die, and your last state of brain was your afterlife, because your brain no longer had anything move in it... so if you die instantly while awake, would the rest of eternity be that one last thought?