thought of the day.437

Not only do we share a common ancestor with chimpanzees, but also reptiles, amphibians, fish, fungi, and bacteria with which we share over 200 genes. All made of the elements created by our even more distant ancestors—the stars.

thought of the day.436

It would seem silly to ask what the meaning of an atom, an ant, or a tree is, so isn’t it just as nonsensical to wonder what the meaning of life is? Aren’t we just atoms in the shape of humans instead of ants? Though certainly an awesome collection of atoms capable of making our own meaning.

thought of the day. 435

The Logical Impossibility of Godhood
“Can a god build a wall so strong that god cannot tear its wall down?
If yes, then it failed. If no, then it failed. Either way, it is logically impossible for omnipotence to exist. This is why I believe an omnipotent god to be impossible. I also don't believe any being not capable of anything (omnipotence) can be considered a god.

“The Epicurean Paradox (or the Logical Problem of Evil).
The Epicurean Paradox is as follows:
A god either wants to eliminate bad things and cannot, or can but does not want to, or neither wishes to nor can, or both wants to and can.
If it wants to and cannot, it is weak -- and this does not apply to a god.
If it can but does not want to, then it is spiteful -- which is equally foreign to a god's nature.
If it neither wants to nor can, it is both weak and spiteful and so not a god.
If it wants to and can, which is the only thing fitting for a god, where then do bad things come from? Or why does it not eliminate them?

“These are two of my problems with god belief.
A god can't be weak because weakness means fallibility and a god must be infallible because a god must be all-knowing. A being can't be considered a god without that being having ultimate knowledge. A god can't be spiteful because spite requires two mental positions of an individual: 1. The individual must have a limited vision, a god cannot have a limited vision because it must be all knowing, and 2. It must have limited power. A god cannot have limited power because a god must be omnipotent. Any being not possessed of ultimate power cannot be called a god.

“This is why when the religious try to convert me they fail at the starting gate: The logical impossibilities are fundamental problems inherent to the idea of god. Their theology doesn't matter in the least because it is built on a logical impossibility. The lame confrontation of the problem of evil that a god "moves in mysterious ways" is equally irrelevant because that doesn't confront the logical impossibility of the god in the first place. Omnipotence is inherently impossible. Omnipotence is necessary for godhood. Godhood is impossible. It doesn't matter what any religious book says or what the chemical reactions in the brain make one feel when one is in ecstasy or meditation, a god is a logical impossibility.”

~ Jonathan McGaha

thought of the day.434

There’s no past and no future — only an ongoing present.