Humans' "higher needs" result in the invention of "God" and religion . . .

Let's review Albert Einstein's stated views on the matter. The Christian writer of the following article admits that Einstein did not believe in a personal God (but then gives him a sermon based on the Bible as to why Einstein is supposedly wrong on that score):

"Did Albert Einstein Believe in a Personal God?

"Introduction

"I get a fair amount of e-mail about Albert Einstein's quote1 on the homepage of 'Evidence for God from Science,' so I thought it would be good to clarify the matter. Atheists object to the use of the quote, since Einstein might best be described as an agnostic. Einstein himself stated quite clearly that he did not believe in a personal God:

"'It was, of course, a lie what you read about my religious convictions, a lie which is being systematically repeated. I do not believe in a personal God and I have never denied this but have expressed it clearly.'

"No personal God

"So, the quick answer to the question is that Einstein did not believe in a personal God. However, it is interesting how he arrived at that conclusion. In developing the theory of relativity, Einstein realized that the equations led to the conclusion that the universe had a beginning. He didn't like the idea of a beginning, because he thought one would have to conclude that the universe was created by God. So, he added a cosmological constant to the equation to attempt to get rid of the beginning. He said this was one of the worst mistakes of his life. Of course, the results of Edwin Hubble confirmed that the universe was expanding and had a beginning at some point in the past. So, Einstein became a deist--a believer in an impersonal creator God:

"'I believe in Spinoza's God who reveals himself in the orderly harmony of what exists, not in a God who concerns himself with fates and actions of human beings.'

"Love Your God With All Your Mind: The Role of Reason in the Life of the Soul

"However, it would also seem that Einstein was not an atheist, since he also complained about being put into that camp:

"'In view of such harmony in the cosmos which I, with my limited human mind, am able to recognize, there are yet people who say there is no God. But what really makes me angry is that they quote me for the support of such views.'

"'I'm not an atheist and I don't think I can call myself a pantheist. We are in the position of a little child entering a huge library filled with books in many languages. The child knows someone must have written those books. It does not know how. It does not understand the languages in which they are written. The child dimly suspects a mysterious order in the arrangements of the books, but doesn't know what it is. That, it seems to me, is the attitude of even the most intelligent human being toward God.'

"So, although Einstein was not a Christian, he had great respect for Jesus, and recognized that He was an amazing figure in history. . . .

"Why no personal God?

"So, what was the reason Einstein rejected the existence of a personal God? Einstein recognized the remarkable design and order of the cosmos, but could not reconcile those characteristics with the evil and suffering he found in human existence. How could an all-powerful God allow the suffering that exists on earth?

"Einstein's [alleged] error [as supposedly demonstrated by the God-believing author resorting to an appeal to Bible-based faith]:

"Einstein and Religion: Physics and Theology

"Einstein's failure to understand the motives of God are the result of his incorrect assumption that God intended this universe as His ultimate perfect creation. Einstein could not get past the moral problems that are present in our universe. He assumed, as most atheists do, that a personal God would only create a universe which is both good morally and perfect physically. Where Einstein erred was in that thinking that there was a god who designed the universe, but designed it in such as way as to allow evil without a purpose. If the universe were designed and it included evil, then there must have been a purpose for that evil. However, according to Christianity, the purpose of the universe is not to be morally or physically perfect, but to provide a place where spiritual creatures can choose to love or reject God - to live with Him forever in a new, perfect universe, or reject Him and live apart from Him for eternity. It would not be possible to make this choice in a universe in which all moral choices are restricted to only good ones. Einstein didn't seem to understand that one could not choose between good and bad if bad did not exist. It's amazing that such a brilliant man could not understand such a simple logical principle.

"Conclusion . . .

"No, Albert Einstein was not a Christian or even a theist (one who believes in a personal God), probably because he failed to understand why evil existed. These days, those who fail to understand the purpose of evil not only reject the concept of a personal God, but also reject the concept of God's existence altogether. If you are an agnostic or atheist, my goal for you would be to recognize what Albert Einstein understood about the universe--that its amazing design demands the existence of a creator God. Then, go beyond Einstein's faulty understanding of the purpose of the universe and consider the Christian explanation for the purpose of human life."

Whatever. End of Christian Sunday School lesson.

("Did Albert Einstein Believe in a Personal God?," by Rich Deem, at: http://www.godandscience.org/apologetics/einstein.html)

_____



Einstein's Final Words on the "God" thing . . .

From the article, "Was Albert Einstein An Atheist Or Not? . . .":

"Albert Einstein, black and white

"Many people wonder whether Albert Einstein, arguably one of the smartest people to have ever lived, believed in God. The battle over history’s most brilliant minds has gone on for centuries, even including the father of the theory of evolution, Charles Darwin. But few are as hotly disputed as Einstein’s religious beliefs. What did Albert Einstein really believe in, if anything?

"Some religious leaders and theists like Ray Comfort claim that Einstein believed in some form of God, even if it was just an abstract higher power.

“Although he clearly didn’t believe in a personal God (as revealed in the Bible),' Ray Comfort posits in 'Einstein, God, and the Bible': 'Einstein wrote that he wanted to know ‘His’ thoughts, referred to God as "He," and acknowledged that He revealed "Himself."'

"Meanwhile outspoken atheists like evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins claim Einstein as one of their own:

"The 'Hinckley Times' recently published an article written by Reverend John Whittaker denouncing Dawkins’ claim and trying to prove that Einstein never identified as an atheist. Whittaker uses one of Einstein’s most telling quotes on his atheism to support his point. Albert Einstein once said the following in an interview for G. S. Viereck’s book Glimpses of the Great.

“'I am not an Atheist. I do not know if I can define myself as a Pantheist. The problem involved is too vast for our limited minds… The child dimly suspects a mysterious order in the arrangement of the books but doesn’t know what it is. That, it seems to me, is the attitude of even the most intelligent human being toward God.'

"Creationist leaders like Ray Comfort and Ken Ham also use this quote as proof that Albert Einstein did not side with atheists. However, that interview is not the only time Albert Einstein spoke on the subject of God.

"Einstein’s final opinions on the matter were shared in a letter he wrote one year before his death, in 1954. According to 'Letters of Note,' Albert Einstein wrote to the philosopher Erik Gutkind after having just read Gutkind’s book 'Choose Life: The Biblical Call to Revolt.' In this letter, Einstein made his views on God as clear as possible, including the following quote.

“'The word "God" is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weakness, the Bible a collection of honorable, but still purely primitive, legends which are nevertheless pretty childish. No interpretation, no matter how subtle, can change this for me.'

"Einstein’s letter has since been auctioned off. Richard Dawkins bid on the letter and failed to win the auction, but that doesn’t change that he and other atheist activists appear to be right about Albert Einstein’s religious stance. It’s possible that Einstein simply did not approve of the atheist label, and chose not to identify as such despite lacking a belief in the God of the Bible or other religions."

("Was Albert Einstein An Atheist Or Not? Read His Final Words On God," posted in "News," 13 October 2014, at: http://www.inquisitr.com/1538169/was-albert-einstein-an-atheist-or-not-read-his-final-words-on-god/#SoDwG6xwPc1kLPSx.99)



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/24/2018 03:30PM by steve benson.

Personally, I really don't care what Einstein (or Tyson or Sagan or Steve Benson or anyone else) believes/believed about a "god."

I make my own assessments to arrive at my own conclusions. I don't piggy-back on the beliefs (or lack thereof) of others.

It is sometimes entertaining, though, to watch people of different mindsets try to claim Einstein as their own, as if that actually meant something about THEIR beliefs. :)

Whether Einsten's view on the matter serve to inform your personal opinion on God is up to you.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/24/2018 03:42PM by steve benson.

ificouldhietokolob Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Personally, I really don't care what Einstein (or
> Tyson or Sagan or Steve Benson or anyone else)
> believes/believed about a "god."

I agree. Appeals to authorities or experts in the context of a belief in God smacks of the same logical fallacy religious people make.

Seems to me like God would never need to appeal to an intellect so vastly inferior to His.

I know. And on top of it, God is too busy picking political leaders, deciding who starves to death, who finds their car keys, and who wins the football game to ever deal with the likes of Einstein. Not to mention having to respond to thousands of "Moroni's Challenge's" every day.

I think this essay ignores a very important question.

What if Einstein was one of god's avatars?

I would never be able to match your intellect or imagination.

I can forgive the good doctor for any faux pax due to a sense of utter utter awe.

Shummy Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ...utter utter awe.

Einstein was awed by cows?
Well, come to think of it, he did live in Switzerland for a while...

No possible way buddy, my imagination beggars thine.

Consciousness suggests to me that there is something beyond just a scientific explanation for what we are experiencing. What that is I don't know, but I'm confident that it's not the Mormon God.

Blasphemous Rumours (Depeche Mode)

Girl of sixteen
Whole life ahead of her
Slashed her wrists, bored with life
Didn't succeed
Thank the Lord
For small mercies

Fighting back the tears
Mother reads the note again
Sixteen candles burn in her mind
She takes the blame
It's always the same
She goes down on her knees
And prays

I don't want to start any blasphemous rumours
But I think that God's got a sick sense of humour
And when I die, I expect to find Him laughing

Girl of eighteen
Fell in love with everything
Found new life in Jesus Christ
Hit by a car
Ended up
On a life support machine

Summer's day
As she passed away
Birds were singing in the summer sky
Then came the rain
And once again
A tear fell from her mother's eye

I don't want to start any blasphemous rumours
But I think that God's got a sick sense of humour
And when I die, I expect to find Him laughing

Give science time, and it adequately contradicts religious superstition with empirical evidence.

The existence or non existence of god does not depend on any belief. Not yours, not Einstein’s not anyone’s. Beliefs do not alter reality.

….juss bundle up my coffin cause it's cold way down there.

“Many people wonder whether Albert Einstein, arguably one of the smartest people to have ever lived, believed in God.”

He was one of the most popular people to have ever lived, in his lifetime. I find that highly suspicious. Whose agenda was he carrying out? That he sold FDR on the feasibility of the Manhattan Project makes me wonder about his wisdom. Old Al’s personal ethics weren’t exactly on par with his Physics. So who cares about his beliefs about God? I wouldn’t be surprised if he used his Physics to obfuscate God. Not to say he didn’t have the correct role in history. The Earth wasn’t ready for a higher Physics (certainly in his day), so his path was a nice foil.

Since I just wrote up my thoughts on Einstein's cute GR trick:

Gravity is an artifact of consciousness. Consciousness is a property of matter described by Max Tegmark in "Consciousness as a State of Matter". This consciousness produces a time flux that curves spacetime. GR is a hat trick that removes the need for universal consciousness. It obfuscates the intrinsically spiritual nature of life.

The difference between the consciousness that goes on in our brains and bodies and the consciousness that occurs in inanimate matter is orchestration, as described by Penrose and Hameroff in their "Orch OR" theory. That's not to say the seemingly random objective reduction events (conscious experiences) in inanimate matter can't be tapped. Indeed, large calcium-rich dielectric resonators in the form of temples and pyramids have been built to concentrate and hold energies.

Time is an accretion of discrete instances of the conscious collapse of quantum superposition. Think of it as rain falling from an eternal timeless realm into an ocean of time. Normally, the rain (at least with inanimate matter) is a constant drizzle. Gravity can be seen as an artifact of this time flow caused by the presence of matter. The expanding ``ocean'' of time leads to an exponentially expanding universe. The inequality of intelligence in the life forms distributed throughout the Universe causes a mismatch between mass and spacetime that produces an illusion of dark matter.

Free energy isn't a violation of the laws of thermodynamics because it's based on time. Although mass and energy are conserved, time isn't. If the rate could be turned up to a heavy pour by inducing more conscious collapse per unit time, an excess of time would be flowing into the universe at that point. This would cause effects such as levitation and temperature reduction. Power generation isn't a violation of entropy rules because the system boundaries are infinite. If a small energy input maintains a larger time flow with respect to the load, it amplifies the energy input due to the entropy imbalance. Energy is drawn from the zero point field to make up the difference.

A consciousness-based explanation for gravity allows Physics to accept all kinds of problematic phenomena that are normally explained away or ignored. For example, meditators who go for months or years without food, generate extreme body heat in cold climates, or levitate. Some nice side effects are the removal of the need for dark energy and multiverse theories, and a unification of General Relativity and Quantum Mechanics.

We could have an entire Physics based on consciousness. If the legends of Atlantis and Lemuria are to be believed, we've probably already had it. There's no need to relegate God to religion.

God is looking more and more like the last toothy grin of a fading cosmic Cheshire cat. The more we learn, the fewer gaps superstition gets to play in trying to explain what causes (or has caused) the, as yet, unexplained phenomena we observe.

It seems that some are moving from "god" to "Consciousness." The new ghost in the machine. I, for one, am not impressed with transmutation of the god meme to the consciousness one.

HH =)

"God is looking more and more like the last toothy grin of a fading cosmic Cheshire cat."

I am using this a lot in the future whether you like it or not! :)

My life began when I started enjoying the volleyball game between my own cerebrum and cerebellum. You get a great idea "suddenly" in the shower or while driving because your brain is always sorting and analyzing even when you are not aware of it--not because some God's personal assistant put it there.

And of course god is an old white man with a long beard.