I like to keep it simple.
What appears to be certainty in my delivery is based on the question if a simpler alternative model can even be imagined.
According to Tegmark, he believes that 32 numbers and a handful of equations should theoretically be sufficient to explain how the universe operates.
The complexity and function depends on the numbers and possible self-organizing patterns.
Mathematics is simple in essence, and if we accept the notion of a universal chronology of an unfolding (expanding) spacetime geometry and the table of elements as a good description of the various atoms that inhabit this spacetime, then I see no valid alternative to a logically evolving universe.
But that’s not the question you ask, or how you respond to what others say. You complicate things. And what we have is not simple anyway. And, the question of there being an alternative is not answerable either. You just make it worse with responses like this.
I’ve read through most of the posts in this thread and there is one thing people have missed and it’s the psychology behind the god belief. When we’re kids, we want an answer to the unexplainable and adults do too, but when adults can’t give an answer to a child, they fall back to the “God’s will” crap. Parents sometimes BS their way through the answers with their kids. As adults we want that parental figure they was don’t have anymore, especially if our parents are dead. Then in old age, and I’ve seen it a lot and it’s become more noticeable now that I’m a pharmacy tech, a lot of people do not go gently into that good night. They fight kick and scream, even cling, as my mother has, to they invisible figure, and many get Rx anti-depressants and other mood altering drugs. It’s not pretty drug wise, especially since BIG pharma is making a LOT of money off the elderly. It’s all psychological, not mathematical.
Here’s another explanation I like and have shared often:
I was hoping the conversation would head in this direction. If the question is referring to “we” as the entire human species, then it’s the most likely place to start. Of course, not all of “we” are defending the concept, but for those who do, it’s something that arose long after abiogenesis and the evolution of brains, many layers built upon the basic physical forces.
I think those who defend the god concept, not only believe strongly, but they are addicted to the neurotransmitters that are stimulated by the candles, the singing, the preaching, and in some churches, rituals, like genuflecting, bowing, crossing one’s self, kneeling, the call and response, etc. Another group are in assisted living and nursing homes. They fear death, though they may deny it, so they cling to the fantasy of a god that will give them a glorious afterlife. Some/many are also given a lot of drugs too, including anti-anxiety and anti-depressant drugs. They deny their fear of death by insisting there is a god and they’ll be going to heaven. My mother is very delusional, more so than ever in her life and I really believe she fears death. That and I’m working as a pharmacy tech now and I see a lot of drugs, including mood stabilizers and anti-anxiety drugs Rx them.
