“Purpose” as a Natural Feature of the Universe part1
Mon, 01/21/2008 - 20:50 — admin
TEACHER: Yes. So what we're speaking of, then, is atomism, or mechanistic materialism. It is the philosophy that everything within this world is operating according to given laws of nature, and that these natural laws themselves are the root cause of everything within our experience. A classic example of this type of thinking can be found in the person of Pierre Simon de la Place. He was a brilliant l9th century mathematician who viewed the universe simply as a cloud or mass of solid little atomic particles which pushed and pulled against each other in terms of Newton's laws. His idea was that their movement governed all the events within the universe. He mathematically calculated the orbits of the planets and offered for the first time an explanation of why some of them orbited in an oblong rather than perfectly circular fashion. When he presented this hypothesis to Napoleon, who was quite fond of him, Napoleon inquired, “Where does God fit into your system?” La Place replied, “Sire, I have no need of that hypothesis”.10 La Place was adamant that everything within the universe was taking place simply as a result of the interaction of tiny atomic particles.
This theory is no longer tenable, especially if we consider at face value the many developments in quantum mechanics and subatomic physics. One thing we can understand from these discoveries is that there is not the sort of one-to-one correspondence between events and the cause of those events that this theory demands. No viable theory has been worked out by physicists to explain how the "probabilities" of subatomic events are translated into the laws of nature we observe in the world at large.11
Let us return to your statement that the universe as a whole has no purpose, although there are purposive events within it. Since we began with the traditional analogy comparing the universe to a gigantic or immense machine, let us stick to this analogy.
Let us consider a watch. Within a wristwatch, several events take place for the sake of given ends, just as they do in the universe. The mainspring unwinds for the purpose of driving a specific gear, which in turn drives another gear. One gear causes the second hand to move. Another gear, the minute hand, and so on. There are, within the internal mechanisms of a watch, numerous purposive activities, as there are within any machine.
Now my question to you is this: If we describe all these purposive events without making any mention of a specific purpose for the watch itself, are we not neglecting something very important? Can we isolate the purposive events taking place inside the watch from the overall purpose of the watch as a complete unit?
Most people who have actually experienced leaving their bodies and existing outside their bodies no longer identify their bodies as themselves. They know that they can and will exist without the body. They no longer view death as the end of their existence.MICHAEL: Now I see your point. So the argument has weight only if the type of purposeless system we are speaking of has come into existence by chance or accident.
Science of Identity Foundation – Chris Butler Speaks
TEACHER: Yes. So what we're speaking of, then, is atomism, or mechanistic materialism. It is the philosophy that everything within this world is operating according to given laws of nature, and that these natural laws themselves are the root cause of everything within our experience. A classic example of this type of thinking can be found in the person of Pierre Simon de la Place. He was a brilliant l9th century mathematician who viewed the universe simply as a cloud or mass of solid little atomic particles which pushed and pulled against each other in terms of Newton's laws. His idea was that their movement governed all the events within the universe. He mathematically calculated the orbits of the planets and offered for the first time an explanation of why some of them orbited in an oblong rather than perfectly circular fashion. When he presented this hypothesis to Napoleon, who was quite fond of him, Napoleon inquired, “Where does God fit into your system?” La Place replied, “Sire, I have no need of that hypothesis”.10 La Place was adamant that everything within the universe was taking place simply as a result of the interaction of tiny atomic particles.
This theory is no longer tenable, especially if we consider at face value the many developments in quantum mechanics and subatomic physics. One thing we can understand from these discoveries is that there is not the sort of one-to-one correspondence between events and the cause of those events that this theory demands. No viable theory has been worked out by physicists to explain how the "probabilities" of subatomic events are translated into the laws of nature we observe in the world at large.11
Let us return to your statement that the universe as a whole has no purpose, although there are purposive events within it. Since we began with the traditional analogy comparing the universe to a gigantic or immense machine, let us stick to this analogy.
Let us consider a watch. Within a wristwatch, several events take place for the sake of given ends, just as they do in the universe. The mainspring unwinds for the purpose of driving a specific gear, which in turn drives another gear. One gear causes the second hand to move. Another gear, the minute hand, and so on. There are, within the internal mechanisms of a watch, numerous purposive activities, as there are within any machine.
Now my question to you is this: If we describe all these purposive events without making any mention of a specific purpose for the watch itself, are we not neglecting something very important? Can we isolate the purposive events taking place inside the watch from the overall purpose of the watch as a complete unit?