Basement Chronicles

God, Ltd.

"It is the creative potential itself in human beings that is the image of God."

A two parter: a proposition, and a response.

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I read an article a while ago that for the life of me I cannot find again. So, as usual, my logic and speculation is baseless. But since when did that ever stop me?

It was a paper from a computer scientist talking about the limitations of computation. Not computation as in Internet and email, but computation as in calculation and logical decisions. The article claimed that even if given an infinite amount of time we can only have a finite amount of computation. What it implies is that no matter how fast, powerful, or vast our computer systems become, there will always be a limit to the amount of computation they can do.

I find this an interesting concept. All my life I have witnessed an unimaginable technological improvement in computers. The first computer I ever used I can now emulate through a program on my laptop half its size. Every limitation I've mentally set for processor speed, memory and storage capacity, and network bandwidth has been destroyed and rewritten multiple times. But this theory now says that what I have witnessed is the beginning, and though perhaps far into the future, there will most certainly be a point where we can progress no further. Our science fiction virtual worlds will never become a reality, and we will never be able to simulate the entire universe. There just simply isn't enough time.

This leads me to think: What about our universe? What if for every action there was a decision that governed it? A computation, you could call this. A computation, a calculation for every cause to create every effect.

So, if this is the case, then what is making decisions for every part of the universe?

I think some people call this God. I'll use that, just because its easier to type than 'universal infinite computational element'.

Let us assume that God exists, and that His power is infinite. This means that the universe bends towards His omnipotent will. I know I'm not supposed to assume anything about a god, or God, or anything of that sort because its beyond my limited human intelligence, but hear me out. If He indeed fits this description, then it would be in contradiction with what computer science says about infinite computation, that is, that even in an infinite timespan there is a limited amount of computations one can make. In order to be all-powerful, God would have to make decisions for every particle in the universe at every moment in time. My limited human intelligence has trouble grasping even the exponent used to represent the number of computations required to do this, as do most scientists, who usually give up at this point and just call it 'infinity.'

This tells me that God cannot exist and be all-powerful at the same time. Therefore, God does not have complete control over fate, being a 'limited god,' if such a thing exists.

Not really all that fascinating, but it has to do with the next topic. I cannot decide whether I believe in a god, and I don't believe in creationism or intelligent design at all. Certain aspects of it intrigue me, however. Historically and scientifically the stories of Genesis make no sense, but metaphorically there are a few interesting applications.

For instance: The Bible says that after God created Adam, He sat Adam down and had him name every single animal in the garden.

Why would God do this?

It certainly isn't because He was busy with something else. If there are computer programs that can create pronounceable passwords, then it certainly isn't too difficult a task. Why would He have Adam spend the first half of his life on taxonomy?

Here's what I think.

I think that if God exists, then God works in patterns. By patterns, I mean like patterns in nature. Hexagonal grids appearing in meteorology, electromagnetics, and convection currents. The divine proportion appearing in the Fibonacci sequence, conch shells, and human body part proportions. DNA replication. Universal constants. Matter and anti-matter.

Those are overused and cliched examples, but they are only some of the many patterns that do exist.

This tells me that if God exists, and influenced the creation of the universe (not completely, however), then He did not do it randomly. If it was random, there would be no discernable patterns in nature or otherwise. It would simply be chaos formed.

So then back to the original question: Why would God need Adam to name the animals?

Was it that God could not be random, or 'random enough' to give names to all of His creations? Surely, He was creative enough to come up with every unique animal. Why not names to go with them?

It is because each animal served a logical purpose at time of planning. Each served a necessary function, a place in the complex food chain. They were part of a grander scheme. A pattern, if you will.

But as for what to call them...who knows? Enter Adam. A creative being, created in His 'image,' but flawed to a certain degree and 'less bound by the parameters of perfection.' A being capable of logical reasoning, but at the same time able to make use of imagination and intuition. Sounds like a good tool for the job.

Maybe man's original purpose was not to be the shining star among the animal kingdom. Maybe our story of Genesis shows us in a kinder light than actuality. Maybe we were just random sound generators who happened across a famous tree. At least we had a purpose.

Or maybe God is not that powerful. And maybe He does not exist. We have simply evolved from random bits of goo and we're just as random as the universe around us.

The universe seems a lot kinder with the thought of an ordered universe. It makes more sense because we can wrap our minds around a fantastical story about a god who loves us. But then why when I find myself speculating on the details does the universe fall apart and become as unintelligible as the belief I started with?

The only answer I'm left with is patterns.

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God Unlimited

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I believe I read the same paper or one on the same topic, because there are probably many writings on the subject, technology being the apex of human advancement, or at least that which we can recognize since differences due to our own evolution have not occured fast enough for us, or even for recorded history to take note of.

I'll take run-ons for $1000, Alex.

Computers and their abilities may have served an alternate purpose as our petri dish of sorts, allowing us to take note of something evolve or change as we have. It's evidence perforates society with robotics, and other everyday items which mimic humans, and their progressive abilities. It seemed to me that the article might have been spawned from the train of thought inspired by movies and literature suggesting that computers will one day mutate or evolve to become "self-aware" and a myriad of other adjectives that describe human like psychological traits. This of course is mere speculation as to what will happen with technology and computers in the future. What do you care? As long as your mp3 collection is safe, your hotmail works, and you can check your stock quotes every morning, you're a happy camper. No, of course not, we're always curious to know what more there is, and what else our computer could be able to do. Even though our processors are cranking out more mathematical equations per second than we will ever compute in our lifetimes, we are not satisifed because someone elses's will always work faster. Or will it? According to the theory in this article, not so. Computers processing ability will cease to advance at some point in the future. Good news! Robots don't rule the future! In otherwords, as quaintly put before, our science fiction virtual worlds will never become a reality, and we will never be able to simulate the entire universe. Why not? Beacause as the article says, even given an infinite amount of time, there can only be a finite amount of computation.

Whoa, whoa there young buckey! That depends on what you're talking about. Lets assume all the things my predecessor has except the last: that God cannot exist and be all powerful at the same time. God IS all powerful. To be this way, he DOES have to make decisions for every particle in the universe at every moment in time. This may contradict what Computer Science has to say about computation, depending on how you read it. Computer Science being an authority on computers, was probably talking about computers when this article was published. Think about it. Computers are finite. The one I'm working on stands about two feet tall, eight or so inches wide, and about two feet deep. Those are physical dimensions, or definitions if you will. I charge you to define God. He cannot be defined. You cannot pick him up and say "Here is God." Some people would argue with that saying "God is everything." which I agree with. However, I'm simply appealing to the Earthly reasoning being used here. If God created the universe, which is infinite, what makes you think that he is not infinite? His power, not unlike the number of computations he must make to govern the fate of the universe, is infinite, a concept beyond the limit of human comprehension.

Any discourse or logic attempting to prove the existence or characteristics of God with anything other than spiritually supported faith, is unsubstantiated. This is the closest I can come, and thus, it's all you'll get from me.

So God created the universe. He created Earth and all it's inhabitants. He created Adam. Then he told Adam to name all of the animals. Why? It certainly wasn't because he was too busy. It certainly wasn't because he wasn't random or creative enough to do so himself. And I'll tell you why.

If God was omnipotent, as previously stated, it seems that the ability to name things would be in his power. He created gigantic things like the Earth, Jupiter, the Sun. Things many times bigger than the sun. He created the miracle of life: things that move about by themselves. He created man, with the ability to think, feel, and reason. He created Adam. Wait a sec... God created Adam. God named Adam. See Genesis 5:2. Ah, so he can be random and arbitrary. Unless I'm missing something and there's some sort of functionality and systematic order to why his name is Adam, God chose the name Adam with his own creative scheme.

Arbitrarily. By chance. By his whim.

As for the patterns we see in nature, I can only speculate. Maybe God intended for us to find these hidden patterns, and constants to marvel and speculate at how incredibly the pieces fit together in this 'formed chaos.' But then why when we find ourselves speculating on the details does the universe fall apart and become as unintelligible as the belief we started with?

The only answer I'm left with is chance.