Mar 15, 2024 06:36 PM
Can physics ease the sting of death?
https://johnhorgan.org/cross-check/can-p...g-of-death
EXCERPT: . . . We desperately want to believe that, beneath the apparent randomness, someone, something, is in control. God, for many people, is the tough but fair chief executive running this seemingly chaotic, cosmic corporation. It’s hard for us to see Her/His/Its/Their plan, but She/He/It/They surely knows what She/He/It/They is doing.
If you find the God hypothesis implausible, then physics-based determinism might serve as a substitute. According to this perspective, the universe isn’t careening wildly into an unknowable future. It is gliding serenely, undeviatingly along a rigid track laid down at the beginning of time. As a free-will fanatic, I don’t find this perspective comforting, but I understand why others do. If determinism is true, there’s nothing you can do to change things, so sit back and enjoy the ride. Everything is as it should be. Must be.
I don’t find any physics hypotheses very consoling. I wish I did. I’ve been brooding over death a lot lately, because of my advancing age and the precarious state of the world. I have my consolations. I’m a writer and father, so I fantasize about people reading my books after I’m gone, and I envision my son and daughter living good, fulfilling lives, and possibly having children of their own.
These wishful visions require civilization’s continuation, so I tell myself that civilization, in spite of its manifest flaws, is pretty good and getting better. I manage to sustain this hope, on good days, and to keep my fear of dissolution, personal and collective, at bay... (MORE - missing details)
https://johnhorgan.org/cross-check/can-p...g-of-death
EXCERPT: . . . We desperately want to believe that, beneath the apparent randomness, someone, something, is in control. God, for many people, is the tough but fair chief executive running this seemingly chaotic, cosmic corporation. It’s hard for us to see Her/His/Its/Their plan, but She/He/It/They surely knows what She/He/It/They is doing.
If you find the God hypothesis implausible, then physics-based determinism might serve as a substitute. According to this perspective, the universe isn’t careening wildly into an unknowable future. It is gliding serenely, undeviatingly along a rigid track laid down at the beginning of time. As a free-will fanatic, I don’t find this perspective comforting, but I understand why others do. If determinism is true, there’s nothing you can do to change things, so sit back and enjoy the ride. Everything is as it should be. Must be.
I don’t find any physics hypotheses very consoling. I wish I did. I’ve been brooding over death a lot lately, because of my advancing age and the precarious state of the world. I have my consolations. I’m a writer and father, so I fantasize about people reading my books after I’m gone, and I envision my son and daughter living good, fulfilling lives, and possibly having children of their own.
These wishful visions require civilization’s continuation, so I tell myself that civilization, in spite of its manifest flaws, is pretty good and getting better. I manage to sustain this hope, on good days, and to keep my fear of dissolution, personal and collective, at bay... (MORE - missing details)
![[Image: iILEoMr.jpeg]](https://i.imgur.com/iILEoMr.jpeg)