God's Debris Excerpts
“No,” he replied, in a manner that seemed suddenly
coherent. “Every other question has an answer to why. Only
probability is inexplicable.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
and his posture was an ongoing conversation
with gravity. He wasn’t old. He was ancient.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
He continued, “Let me ask you a simple question: Did
you deliver the package or did the package deliver you?”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Then you would agree that delivering the package
required the participation of the package. The package told
you where to go.”
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The old man’s face revealed a life of useful endeavor.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Is awareness like intelligence?” I asked.
“No. Intelligence is a measure of how well you function
within your level of awareness. Your intelligence will stay
about the same over your life. Awareness is entirely different
from intelligence; awareness involves recognizing your
delusions for what they are. Most people’s awareness will
advance one or two levels in their lifetime.”
(chapter 122)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Awareness is about unlearning. It is the recognition
that you don’t know as much as you thought you knew.” (122)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
the first level of awareness
at birth. That is when you first become aware that you exist.
In the second level of awareness you understand that
other people exist. You believe most of what you are told by
authority figures. You accept the belief system in which you
are raised.
At the third level of awareness you recognize that
humans are often wrong about the things they believe. You
feel that you might be wrong about some of your own
beliefs but you don’t know which ones ! Despite your doubts, you
find comforts in your beliefs ! ( chapter 123)
The fourth level is skepticism. You believe the scientific
method is the best measure of what is true and you believe
you have a good working grasp of truth, thanks to science,
your logic, and your senses. You are arrogant when it comes
to dealing with people in levels two and three. ( chapter 124)
The fifth level of awareness is the Avatar. The Avatar
understands that the mind is an illusion generator, not a
window to reality. The Avatar recognizes science as a belief
system, albeit a useful one. An Avatar is aware of God’s
power as expressed in probability and the inevitable recombination
of God consciousness. ( chapter 124)
“I think I’m a fourth-level,” I said, “at least according
to you.”
“Yes, you are a fourth,” he confirmed.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
" How to jump from 4 th level of awareness to 5 the level ? " I asked.
awareness does not come from receiving
new information. It comes from rejecting old information.
You still cling to your fourth-level delusions.”
“I feel vaguely insulted,” I joked.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
People at all levels have the same potential for
being useful.” (125)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“No. Happiness comes more easily at the other levels.
Awareness has its price. An Avatar can find happiness only
in serving.”
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
They ( most effective leaders) convince people to
act against self-interest and pursue the leaders’ visions of the
greater good. Leaders make citizens go to war to seize land
they will never live on and to kill people who have different
religions.”
“Not all leaders are irrational,” I argued.
“The most effective ones are. You don’t often see math
geniuses or logic professors become great leaders. Logic is a
detriment to leadership.” ( 126)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Avatar keeps it so by occasionally introducing
new ideas when needed.”
“Do you think an idea can change the world that
much?” I asked.
“Ideas are the only things that can change the world.
The rest is details.”
( chapter 126)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We talked more about life and energy and probability.
At times I lost the sense of belonging to my own body. It
was as if my consciousness expanded to include items in the
room. I stared at my hand as it rested on the arm of the
rocking chair and watched as the distinctions between wood
and air and hand disappeared. ( 127)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
At times I felt like a kitten
lifted by the fold of skin on the back of my neck, helpless,
safe, transported. (127)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I don’t remember leaving his house or walking to my
van, but I do remember how everything looked. The city
had bright edges. Sound was crisp. Colors were vivid.
Objects seemed more dimensional, as if I could see the sides
and backs from any angle. I heard a phone call being made
a block away and knew both sides of the conversation. I
could feel every variation in airflow. ( 127)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Do you believe in God?” the old man asked, as if we had
known each other forever but had somehow neglected to
discuss that one topic. I assumed he wanted reassurance that
his departure from this life would be the beginning of something
better. I gave a kind answer.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“If God knows what the future holds, then all our choices
are already made, aren’t they? Free will must be an illusion.”
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“God lets us determine the future ourselves, using our free
will,” I explained.
“Then you believe God doesn’t know the future?”
“I guess not,” I admitted. “But he must prefer not
knowing.”
“So you agree that it would be impossible for God to
know the future and grant humans free will?”
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“If God exists, his motives are certainly unfathomable.
No one knows why he grants free will, or why he cares
about human souls, or why pain and suffering are necessary
parts of life.”
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“A brain surgeon would tell you that a specific part of
the brain controls the ability to love. If it’s damaged, people
are incapable of love, incapable of caring about others.”
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------
If you were omnipotent, why would you limit
yourself to something that could be reproduced by a little
clump of neurons?”
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“So you believe God wants things. And he loves things,
similar to the way humans do. Do you also believe God
experiences anger and forgiveness?”
“That’s part of the package,” I said, committing further
to my side of the debate.
“So God has a personality, according to you, and it is
similar to what humans experience?”
“I guess so.”
“What sort of arrogance assumes God is like people?”
he asked.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Are you saying you believe in God because there are no
other explanations?” he asked. ( because Google cannot answer
everything nor answers.yahoo.com)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Yeah, I know. You’re going to say that if he sees his
own future, then his choices are predetermined. Or, if he
can’t see the future, then he’s not omnipotent.”
“Omnipotence is trickier than it seems,” he said.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Can you imagine bent space?” he asked.
“No, but just because I can’t imagine it doesn’t mean
it’s not true. You can’t argue with Einstein.”
He looked away.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Words such as dimension and field and infinity are nothing
more than conveniences for mathematicians and scientists.
They are not descriptions of reality, yet we accept them as
such because everyone is sure someone else knows what the
words mean.”
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“String theory says that all of physical reality—from gravity
to magnetism to light—can be explained in one grand theory
that involves tiny, string-shaped, vibrating objects. String
theory has produced no useful results. It has never been
proven by experiment, yet thousands of physicists are dedicating
their careers to it on the faith that it smells right.”
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Every generation of humans believed it had all the
answers it needed, except for a few mysteries they assumed
would be solved at any moment. And they all believed their
ancestors were simplistic and deluded. What are the odds
that you are the first generation of humans who will understand
reality?”
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
He paused. “Your soul, according to you, knows the difference
between your brain and everything else that is not
your brain. And it never makes a mistake in that regard. That
means your soul has structure and rules, like a machine.”
“It must,” I agreed.
“If the soul is the source of free will, then it must be
weighing alternatives and making decisions.”
“That’s its job.”
“But that’s what brains do. Why would you need a soul
to do what a brain can do?” he asked.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“It is absurd to define God as omnipotent and then burden
him with our own myopic view of the significance of
human beings. What could possibly be interesting or important
to a God that knows everything, can create anything,
can destroy anything. The concept of ‘importance’ is a
human one born out of our need to make choices for survival.
An omnipotent being has no need to rank things. To
God, nothing in the universe would be more interesting,
more worthy, more useful, more threatening, or more
important than anything else.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“The steering wheel and the engine are of equal importance.
It is a human impulse—composed of equal parts arrogance
and instinct—to believe we can rank everything in
our environment. Importance is not an intrinsic quality of
the universe. It exists only in our delusion-filled minds. I
can assure you that humans are not in any form or fashion
more important than rocks or steering wheels or engines.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Omnipotence means that nothing is a challenge. And
what could stimulate the mind of someone who knows
everything?”
“You make it sound almost boring to be God. But I
guess you’ll say boredom is a human feeling.”
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
God's Debris consists of 2 things.
“Everything is made of some other thing. And those things
in turn are made of other things. Over the next hundred years,
scientists will uncover layer after layer of building blocks, each
smaller than the last. At each layer the differences between types
of matter will be fewer. At the lowest layer everything is exactly
the same. Matter is uniform. Those are the bits of God.”
“What’s the second part of the debris?” I asked.
“Probability.”
“Probability is omnipotent and omnipresent.
Probability is the guiding force of everything
in the universe, living or nonliving, near or far, big or small,
now or anytime.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Our existence was programmed into the
universe from the beginning, guaranteed by the power of
probability. The time and place of our existence were flexible,
but the outcome was assured because sooner or later life
would happen. We would be sitting in these rocking chairs,
or ones just like them, having this conversation. You believe
that DNA and probability are opposites. But both make
specific things happen. DNA runs on a tighter schedule
than probability, but in the long run—the extreme long run—
probability is just as fixed and certain in its outcome.
Probability forces the coin toss to be exactly fifty-fifty at
some point, assuming you keep flipping forever. Likewise,
probability forced us to exist exactly as we are. Only the timing
was in question.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------“As
we speak, engineers
are building the Internet to link every part of the
world in much the same way as a fetus develops a central
nervous system. Virtually no one questions the desirability
of the Internet. It seems that humans are born with the
instinct to create it and embrace it. The instinct of beavers
is to build dams; the instinct of humans is to build communication
systems.”
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Humanity is developing a sort of global eyesight as
millions of video cameras on satellites, desktops, and street
corners are connected to the Internet. In your lifetime it
will be possible to see almost anything on the planet from
any computer. And society’s intelligence is merging over the
Internet, creating, in effect, a global mind that can do vastly
more than any individual mind. Eventually everything that
is known by one person will be available to all. A decision
can be made by the collective mind of humanity and
instantly communicated to the body of society.
“In the distant future, humans will learn to control the
weather, to manipulate DNA, and to build whole new
worlds out of raw matter. There is no logical limit to how
much our collective power will grow. A billion years from
now, if a visitor from another dimension observed humanity,
he might perceive it to be one large entity with a consciousness
and purpose, and not a collection of relatively
uninteresting individuals.”
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Would you? Your skin cells are not aware that they are
part of a human being. Skin cells are not equipped for that
knowledge. They are equipped to do what they do and
nothing more. Likewise, if we humans—and all the plants
and animals and dirt and rocks—were components of God,
would we have the capacity to know it?”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“The trouble with your theory,” I said, “is that matter
doesn’t pop in and out of existence. Scientists would have
noticed that by now.”
“Actually, they have. Matter pops into and out of existence
all the time. That’s what a quantum leap is. You’ve
probably heard the term but didn’t know its origin.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Imagine a copper penny that is exactly like an ordinary
penny except that for this discussion it has consciousness. It
knows it is a coin and it knows that you sometimes flip it.
“If the penny’s consciousness were like human consciousness,
it would analyze the situation and conclude that it
had free will. When it wanted to come up heads, and heads
was the result, the penny would confirm its belief in its power
to choose. When it came up tails instead, it would blame its
own lack of commitment, or assume God had a hand in it.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“The imaginary coin would believe that things don’t
just ‘happen’ without causes. If nothing external controlled
the results of the flips, a reasonable penny would assume
that the control came from its own will, influenced perhaps
by God’s will, assuming it were a religious penny.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Probability—the essence of God’s power—dictates that the penny
must sometimes come up tails even when the penny chooses to be
heads.”
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(read up to chapter 70 : 17.oct.2010)
"The events of the past appear to cause the present, but every time
we pop back into existence we are subject to a new set of
probabilities. Literally anything can happen.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Skeptics are not exempt from
normal human brain functions. It is a human tendency to
become what you attack. Skeptics attack irrational thinkers
and in the process become irrational.”
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“But probability avoids in-between conditions. It favors
heads or tails. Evolution also avoids in-between conditions.
Something in the nature of the God-dust made growing
two eyes likely and growing two heads unlikely. More to the
point, there is something about eyes that supports God’s
inevitable reassembly. ( chapter 71)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"“It is literally true that no two people share the same
reality. Einstein proved that reality is not one fixed state.
Instead, it is an infinite number of unique realities, depending
on where you are and how fast you are moving. " ( chapter 84)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By analogy, think of earth’s horizon. The horizon
is not a physical thing. It is a concept. If you tried to
put some horizon in a bucket, you couldn’t do it.
“Yet the horizon is observable and understandable. It
seems to be physical and it seems to have form and substance.
But when you run toward the horizon, no matter
how fast you go, it seems to stay ahead of you by the same
distance. You can never reach the horizon, no matter how
fast you move.”
He continued. “Light is analogous to the horizon. It is
a boundary that gives the illusion of being a physical thing.
Like the horizon, it appears to move away from you at a
constant speed no matter how fast you are moving. We
observe things that we believe are light, like the searchlight
in the night sky, the cloud-red sunset. But those things are not light;
they are merely boundaries between different
probabilities.
(chapter 86)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“There are plenty of nonphysical things that affect the
world,” he said. “Gravity is not physical, and yet it seems to
keep you from floating off the Earth. Probability is not
physical, but it influences a coin toss anywhere in the universe.
An idea is not physical and it can change civilization.”
(chapter 87)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“When we feel the warmth of sunlight, we are feeling
the effect of increased probabilities and, therefore, increased
activity of our skin cells, not the effect of photons striking
our skin. Photons have no mass, the scientists tell us. That
is another way to say they do not exist except as a concept.”
(chapter 87)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“We like to believe that other people have the same level
of urges as we do, despite all evidence to the contrary. We
convince ourselves that people differ only in their degree of
morality or willpower, or a combination of the two. But
urges are real, and they differ wildly for every individual.
Morality and willpower are illusions. For any human being,
the highest urge always wins and willpower never enters into
it. Willpower is a delusion.”
( chapter 87)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“The concept of location is a useful
delusion when applied to real estate ownership, or when
giving someone directions to the store. But when it is
viewed through the eyes of an omnipotent God, the concept
of location is absurd.
( end of chapter 96)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Probability is the expression of God’s will. It is in your
best interest to obey probability.” ( chapter 97)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“How do I obey probability?”
“God’s reassembly requires people—living, healthy people,”
he said. “When you buckle your seat belt, you increase your
chances of living. That is obeying probability. If you get drunk
and drive without a seat belt, you are fighting probability.”
(chapter 97)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Life has a feel and flow to it. Usually you know instinctively
when you are working with probability on your side and
when you are fighting it. When you take your education seriously,
for example, you are greatly increasing your probability of
contributing to God’s reassembly. When you love and respect
others and procreate responsibly, you are living within the safety
cone of probability. You are, in a sense, fulfilling God’s will.”
“That sounds like karma,” I said. “When you do good
things, good things come back to you.”
“Yes, but good things do not return in a one-for-one
manner. Individual actions are not directly rewarded. It is
only on average that doing good improves the quality of life
for you and the people around you.”
(chapter 97)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
God controls
the averages, not the individuals. Your short-term payoff for
contributing to God’s consciousness is fewer problems in
your daily life, less stress, and more happiness. (chapter 100)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Not exactly. I’m saying a replica of your mind and
body will exist in the distant future, by chance. And the
things you do now can either make life more pleasant or
more difficult for your replica.” ( chap 101)
In your current life,
every cell in your body has died and been replaced many
times. There is nothing in your current body that you were
born with. You have no original equipment, just replacement
parts, so for all practical purposes, you are already a
replica of a prior version of you.” ( chapter 101)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“There are two types of people in the world, my young
friend. One type is people-oriented. When they make conversation,
it is about people—what people are doing, what someone
said, how someone feels. The other group is
idea-oriented. When they make conversation, they talk about
ideas and concepts and objects.” ( chapter 102)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“If I gave you advice, would you follow it?”
“Maybe. It depends on the advice.”
( chapter 102) ( even after spending so much time with the Avtaar,
the boy is so skeptic ? Awful ! )
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"........pretend to be interested in the answers. If he turns out to
be some shoe salesman living with his mother in Albany, my
eyes will glaze over.”
“It would seem phony to you while you asked the questions,
but it would not seem that way to the stranger. To
him it is an unexpected gift, an opportunity to enjoy one of
life’s greatest pleasures: talking about oneself. He would
become more animated and he would instantly begin to like
you. You would seem to be a brilliant and talented conversationalist,
even if your only contribution was asking questions
and listening. And you would have solved the
stranger’s fear of an awkward silence. For that he will be
grateful.” ( chapter 108)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Have you ever been in traffic behind someone who
doesn’t move when the light turns green, so you honk your
horn, then you realize the car is stalled and there is nothing
the driver could have done?”
“Yeah, I’ve honked. It’s embarrassing,” I said.
“Most disagreements are like my example. Two people
have different information, but they think the root of their
disagreement is that the other person has bad judgment or
bad manners or bad values. In fact, most people would share
your opinions if they had the same information. If you
spend your time arguing about the faultiness of other people’s
opinions, you waste your time and theirs. The only thing than can be
useful is examining the differences in your
assumptions and adding to each other’s information. Sometimes
that is enough to make viewpoints converge over time.”
(chapter 109)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Women define themselves by their relationships and
men define themselves by whom they are helping. Women
believe value is created by sacrifice. If you are willing to give
up your favorite activities to be with her, she will trust you.
If being with her is too easy for you, she will not trust you.
You can accomplish your sacrifices symbolically at first, by
leaving work early to buy flowers, canceling your softball
game to make a date, that sort of thing.” ( chapter 109)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“The best you can hope for in a relationship is to find
someone whose flaws are the sort you don’t mind. It is
futile to look for someone who has no flaws, or someone
who is capable of significant change; that sort of person
exists only in our imaginations.” ( chapter 109)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Conversation is more than the sum of the words. It is
also a way of signaling the importance of another person by
showing your willingness to give that person your rarest
resource: time. It is a way of conveying respect. Conversation
reminds us that we are part of a greater whole, connected in
some way that transcends duty or bloodline or commerce.
Conversation can be many things, but it can never be useless.”
(chapter 114)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------For
the next few hours the old man revealed more of his
ingredients for successful social living. Express gratitude.
Give more than is expected. Speak optimistically. Touch
people. Remember names. Don’t confuse flexibility with
weakness. Don’t judge people by their mistakes; rather,
judge them by how they respond to their mistakes. Remember
that your physical appearance is for the benefit of others.
Attend to your own basic needs first; otherwise you will
not be useful to anyone else.
(chapter 114)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\
Yes, probability is still involved. But fescue and foosball
were only a few of the unusual words and ideas that you
tuned your brain to this week. The others didn’t cross your
path again so you took no notice of their absence. When
you consider all of the coincidences that are possible, it is
not surprising that you experience a few every day.
“A person who does affirmations takes mental tuning to
a higher level. The process of concentrating on the goal
every day greatly increases the likelihood of noticing an
opportunity in the environment. The coincidence will create
the illusion that writing down the goal causes the environment
to produce opportunities. But in reality the only thing
that changes is the person’s ability to notice the opportunities.
I don’t mean to minimize that advantage because the
ability to recognize opportunities is essential to success.”
(chapter 117)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“The subconscious is an odds-calculating machine.
That’s what it does naturally, though not always to good
effect. If your subconscious notices that you lost money on
your last three business dealings with people who wear hats,
you’ll never trust people in hats again. Your subconscious
isn’t always right; it depends on the quality of the information
you feed into its odds-calculating engine. Luckily, the
topic your subconscious knows best is you, because it has
known you since you were in the womb. If your subconscious
allows you to spend ten minutes out of every busy
day writing, ‘I will double my income,’ your subconscious
likes your odds and it is qualified to make that prediction.”
(chapter 118)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
coherent. “Every other question has an answer to why. Only
probability is inexplicable.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
and his posture was an ongoing conversation
with gravity. He wasn’t old. He was ancient.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
He continued, “Let me ask you a simple question: Did
you deliver the package or did the package deliver you?”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Then you would agree that delivering the package
required the participation of the package. The package told
you where to go.”
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The old man’s face revealed a life of useful endeavor.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Is awareness like intelligence?” I asked.
“No. Intelligence is a measure of how well you function
within your level of awareness. Your intelligence will stay
about the same over your life. Awareness is entirely different
from intelligence; awareness involves recognizing your
delusions for what they are. Most people’s awareness will
advance one or two levels in their lifetime.”
(chapter 122)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Awareness is about unlearning. It is the recognition
that you don’t know as much as you thought you knew.” (122)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
the first level of awareness
at birth. That is when you first become aware that you exist.
In the second level of awareness you understand that
other people exist. You believe most of what you are told by
authority figures. You accept the belief system in which you
are raised.
At the third level of awareness you recognize that
humans are often wrong about the things they believe. You
feel that you might be wrong about some of your own
beliefs but you don’t know which ones ! Despite your doubts, you
find comforts in your beliefs ! ( chapter 123)
The fourth level is skepticism. You believe the scientific
method is the best measure of what is true and you believe
you have a good working grasp of truth, thanks to science,
your logic, and your senses. You are arrogant when it comes
to dealing with people in levels two and three. ( chapter 124)
The fifth level of awareness is the Avatar. The Avatar
understands that the mind is an illusion generator, not a
window to reality. The Avatar recognizes science as a belief
system, albeit a useful one. An Avatar is aware of God’s
power as expressed in probability and the inevitable recombination
of God consciousness. ( chapter 124)
“I think I’m a fourth-level,” I said, “at least according
to you.”
“Yes, you are a fourth,” he confirmed.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
" How to jump from 4 th level of awareness to 5 the level ? " I asked.
awareness does not come from receiving
new information. It comes from rejecting old information.
You still cling to your fourth-level delusions.”
“I feel vaguely insulted,” I joked.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
People at all levels have the same potential for
being useful.” (125)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“No. Happiness comes more easily at the other levels.
Awareness has its price. An Avatar can find happiness only
in serving.”
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
They ( most effective leaders) convince people to
act against self-interest and pursue the leaders’ visions of the
greater good. Leaders make citizens go to war to seize land
they will never live on and to kill people who have different
religions.”
“Not all leaders are irrational,” I argued.
“The most effective ones are. You don’t often see math
geniuses or logic professors become great leaders. Logic is a
detriment to leadership.” ( 126)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Avatar keeps it so by occasionally introducing
new ideas when needed.”
“Do you think an idea can change the world that
much?” I asked.
“Ideas are the only things that can change the world.
The rest is details.”
( chapter 126)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We talked more about life and energy and probability.
At times I lost the sense of belonging to my own body. It
was as if my consciousness expanded to include items in the
room. I stared at my hand as it rested on the arm of the
rocking chair and watched as the distinctions between wood
and air and hand disappeared. ( 127)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
At times I felt like a kitten
lifted by the fold of skin on the back of my neck, helpless,
safe, transported. (127)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I don’t remember leaving his house or walking to my
van, but I do remember how everything looked. The city
had bright edges. Sound was crisp. Colors were vivid.
Objects seemed more dimensional, as if I could see the sides
and backs from any angle. I heard a phone call being made
a block away and knew both sides of the conversation. I
could feel every variation in airflow. ( 127)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Do you believe in God?” the old man asked, as if we had
known each other forever but had somehow neglected to
discuss that one topic. I assumed he wanted reassurance that
his departure from this life would be the beginning of something
better. I gave a kind answer.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“If God knows what the future holds, then all our choices
are already made, aren’t they? Free will must be an illusion.”
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“God lets us determine the future ourselves, using our free
will,” I explained.
“Then you believe God doesn’t know the future?”
“I guess not,” I admitted. “But he must prefer not
knowing.”
“So you agree that it would be impossible for God to
know the future and grant humans free will?”
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“If God exists, his motives are certainly unfathomable.
No one knows why he grants free will, or why he cares
about human souls, or why pain and suffering are necessary
parts of life.”
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“A brain surgeon would tell you that a specific part of
the brain controls the ability to love. If it’s damaged, people
are incapable of love, incapable of caring about others.”
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------
If you were omnipotent, why would you limit
yourself to something that could be reproduced by a little
clump of neurons?”
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“So you believe God wants things. And he loves things,
similar to the way humans do. Do you also believe God
experiences anger and forgiveness?”
“That’s part of the package,” I said, committing further
to my side of the debate.
“So God has a personality, according to you, and it is
similar to what humans experience?”
“I guess so.”
“What sort of arrogance assumes God is like people?”
he asked.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Are you saying you believe in God because there are no
other explanations?” he asked. ( because Google cannot answer
everything nor answers.yahoo.com)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Yeah, I know. You’re going to say that if he sees his
own future, then his choices are predetermined. Or, if he
can’t see the future, then he’s not omnipotent.”
“Omnipotence is trickier than it seems,” he said.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Can you imagine bent space?” he asked.
“No, but just because I can’t imagine it doesn’t mean
it’s not true. You can’t argue with Einstein.”
He looked away.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Words such as dimension and field and infinity are nothing
more than conveniences for mathematicians and scientists.
They are not descriptions of reality, yet we accept them as
such because everyone is sure someone else knows what the
words mean.”
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“String theory says that all of physical reality—from gravity
to magnetism to light—can be explained in one grand theory
that involves tiny, string-shaped, vibrating objects. String
theory has produced no useful results. It has never been
proven by experiment, yet thousands of physicists are dedicating
their careers to it on the faith that it smells right.”
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Every generation of humans believed it had all the
answers it needed, except for a few mysteries they assumed
would be solved at any moment. And they all believed their
ancestors were simplistic and deluded. What are the odds
that you are the first generation of humans who will understand
reality?”
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
He paused. “Your soul, according to you, knows the difference
between your brain and everything else that is not
your brain. And it never makes a mistake in that regard. That
means your soul has structure and rules, like a machine.”
“It must,” I agreed.
“If the soul is the source of free will, then it must be
weighing alternatives and making decisions.”
“That’s its job.”
“But that’s what brains do. Why would you need a soul
to do what a brain can do?” he asked.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“It is absurd to define God as omnipotent and then burden
him with our own myopic view of the significance of
human beings. What could possibly be interesting or important
to a God that knows everything, can create anything,
can destroy anything. The concept of ‘importance’ is a
human one born out of our need to make choices for survival.
An omnipotent being has no need to rank things. To
God, nothing in the universe would be more interesting,
more worthy, more useful, more threatening, or more
important than anything else.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“The steering wheel and the engine are of equal importance.
It is a human impulse—composed of equal parts arrogance
and instinct—to believe we can rank everything in
our environment. Importance is not an intrinsic quality of
the universe. It exists only in our delusion-filled minds. I
can assure you that humans are not in any form or fashion
more important than rocks or steering wheels or engines.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Omnipotence means that nothing is a challenge. And
what could stimulate the mind of someone who knows
everything?”
“You make it sound almost boring to be God. But I
guess you’ll say boredom is a human feeling.”
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
God's Debris consists of 2 things.
“Everything is made of some other thing. And those things
in turn are made of other things. Over the next hundred years,
scientists will uncover layer after layer of building blocks, each
smaller than the last. At each layer the differences between types
of matter will be fewer. At the lowest layer everything is exactly
the same. Matter is uniform. Those are the bits of God.”
“What’s the second part of the debris?” I asked.
“Probability.”
“Probability is omnipotent and omnipresent.
Probability is the guiding force of everything
in the universe, living or nonliving, near or far, big or small,
now or anytime.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Our existence was programmed into the
universe from the beginning, guaranteed by the power of
probability. The time and place of our existence were flexible,
but the outcome was assured because sooner or later life
would happen. We would be sitting in these rocking chairs,
or ones just like them, having this conversation. You believe
that DNA and probability are opposites. But both make
specific things happen. DNA runs on a tighter schedule
than probability, but in the long run—the extreme long run—
probability is just as fixed and certain in its outcome.
Probability forces the coin toss to be exactly fifty-fifty at
some point, assuming you keep flipping forever. Likewise,
probability forced us to exist exactly as we are. Only the timing
was in question.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------“As
we speak, engineers
are building the Internet to link every part of the
world in much the same way as a fetus develops a central
nervous system. Virtually no one questions the desirability
of the Internet. It seems that humans are born with the
instinct to create it and embrace it. The instinct of beavers
is to build dams; the instinct of humans is to build communication
systems.”
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Humanity is developing a sort of global eyesight as
millions of video cameras on satellites, desktops, and street
corners are connected to the Internet. In your lifetime it
will be possible to see almost anything on the planet from
any computer. And society’s intelligence is merging over the
Internet, creating, in effect, a global mind that can do vastly
more than any individual mind. Eventually everything that
is known by one person will be available to all. A decision
can be made by the collective mind of humanity and
instantly communicated to the body of society.
“In the distant future, humans will learn to control the
weather, to manipulate DNA, and to build whole new
worlds out of raw matter. There is no logical limit to how
much our collective power will grow. A billion years from
now, if a visitor from another dimension observed humanity,
he might perceive it to be one large entity with a consciousness
and purpose, and not a collection of relatively
uninteresting individuals.”
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Would you? Your skin cells are not aware that they are
part of a human being. Skin cells are not equipped for that
knowledge. They are equipped to do what they do and
nothing more. Likewise, if we humans—and all the plants
and animals and dirt and rocks—were components of God,
would we have the capacity to know it?”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“The trouble with your theory,” I said, “is that matter
doesn’t pop in and out of existence. Scientists would have
noticed that by now.”
“Actually, they have. Matter pops into and out of existence
all the time. That’s what a quantum leap is. You’ve
probably heard the term but didn’t know its origin.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Imagine a copper penny that is exactly like an ordinary
penny except that for this discussion it has consciousness. It
knows it is a coin and it knows that you sometimes flip it.
“If the penny’s consciousness were like human consciousness,
it would analyze the situation and conclude that it
had free will. When it wanted to come up heads, and heads
was the result, the penny would confirm its belief in its power
to choose. When it came up tails instead, it would blame its
own lack of commitment, or assume God had a hand in it.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“The imaginary coin would believe that things don’t
just ‘happen’ without causes. If nothing external controlled
the results of the flips, a reasonable penny would assume
that the control came from its own will, influenced perhaps
by God’s will, assuming it were a religious penny.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Probability—the essence of God’s power—dictates that the penny
must sometimes come up tails even when the penny chooses to be
heads.”
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(read up to chapter 70 : 17.oct.2010)
"The events of the past appear to cause the present, but every time
we pop back into existence we are subject to a new set of
probabilities. Literally anything can happen.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Skeptics are not exempt from
normal human brain functions. It is a human tendency to
become what you attack. Skeptics attack irrational thinkers
and in the process become irrational.”
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“But probability avoids in-between conditions. It favors
heads or tails. Evolution also avoids in-between conditions.
Something in the nature of the God-dust made growing
two eyes likely and growing two heads unlikely. More to the
point, there is something about eyes that supports God’s
inevitable reassembly. ( chapter 71)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"“It is literally true that no two people share the same
reality. Einstein proved that reality is not one fixed state.
Instead, it is an infinite number of unique realities, depending
on where you are and how fast you are moving. " ( chapter 84)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By analogy, think of earth’s horizon. The horizon
is not a physical thing. It is a concept. If you tried to
put some horizon in a bucket, you couldn’t do it.
“Yet the horizon is observable and understandable. It
seems to be physical and it seems to have form and substance.
But when you run toward the horizon, no matter
how fast you go, it seems to stay ahead of you by the same
distance. You can never reach the horizon, no matter how
fast you move.”
He continued. “Light is analogous to the horizon. It is
a boundary that gives the illusion of being a physical thing.
Like the horizon, it appears to move away from you at a
constant speed no matter how fast you are moving. We
observe things that we believe are light, like the searchlight
in the night sky, the cloud-red sunset. But those things are not light;
they are merely boundaries between different
probabilities.
(chapter 86)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“There are plenty of nonphysical things that affect the
world,” he said. “Gravity is not physical, and yet it seems to
keep you from floating off the Earth. Probability is not
physical, but it influences a coin toss anywhere in the universe.
An idea is not physical and it can change civilization.”
(chapter 87)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“When we feel the warmth of sunlight, we are feeling
the effect of increased probabilities and, therefore, increased
activity of our skin cells, not the effect of photons striking
our skin. Photons have no mass, the scientists tell us. That
is another way to say they do not exist except as a concept.”
(chapter 87)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“We like to believe that other people have the same level
of urges as we do, despite all evidence to the contrary. We
convince ourselves that people differ only in their degree of
morality or willpower, or a combination of the two. But
urges are real, and they differ wildly for every individual.
Morality and willpower are illusions. For any human being,
the highest urge always wins and willpower never enters into
it. Willpower is a delusion.”
( chapter 87)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“The concept of location is a useful
delusion when applied to real estate ownership, or when
giving someone directions to the store. But when it is
viewed through the eyes of an omnipotent God, the concept
of location is absurd.
( end of chapter 96)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Probability is the expression of God’s will. It is in your
best interest to obey probability.” ( chapter 97)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“How do I obey probability?”
“God’s reassembly requires people—living, healthy people,”
he said. “When you buckle your seat belt, you increase your
chances of living. That is obeying probability. If you get drunk
and drive without a seat belt, you are fighting probability.”
(chapter 97)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Life has a feel and flow to it. Usually you know instinctively
when you are working with probability on your side and
when you are fighting it. When you take your education seriously,
for example, you are greatly increasing your probability of
contributing to God’s reassembly. When you love and respect
others and procreate responsibly, you are living within the safety
cone of probability. You are, in a sense, fulfilling God’s will.”
“That sounds like karma,” I said. “When you do good
things, good things come back to you.”
“Yes, but good things do not return in a one-for-one
manner. Individual actions are not directly rewarded. It is
only on average that doing good improves the quality of life
for you and the people around you.”
(chapter 97)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
God controls
the averages, not the individuals. Your short-term payoff for
contributing to God’s consciousness is fewer problems in
your daily life, less stress, and more happiness. (chapter 100)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Not exactly. I’m saying a replica of your mind and
body will exist in the distant future, by chance. And the
things you do now can either make life more pleasant or
more difficult for your replica.” ( chap 101)
In your current life,
every cell in your body has died and been replaced many
times. There is nothing in your current body that you were
born with. You have no original equipment, just replacement
parts, so for all practical purposes, you are already a
replica of a prior version of you.” ( chapter 101)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“There are two types of people in the world, my young
friend. One type is people-oriented. When they make conversation,
it is about people—what people are doing, what someone
said, how someone feels. The other group is
idea-oriented. When they make conversation, they talk about
ideas and concepts and objects.” ( chapter 102)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“If I gave you advice, would you follow it?”
“Maybe. It depends on the advice.”
( chapter 102) ( even after spending so much time with the Avtaar,
the boy is so skeptic ? Awful ! )
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"........pretend to be interested in the answers. If he turns out to
be some shoe salesman living with his mother in Albany, my
eyes will glaze over.”
“It would seem phony to you while you asked the questions,
but it would not seem that way to the stranger. To
him it is an unexpected gift, an opportunity to enjoy one of
life’s greatest pleasures: talking about oneself. He would
become more animated and he would instantly begin to like
you. You would seem to be a brilliant and talented conversationalist,
even if your only contribution was asking questions
and listening. And you would have solved the
stranger’s fear of an awkward silence. For that he will be
grateful.” ( chapter 108)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Have you ever been in traffic behind someone who
doesn’t move when the light turns green, so you honk your
horn, then you realize the car is stalled and there is nothing
the driver could have done?”
“Yeah, I’ve honked. It’s embarrassing,” I said.
“Most disagreements are like my example. Two people
have different information, but they think the root of their
disagreement is that the other person has bad judgment or
bad manners or bad values. In fact, most people would share
your opinions if they had the same information. If you
spend your time arguing about the faultiness of other people’s
opinions, you waste your time and theirs. The only thing than can be
useful is examining the differences in your
assumptions and adding to each other’s information. Sometimes
that is enough to make viewpoints converge over time.”
(chapter 109)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Women define themselves by their relationships and
men define themselves by whom they are helping. Women
believe value is created by sacrifice. If you are willing to give
up your favorite activities to be with her, she will trust you.
If being with her is too easy for you, she will not trust you.
You can accomplish your sacrifices symbolically at first, by
leaving work early to buy flowers, canceling your softball
game to make a date, that sort of thing.” ( chapter 109)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“The best you can hope for in a relationship is to find
someone whose flaws are the sort you don’t mind. It is
futile to look for someone who has no flaws, or someone
who is capable of significant change; that sort of person
exists only in our imaginations.” ( chapter 109)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Conversation is more than the sum of the words. It is
also a way of signaling the importance of another person by
showing your willingness to give that person your rarest
resource: time. It is a way of conveying respect. Conversation
reminds us that we are part of a greater whole, connected in
some way that transcends duty or bloodline or commerce.
Conversation can be many things, but it can never be useless.”
(chapter 114)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------For
the next few hours the old man revealed more of his
ingredients for successful social living. Express gratitude.
Give more than is expected. Speak optimistically. Touch
people. Remember names. Don’t confuse flexibility with
weakness. Don’t judge people by their mistakes; rather,
judge them by how they respond to their mistakes. Remember
that your physical appearance is for the benefit of others.
Attend to your own basic needs first; otherwise you will
not be useful to anyone else.
(chapter 114)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\
Yes, probability is still involved. But fescue and foosball
were only a few of the unusual words and ideas that you
tuned your brain to this week. The others didn’t cross your
path again so you took no notice of their absence. When
you consider all of the coincidences that are possible, it is
not surprising that you experience a few every day.
“A person who does affirmations takes mental tuning to
a higher level. The process of concentrating on the goal
every day greatly increases the likelihood of noticing an
opportunity in the environment. The coincidence will create
the illusion that writing down the goal causes the environment
to produce opportunities. But in reality the only thing
that changes is the person’s ability to notice the opportunities.
I don’t mean to minimize that advantage because the
ability to recognize opportunities is essential to success.”
(chapter 117)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“The subconscious is an odds-calculating machine.
That’s what it does naturally, though not always to good
effect. If your subconscious notices that you lost money on
your last three business dealings with people who wear hats,
you’ll never trust people in hats again. Your subconscious
isn’t always right; it depends on the quality of the information
you feed into its odds-calculating engine. Luckily, the
topic your subconscious knows best is you, because it has
known you since you were in the womb. If your subconscious
allows you to spend ten minutes out of every busy
day writing, ‘I will double my income,’ your subconscious
likes your odds and it is qualified to make that prediction.”
(chapter 118)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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