Our Place in the Universe (II)

And this is the basis of man's greatest accomplishment : the capacity for science to predict future results, the capacity to find laws of nature. No knowledge would have any long-term utility if it only applied to one point in time. No progress would be possible.

The uniformity of nature (that is to say, the existence of only one fabric) must be true in order for scientific laws to exist. There is no contradiction between an atheistic world and scientific laws : but if acausal gods and acausal minds exist, then there can be no scientific laws. No progress is possible. If acausality exists, then reality is unpredictable and man is powerless in an ever-changing meaningless universe.

Scientific laws are the fabric of the block universe. This is why there is no such thing as "chance". If "chance" existed then scientific laws would not exist, nothing would be predictable, and there would be no meaning. Since this is exactly the state of a theistic universe, the only people who believe in "chance" are the believers.

Only atheism and materialism make life meaningful. So what does this mean to the individual ? It means that one can have confidence in one's own abilities, take control of one's own life, establish ourselves as observers of reality instead of passive victims who sacrifice to God or karma to get what they want. We can have knowledge, principles and values. And that is the greatest freedom of all.

What is your opinion on the subject ? If you have issues you'd like to see featured here, email me. Don't hesitate to post on the message board - go back to the main page and scroll below the articles list, or if no thread on the subject is available yet, click on "Start a discussion on this article". Happy thinking !

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