Philosophy
In the beginning there was nothingness, and out of that nothingness emerged God (also known, evidently, as El?-oh...him).
God, or Mr. Deity if you like (he goes by different names), apparently looked like a 70's porn star (with the creepy thin beard and dark goatee, though no sideburns), and even sported the quintessential pedophile silk robe. He had a serious case of personal insecurity and an insatiable need for social validation, but that's probably because his parents were Null and Void, and they weren't full of love... or anything else for that matter :)
Interestingly enough, this creature of emptiness had something of a philosophical disposition (though he still considered existence to be a predicate...), and in his infinite wisdom contemplated the conceptual problems behind the fact of his own omniscience. Never mind the fact that you could never throw a surprise party for God, or that he could never revel in wonder and curiosity, or enjoy the satisfaction of solving a difficult problem or making a new discovery, or experience the thrill of suspense and anticipation...
Could God know that he is all-knowing? Or might he suffer from a case of divine anosognosia, and not know about what he couldn't know?
Though not exactly on point, Elohim's soliloquy reminded me of Meno's paradox (also known as the paradox of inquiry), which is a question Meno poses to Socrates after the latter completely befuddles Meno's attempts to define virtue. Socrates summarizes the problem thus:
And there is a related New York Times excellent five-part series on anosognosia (a condition in which a person who suffers from a mental/physical disability is unaware of said disability). It happens a lot more than you'd think...
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- Property Dualism: Physicalism In Disguise?
Property dualism scheme Do you think it is possible to combine the physicalism (materialism) with the substance dualism? (If you don?t know the differences between these two check out the previous post.) For centuries people have tried to find common...
- 7. Socrates' Death And Was It Justified...
How did Socrates die? Do you think his death was justified? Explain your answer Socrate's road to death started when the Oracle at Delphi stated no one was wiser than Socrates. Socrates felt the oracle was wrong and just a paradox. He questioned...
- What Is Zeno's Dichotomy Paradox?
When I first introduce my students to the weirdness of philosophy and how even our most deeply-entrenched beliefs might be subject to serious questioning, I usually like to begin by posing to them Zeno's attempt to refute the idea that motion is possible...
- Schrödinger?s Cat... In 60 Seconds
We've seen in previous episodes of this 60-second Adventures in Thought series, all sorts of philosophical, logical, mathematical and scientific paradoxes and all-around weirdness. To remind you, we've seen Zeno's paradox concerning motion,...
- Everything And Nothing - Nothing
The idea of a vacuum, nothingness or the void has troubled Western thinkers since at least the time of Parmenides. The problem started as a logical puzzle: how could nothingness, something non-existent by definition, be? This rejection of the very possibility...
Philosophy
God and the Void
In the beginning there was nothingness, and out of that nothingness emerged God (also known, evidently, as El?-oh...him).God, or Mr. Deity if you like (he goes by different names), apparently looked like a 70's porn star (with the creepy thin beard and dark goatee, though no sideburns), and even sported the quintessential pedophile silk robe. He had a serious case of personal insecurity and an insatiable need for social validation, but that's probably because his parents were Null and Void, and they weren't full of love... or anything else for that matter :)
Interestingly enough, this creature of emptiness had something of a philosophical disposition (though he still considered existence to be a predicate...), and in his infinite wisdom contemplated the conceptual problems behind the fact of his own omniscience. Never mind the fact that you could never throw a surprise party for God, or that he could never revel in wonder and curiosity, or enjoy the satisfaction of solving a difficult problem or making a new discovery, or experience the thrill of suspense and anticipation...Could God know that he is all-knowing? Or might he suffer from a case of divine anosognosia, and not know about what he couldn't know?
Though not exactly on point, Elohim's soliloquy reminded me of Meno's paradox (also known as the paradox of inquiry), which is a question Meno poses to Socrates after the latter completely befuddles Meno's attempts to define virtue. Socrates summarizes the problem thus:
A man cannot search either for what he knows or for what he does not know... He cannot search for what he knows?since he knows it, there is no need to search? nor for what he does not know, for he does not know what to look for.Here is a nice Philosophy Bites discussion of the apparent paradox:
And there is a related New York Times excellent five-part series on anosognosia (a condition in which a person who suffers from a mental/physical disability is unaware of said disability). It happens a lot more than you'd think...
.
- Property Dualism: Physicalism In Disguise?
Property dualism scheme Do you think it is possible to combine the physicalism (materialism) with the substance dualism? (If you don?t know the differences between these two check out the previous post.) For centuries people have tried to find common...
- 7. Socrates' Death And Was It Justified...
How did Socrates die? Do you think his death was justified? Explain your answer Socrate's road to death started when the Oracle at Delphi stated no one was wiser than Socrates. Socrates felt the oracle was wrong and just a paradox. He questioned...
- What Is Zeno's Dichotomy Paradox?
When I first introduce my students to the weirdness of philosophy and how even our most deeply-entrenched beliefs might be subject to serious questioning, I usually like to begin by posing to them Zeno's attempt to refute the idea that motion is possible...
- Schrödinger?s Cat... In 60 Seconds
We've seen in previous episodes of this 60-second Adventures in Thought series, all sorts of philosophical, logical, mathematical and scientific paradoxes and all-around weirdness. To remind you, we've seen Zeno's paradox concerning motion,...
- Everything And Nothing - Nothing
The idea of a vacuum, nothingness or the void has troubled Western thinkers since at least the time of Parmenides. The problem started as a logical puzzle: how could nothingness, something non-existent by definition, be? This rejection of the very possibility...