Convergence & Summary - (Post 4)

Convergence

So far, we have gone over the idea of monotheism and spirituality in the world, but not on the direct impact on us. I feel I must expand on the convergence of the intelligence and dominance of humankind, and religion or spirituality's role on that. When asked why we humans are intelligent dominating creatures on this earth, most reply communication, use of tools, actions for pleasure, ability to reason, and religion. These are where I shall expand.

In communication, we are not alone. Ants communicate through antennae, birds through squeaks, snakes through body language, and dolphins with vocal chords, just as we do. In use of tools, we are not alone. Chimpanzees use sticks, and spiders use webs, each to catch food. In actions for pleasure, we are not alone. Dolphins mate for pleasure, and dogs play for pleasure. This leaves religion and ability to reason, two things in which we are alone, yet may be very much the same.

In a way, one could say religion is because of the ability to reason, or that the ability to reason is because of religion. When you reason through right or wrong, perhaps even when you reason through the creation of all things, many often revert to religion. Just as when someone looks into religion, they must be able to reason through it all. It is our need to think abstractly and our need to rationalize everything that we turn to religion to piece it all together, and our reasoning leads us to believe ultimately in religion itself. Some claim that even atheism is somewhat turning into a religion, with rationalizing thought, and organizing of followers.

That being said, I believe it is more rational that the ability to reason and abstract thinking came from religion than the other way around, because religion can play a role in the before mentioned ideas of human’s superiority. Religion can communicate thoughts and history, religion can be used as a binding or controlling tool, and religion can be used as an action creating joy. Egyptians for example, used their religion to rationalize the world, control their people, and to record their history- all examples of human intelligence coming out of religion. It almost seems that to be intelligent, to be superior, and to be human is to be religious in one way or another.

The only remaining question is what caused this sensation to begin? I can only imagine the prehistoric human coming across something that they feared yet revered, that human yearning for greater understanding and belief in a higher presence kicked in, and they began worshipping that which they found. Then, as it spread, it encouraged thought and communication while providing comfort and rationality. Scientifically it is the only thing that us from other species and designates us as intelligent. To think is to yearn for belief.

Summary

So now, before I conclude with this first section, we must take a look back at all that has been presented so far. From the laws of physics we have concluded that in order for all the actions and motions in space to be possible, there must have been an initial or constant action from an outside stronger force. From the laws of conservation of mass and energy, something had to have created this expanse of mass, and something must become of our human energy and thoughts that drive us beyond the bounds of our natural capabilities.

From there we looked at the properties of zero and infinity showing the matching properties of both starting with the properties of space, with vast emptiness yet constant expansion, and also the fact that a point in space with zero motion will still move infinitely through the constantly expanding space as well as through time- the forth dimension. Next, we moved to economics, where inflation shows that an infinite number of something would really give it zero value. Mathematics came next showing division and multiplication of both zero and infinity- all coming to the same results.

Next came psychology, where we see that pain leads one to acknowledge happiness, and the world is filled with colors that psychologically make us happy. This showed the unnatural perfections of our behavior and the world to work together to ultimately lead to our happiness. Psychology also showed that over the course of time, and majority in the human race, people have attributed this unnatural perfection to a superior being or God. Then finally, we came to convergence, explaining that religion and the ability to reason are what set us apart from other species in all other ways, and maybe even together.

The evidence to me is unfathomable. Together, all these pieces seem to fit perfectly together to form a puzzle of understanding the reality of a superior force or being. Of course, over time, pieces will be argued for and against, but ultimately the puzzle still points to the same results of the existence of a force or being superior to us, and all the forces of nature. Finally, as in any text about the existence of a God, I must do a basic outline Kurt Godel's Ontological Argument (a mathematical equation that states that on some world or in some universe there is, by necessity a God), which was recently formalized and mathematically “proven” by two computer scientists in Germany. In this model, x represents an object in a given world or universe and P represents an essence of that object, which can represent good or godlike properties. I will list out the equations below, but the meaning of it in the end is that God is that for which no greater can be achieved. Essentially a benchmark. Here it is:

-Definition 1: x is God-like if and only if x has as essential properties those and only those properties which are positive
-Definition 2: A is an essence of x if and only if for every property B, x has B necessarily if and only if A entails B
-Definition 3: x necessarily exists if and only if every essence of x is necessarily exemplified
-Axiom 1: Any property entailed by—i.e., strictly implied by —a positive property is positive
-Axiom 2: A property is positive if and only if its negation is not positive
-Axiom 3: The property of being God-like is positive
-Axiom 4: If a property is positive, then it is necessarily positive
-Axiom 5: Necessary existence is a positive property From these axioms the following theorems are conceived:
-Theorem 1: If a property is positive, then it is consistent, i.e., possibly exemplified.
-Theorem 2: The property of being God-like is consistent.
-Theorem 3: If something is God-like, then the property of being God-like is an essence of that thing.
-Theorem 4: Necessarily, the property of being God-like is exemplified.