If you were God

[Songbird]

If you were a perfect entity with creative powers, would you create a universe with inhabitants who have free will? How would you do it? Would you create life at all? Why?

Though those questions are my main focus, anything related to this topic are welcome, like what does time look like to you? If you are infinite, what were you up to prior to your creation of time? To illustrate the meaninglessness of asking what’s prior to the beginning of time, Hawking posed the question what’s north of the north pole? Fair analogy? If you’re not infinite, then man, what created you?

I don’t expect this to go far, because of the unanswerable nature of it all. And the questions could have been worded better. But if I always waited until my daughter was done playing the piano and my son to stop asking, “Where is my butterfly, where is my butterfly, where is my butterfly, WHERE IS MY BUTTERFLY?” I’d just never post a thing.


All definitions are as we generally understand them but are debatable – “perfect”, “free will”, etc.

 

[Orbital]

If by 'perfect' entity you mean all-knowing and the so commonly used concepts like that, then I would not see the point in doing anything. Why do anything if you are already perfect/know it all/done it all.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

If you were a perfect entity with creative powers, would you create a universe with inhabitants who have free will? How would you do it? Would you create life at all? Why?

Though those questions are my main focus, anything related to this topic are welcome, like what does time look like to you? If you are infinite, what were you up to prior to your creation of time? To illustrate the meaninglessness of asking what’s prior to the beginning of time, Hawking posed the question what’s north of the pole? Fair analogy? If you’re not infinite, then man, what created you?


I don’t expect this to go far, because of the unanswerable nature of it all. And the questions could have been worded better. But if I always waited until my daughter was done playing the piano and my son to stop asking, “Where is my butterfly, where is my butterfly, where is my butterfly, WHERE IS MY BUTTERFLY?” I’d just never post a thing.


All definitions are as we generally understand them but are debatable – “perfect”, “free will”, etc.

I am a perfect entity with creative powers and I haven't created anyone with free will yet. Maybe I will once I figure out how to overcome the logical impossibility of being able to create something with free will when I have perfect knowledge of the future.

 

[Sum1sGruj]

I am a perfect entity with creative powers and I haven't created anyone with free will yet. Maybe I will once I figure out how to overcome the logical impossibility of being able to create something with free will when I have perfect knowledge of the future.

If I were God, I would give nobody free will so they could be happy with not having it

 

[Songbird]

I am a perfect entity with creative powers and I haven't created anyone with free will yet. Maybe I will once I figure out how to overcome the logical impossibility of being able to create something with free will when I have perfect knowledge of the future.

Heh, logical impossibilities. S'what my OP's all about, babe.

 

[Revoltingest]

Were I the god, you'd all become Revoltifarians.
Also.....
- Bacon would be a prolific weed.
- Ice cream would be calorie free.
- "Chocolate" would be a flavor....not just a color for tasteless candy or racially troubled cities.
- No women would need fake tatas....they'd be adjustable for size & firmness.
- Engineers would rule the world.....until the violent overthrow.
- Everyone would play go (wei qi).
- Aliens would visit us for superior alien technology.
- There would be a sequel to Buckaroo Banzai, Across the 8th Dimension.
- Alan Rickman would be my prophet....tis the voice, you know.
- Revoltistan would be the Holy Land....not because of me, but rather that's where beer trees grow.
- My sacred book would be burned & mocked by all.....I command it!

 

[Songbird]

Were I the god, you'd all become Revoltifarians.
Also.....
- Bacon would be a prolific weed.
- Ice cream would be calorie free.
- "Chocolate" would be a flavor....not just a color for tasteless candy or racially troubled cities.
- No women would need fake tatas....they'd be adjustable for size & firmness.
- Engineers would rule the world.....until the violent overthrow.
- Everyone would play go (wei qi).
- Aliens would visit us for superior alien technology.
- There would be a sequel to Buckaroo Banzai, Across the 8th Dimension.
- Alan Rickman would be my prophet....tis the voice, you know.
- Revoltistan would be the Holy Land....not because of me, but rather that's where beer trees grow.
- My sacred book would be burned & mocked by all.....I command it!

I aaallmost mentioned bacon, were I God. Hoped you'd come through! Knew I could count on you!

 

[Revoltingest]

Btw, I wouldn't be omniscient, therefore you'd all have free will....whatever that is.

 

[Songbird]

Btw, I wouldn't be omniscient, therefore you'd all have free will....whatever that is.

I just want free bacon. All else is gravy.

Ooh, I want free gravy too.

 

[Revoltingest]

I just want free bacon. All else is gravy.
Ooh, I want free gravy too.

Tasty animals will have a gravy gland...so they provide their own.

 

[Penumbra]

If you were a perfect entity with creative powers, would you create a universe with inhabitants who have free will? How would you do it?

Well, I assume that if I was a god of cosmic proportions, my personality, if such a thing is even meaningful at that level, would be different than it is now. So what "I" would do is not necessarily what I would do if I was a perfect entity with creative powers.

Anyway, I haven't seen a definition of free will that is satisfactory to me, so I am doubtful that it's even a logically possible thing.

Would you create life at all? Why?

I don't know. I don't see why I would. Plus it depends if I'm a monotheist god or some type of panentheist god.

Though those questions are my main focus, anything related to this topic are welcome, like what does time look like to you? If you are infinite, what were you up to prior to your creation of time? To illustrate the meaninglessness of asking what’s prior to the beginning of time, Hawking posed the question what’s north of the north pole? Fair analogy? If you’re not infinite, then man, what created you?

I assume that instead of viewing things in time, I'd view everything in one eternal "instant". As in, an infinite number and scope of experiences are occurring as one eternal sum of experience. Like experiencing every moment of our life at once, seeing the beginning and the end and everything between at the same time, except altered to be without the concept of an "end" or any limit in the number of experiences. Prior to this eternal summation wouldn't be a meaningful concept, I'd imagine.

 

[Reptillian]

Tasty animals will have a gravy gland...so they provide their own.

Why not just have gravy saliva and taste it all the time?

 

[Songbird]

Tasty animals will have a gravy gland...so they provide their own.

Lord Revoltingest, I live to do thine will that I might taste of thy gravy.

Not an innuendo, folks, not an innuendo.

 

[Songbird]

Penumbra,

Yeah, my own answer would be similar but condensed to one fat I Have No Idea.

I wondered because I often hear people ask why a god would create a world with suffering, and I wondered if anyone has a somewhat good idea how to create choice without suffering. Would that world be at all fulfilling for people who have some intelligence, choice, and desire for purpose or fulfillment?

 

[Revoltingest]

Why not just have gravy saliva and taste it all the time?

Foolish mortal!
Saliva performs useful functions, for which gravy unsuited is.
Cast away the notion of godly perfection you should....an irrelevant & silly notion it is!
My dominion is the creation of an engineer, ie, an optimized design with all things in harmony...sort of.

 

[Penumbra]

Penumbra,

Yeah, my own answer would be similar but condensed to one fat I Have No Idea.

I wondered because I often hear people ask why a god would create a world with suffering, and I wondered if anyone has a somewhat good idea how to create choice without suffering. Would that world be at all fulfilling for people who have some intelligence, choice, and desire for purpose or fulfillment?

I think a certain amount of suffering would be needed to provide challenge and growth.

There is likely an optimal point between too much and too little suffering, depending on the way the system is set up. I don't see why I'd have to add something like the possibility of unbearable and prolonged pain, or brain parasites, or worms that can eat their way into someone's eye, or major genetic defects, or suffering for lesser intelligent species that won't get much out of it, and I don't think I'd build the system so that life must necessarily kill and consume other life to continue living.

But I don't think I'd make it so that life consists of beings like Socrates sitting around under palm trees on an island paradise for eternity, either.

The reason I say I don't know whether I'd create anything is because I wouldn't create anything unless I was absolutely sure it would be great, since it affects conscious entities. If I was already a perfect entity, I don't see why I'd add anything to the system. Besides, the Dharmic theistic religions often depict god as panentheistic, such that nothing really exists besides god. So if that were the case, I don't see why I'd go through the process of creating Maya, or illusion, and then put aspects of myself into the illusion such that they have to escape from it and be one again. I might just pass on that. It depends, I guess.

 

[Penumbra]

You are God. You just don't know it. That is the problem. God is Infinite and Eternal, and yet beyond Infinity and Eternity. The whole of creation fits within God like a grain of sand in the entire Sahara Desert or a drop of water in the Ocean. How could we know God, that which is beyond the beyond, through our puny minds? We can't! But we can experience God, directly. That is the only way you are going to find the true answers to your questions. Short of that I'd advise you read The Holy Book of Destiny by Maitreya The Friend of All Souls. He actually entered into Perfect Final Union with God twice, and was aborbed into God like a drop of water falling into an endless Sea. His book describes that journey. It is an amazing book, and yet, as Maitreya says, it is only a book. A book is like fingers pointing to the moon. If you stop at the fingers, you will never reach the moon. So if you do read it, use it like fingers pointing to the moon. It's available on Amazon. Just search for The Holy Book of Destiny and Maitreya The Friend.

If the guy "entered into perfect final union with god", why did he have to do it a second time?

 

[Quagmire]

If the guy "entered into perfect final union with god", why did he have to do it a second time?

Because the more times he does it the more PR for his book.

 

[The Sum of Awe]

If you were a perfect entity with creative powers, would you create a universe with inhabitants who have free will? How would you do it? Would you create life at all? Why?

Though those questions are my main focus, anything related to this topic are welcome, like what does time look like to you? If you are infinite, what were you up to prior to your creation of time? To illustrate the meaninglessness of asking what’s prior to the beginning of time, Hawking posed the question what’s north of the north pole? Fair analogy? If you’re not infinite, then man, what created you?

I don’t expect this to go far, because of the unanswerable nature of it all. And the questions could have been worded better. But if I always waited until my daughter was done playing the piano and my son to stop asking, “Where is my butterfly, where is my butterfly, where is my butterfly, WHERE IS MY BUTTERFLY?” I’d just never post a thing.


All definitions are as we generally understand them but are debatable – “perfect”, “free will”, etc.

I would make life and freewill in a liberal way, but I will explain to them that the physics of existence is true to all, the more you have is the more you have to lose. And the more don't have is the more you have to gain, thus complete suffering would make them have no suffering at all, so it was either complete suffering or not perfect.

Why would I make life? Not sure, playing the sims 2 hours a day though

 

[Panda]

I would mess with people big style. Everyone so often change the speed of light or some other fundamental constants just to annoy people