Not as Simple as Herding Sheep

No, posting the following line of argument is more like herding cats - and necessarily so!  This is an attempt to rationally argue for an irrational concept - the existence of God.  (Not to be confused with anything to do with church.)  This is an answer to skeptics of faith - those who will believe it when they see it.  But, I also argue for them of the non-existence of God.  On the whole, it is a messy, long-winded, free-ranging exercise that probably calls for a cup of tea.   Thanks, I hope it works for you, here we go:

 Scientific researchers continually extend the micro and macro ends of the spectrum of observable physical phenomena, and yet there remains an unknown portion beyond each end that contains imaginable, but unknowable, things - and probably, infinite unimaginable things. (All of known science was first unimaginable, then was imagined and only then could it become known.)  Somewhere in those fuzzy realms of unknowable things, we imagine that laws and truths exist, but we can’t prove them without evidence.  There, we come up against the limits of rationality and it is as enticing as it is maddening. 

In the vastness of our known world and of these unknown realms we simultaneously look for evidence of, and want to imagine, a grand, singular, unifying principle - because without that, everything is just too detailed and complicated to behold independently.  

Rational Thought and Imagination might be the defining characteristics of our species, for better and worse, and it would seem they are the tools by which we first separated ourselves from the unity of everything else at some point in our distant past.  We imagined a better way to live and made it happen through the very rational process of trial and error, in myriad permutations over millennia to become something like self-evolving.  (We left the chance of natural selection to the other creatures.) Because this  really hasn’t worked out very well in some important respects, we’ve been trying to use these tools ever since to find a path toward reunification with this grail of imagined singularity.

This last bit is the short explanation for why there is no god, gods or God - we imagined the story of God(s) and most humans have stuck with it, despite a lot of evidence to the contrary.  Some argue it’s only logical that a species possessing higher cognitive capacity should invent gods.  There might be evidence that it serves an evolutionary need for us to do so.  I have no argument with any such evidence, in fact, it supports the case I hope to make here.

Along with the ideas of the unifying principle and of God, let’s also consider that of the Truth:  At some recent point, since the ascendancy of Science, we seem overly occupied with the Truth.  Of course, it is the supposed outcome of the rational mind doing it’s thing and we certainly aspire to rationality.  On the other hand, the most rational of us know best the relativity of the concept of Truth.  The frame of reference, or context, largely determines the validity of, first, observation, and then interpretation and finally any conclusions or judgments.  Evidence supports the Truth?  Yes, and all of it exists in our minds after being sifted in there through our individual filters.  Can Truth exist apart from the mind?  ‘Not sure there has ever been a more pointless question.

For most of our history, we probably lived as much or more by imagination than we have lived by rational thought.  Only in the last five or six centuries has the trend been to hold rational thought in relatively higher esteem.  Just lately, as evidenced by our currently-imbalanced politics and policies, have we seen something like popular disdain for the supposed shortcomings of imagination.  One of the most celebrated rational minds in history belonged to Albert Einstein who made the matter clear when he simply stated, “Imagination is more important that knowledge”.  (It certainly precedes knowledge , but perhaps he sensed a growing imbalance when he proclaimed this for counter-emphasis.)

A word about imagination:  Since imagination resides in our minds, we believe its products are our own unique creations.  The terms denotes creation of a representation, or image, of a concept that hadn't been previously considered - where? - in one's mind.  Is it imaginable that there is a function of the mind that is similar to a receiver and that what comes to it, and what we truly originate, are often virtually indistinguishable to us.  It's possible we think an "original" thought is ours but exact ownership or origin is not certain.  It's possible that it happens far more than we can imagine.

Consideration from a different angle:

Certainly, unchecked growth in any petri dish, or on any single planet is a self-limiting concept, and yet it is the central, driving principal of being.  Flourish or face extinction.  We know on some level that we are living a lie, as it were.  We intuitively hold to the notion of indefinite growth, while knowing we live in a finite realm.  Since we made ourselves the exception to the governing rule of natural selection that holds species in balance, our mortal proposition actually is ‘flourish and face extinction.’  Something has eventually got to give, and that will probably be at the boundaries of our known experience: it could either be an unrecognizably-altered existence, or an abruptly-discontinued existence, or it could be continued existence in an unknown place/time.  

Darwin has clearly demonstrated that growth occurs in stages and not all advance to the next stage at the same time, if at all.  It can be assumed that any surviving organism is well-equipped for its present stage and only those that exhibit the requisite, superior traits will mutate or “matriculate” to the next stage.  Organisms cannot be expected to have full knowledge of their future stages of development until they “arrive” there; there’s no need for it yet.  

From the realm of unknowable things come this important question: what if evidenced-based, rational thought is the same tool God has used to construct obstacles or challenges to higher development? 

Successful organisms react to challenge by striving and so challenge is an important catalyst for growth.  Now, if there is a singular source, a creator of all things, it/he/she necessarily exists beyond, above and apart from our existence in time and space.  So, He, She, It - would have cards to play that we’ve never even seen in the deck.  Certainly one of those cards could mean that, at this stage of our development, all observable evidence will point toward the idea there is no god, so that only those who successfully strive will find hints of anything beyond known science.  

Einstein also said, “I want to know God’s thoughts; the rest are details.”

Picking up on these hints must necessarily call for imagination - the very tool we currently hold in relatively low regard.   We’ve long-used imagination to further our own evolution and we are all faced with using it to make a leap to the next level: attempting to imagine an eternal, singular source.  This is the proverbial leap of faith.  A majority of the species claims to have made it, but it’s not for everybody. 

  

Could it be that levels of development “await” us that are only knowable to those residing at that level and are only barely imaginable our present level?   Given what scientific theorists have to say about the time/space continuum, could it be that some advanced levels of development are beyond the known scope of mortal time and terrestrial space?  Is it a given that all of our species will make the grade, as it were, or does it take an act of will on our parts?  What is that prerequisite act of will?  Living a life of belief in, or that is imaginative of, that which is presently unknowable.

So, the case has been made (tediously, if not convincingly) that our imagination is an underutilized tool and it must be used, not to look for evidence, but to imagine a singular, infinite source in an earnest way, as a matter of survival in a future, unknowable stage of development.  There is mystery and that should be okay.  Some find meaning in the idea when put this way: salvation can be found in believing in God (I don’t find it meaningful particularly, but it works for a lot of folks). 

What is it that spurs the imagination most?  Reverence.  A deep and compelling affinity for that which is is bigger and better than us and seems to beckon our attention.  Beyond just the ability to notice, and even beyond careful consideration, we possess the capacity for loving and for devoted attention.  Why? Does it only exist as a evolutionary trait, a necessary parental instinct?  It seems we have evolved to a state of a surplus capacity for love.  More than a surplus capacity, it is actually seems to be a limitless capacity and in that unique regard, it is perhaps our best avenue to comprehending the infinite.  By definition, infinity is a singular concept and a comprehension of this realm naturally stirs deep-seated reverence.  This is Einstein’s God, and that works for me.