tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891434218564545511.post1751999718664712479..comments2024-03-28T13:23:50.623-05:00Comments on Alexander Pruss's Blog: The smallness of the universeAlexander R Prusshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05989277655934827117noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891434218564545511.post-76254239760827155882009-04-27T21:48:00.000-05:002009-04-27T21:48:00.000-05:00I am now thinking that this line of argument is pr...I am now thinking that this line of argument is probably deeply spiritually mistaken. Or, maybe, the issue is this: It is the universe conceived of naturalistically that is small. But the universe that we in fact inhabit lacks that kind of smallness for it images the glory of God.Alexander R Prusshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05989277655934827117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891434218564545511.post-89069029346444029462009-04-24T13:40:00.000-05:002009-04-24T13:40:00.000-05:00That could be. But one may also have the intuitio...That could be. But one may also have the intuition that what one doesn't understand is a "matter of detail". I don't know how one could justify this intuition, or what exactly it means that something would be a matter of detail.Alexander R Prusshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05989277655934827117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891434218564545511.post-70284627824364149732009-04-24T12:49:00.000-05:002009-04-24T12:49:00.000-05:00--------------
Reflecting on the universe as a who...--------------<br />Reflecting on the universe as a whole—a whole made up of physical parts, indeed largely made up of parts like electrons, neutrinos and/or electromagnetic fields that are pretty familiar to us—can make the universe seem small to the mind's eye.<br />--------------<br /><br />It's quite possible (probable, I would say) that the smallness comes from a lack of understanding--not understanding the nature of the parts and the dynamics of their interrelations with each other and the whole.Spencerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01066089293772059329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891434218564545511.post-27448063440254636922009-04-24T10:52:00.000-05:002009-04-24T10:52:00.000-05:00As for a deist god, I don't know. I think that as...As for a deist god, I don't know. I think that as long as the god was infinite and sufficiently escaped our understanding, so that conceptually the universe wouldn't be small, the intuition wouldn't apply.Alexander R Prusshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05989277655934827117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891434218564545511.post-7611434761449279362009-04-24T10:50:00.000-05:002009-04-24T10:50:00.000-05:00Heath:
The ground issue is good point. That does...Heath:<br /><br />The ground issue is good point. That does skew one's intuitions. But what if my best physical theory answers the question what is underneath one's feet with: "Nothing--space ends there." Or, better yet, suppose we live in a zero-gravity three-dimensional space with a geometry that ensures that whenever I go straight in any direction for 3.14 km, I come back to where I started. (For instance, I could be living in a space that is metrically isomorphic to the "surface" of a four-dimensional sphere of 1 km diameter. But there is no inside--the "sphere" is just a way of visualizing the geometry.) "Is that all there is?" would seem a fine question.Alexander R Prusshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05989277655934827117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891434218564545511.post-38421643462243855352009-04-24T10:09:00.000-05:002009-04-24T10:09:00.000-05:00Two thoughts. First, in the sphere you could have...Two thoughts. First, in the sphere you could have the quite concrete, geometrical question of what is "underneath" your feet. In that sense you could certainly believe that "this is not all there is." I don't think there is an analogous question in our universe.<br /><br />Second, the suggestion you raise makes me wonder what are the conditions under which one could not intelligibly raise the question, "Is this all there is?" E.g. suppose you are told that a deist god created the universe. Mightn't one still think, "OK, is _that_ all there is?" What does it take to halt the regress?Heath Whitehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13535886546816778688noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891434218564545511.post-79480276932739549062009-04-24T08:08:00.000-05:002009-04-24T08:08:00.000-05:00interesting. Thanks for the read.interesting. Thanks for the read.Bobby Bambinohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09625098061913950949noreply@blogger.com