I was having a discussion with a friend of mine yesterday and after half a bottle of whiskey, we started having those famous let's-make-the-world-a-better-place-conversations. At one point we were going over the various ways to interpret the fabric of reality. We came up with four possibilities:
[1] Open universe
You know: it all started with the Big Bang, the universe is expanding and it will continue to do so until the last star dies out and the universe is changed into a humongous impossibility. Maybe the universe will expand even further after that, or it comes to a stop - no one cares, because all that will be left, is nothingness. This is probably the most popular scientific theory concerning the universe. It's a theory that basically says: it doesn't matter a fuck what you do in life, you'll die, the sun will expand until it cooks the earth, the universe will eventually die out and everything that once was, will be gone - forever. It's also the kind of theory that makes me want to rape my female colleague, knock my boss on the head with a blunt object (preferably a base ball bat) for half an hour and slit my wrists whilst watching the twentieth rerun of a Simpsons episode.
[2] Closed universe/Cyclic universe/Perpetual return
It all started with a Big Bang, the universe expands, slows down and comes to a halt after which the gravitational forces of all the stuff that the universe consists of makes it contract, shrink together again into the same singularity it was before the shit hit the fan and it went BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! After which the same shit happens. After which the same shit happens. After which the same shit happens. And so on.
This is basically the 'scientific' twin theory of Nietzsche's idea of perpetual return: we've been here before, we will be here agin and nothing (not even that speck of dust that is now floating through the air and is lighting up in that ray of sunlight) will be different the next time through. Everyone's life is one big déjà-vu and that's what it'll always be.
[3] Intelligent design
Someone or something sentient made everything in the universe. And is lamenting himself and his creation right now, no doubt. Some call this omnipotent geezer 'God', some call him 'Allah' or some might even call him 'LGM' (collectively). Anyway, this geezer made everything and everyone and most of the time he also gave us some sort of manual that tells us how to live our lives (like the bible, the quran, the collected works of Charles Schulz, and so on).
One little petty detail that no religion has a good answer to is this: if that supergeezer created everything and everyone, than whom created him? Aha! See how crappy religion is?
[4] Solipsism
When you think about it, solipsism is basically just a variant of religion. This time it is the 'I' that is the supergeezer and that 'I' created everything and everyone. Some people actually believe this and say funny stuff like: 'When I was 8, I invented the exclamation mark' or 'Don't you think it was a terribly good move of me to put breasts on the chests of women?' Solipsists are always individualistic, have bigger than life egos and think of themselves as highly creative personalities.
Whatever, right? People who believe in solipsism can not answer this: Well, if you created everything and everyone, then whom created you?
So they loose.
That's all we could come up with: four lousy theories that try to explain how it all happened.
My question is this: do you know of yet another way to interpret the fabric of reality? And no crappy stuff like 'Oh yeah, I believe in the spaghetti god of antipasta-rhubarb-tomato-sauce' or whatever. Just something totally different from the four 'theories' I already summed up.
And: where would you place Plato's cave? Would that be a fifth theory (matrix-style)?
[1] Open universe
You know: it all started with the Big Bang, the universe is expanding and it will continue to do so until the last star dies out and the universe is changed into a humongous impossibility. Maybe the universe will expand even further after that, or it comes to a stop - no one cares, because all that will be left, is nothingness. This is probably the most popular scientific theory concerning the universe. It's a theory that basically says: it doesn't matter a fuck what you do in life, you'll die, the sun will expand until it cooks the earth, the universe will eventually die out and everything that once was, will be gone - forever. It's also the kind of theory that makes me want to rape my female colleague, knock my boss on the head with a blunt object (preferably a base ball bat) for half an hour and slit my wrists whilst watching the twentieth rerun of a Simpsons episode.
[2] Closed universe/Cyclic universe/Perpetual return
It all started with a Big Bang, the universe expands, slows down and comes to a halt after which the gravitational forces of all the stuff that the universe consists of makes it contract, shrink together again into the same singularity it was before the shit hit the fan and it went BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! After which the same shit happens. After which the same shit happens. After which the same shit happens. And so on.
This is basically the 'scientific' twin theory of Nietzsche's idea of perpetual return: we've been here before, we will be here agin and nothing (not even that speck of dust that is now floating through the air and is lighting up in that ray of sunlight) will be different the next time through. Everyone's life is one big déjà-vu and that's what it'll always be.
[3] Intelligent design
Someone or something sentient made everything in the universe. And is lamenting himself and his creation right now, no doubt. Some call this omnipotent geezer 'God', some call him 'Allah' or some might even call him 'LGM' (collectively). Anyway, this geezer made everything and everyone and most of the time he also gave us some sort of manual that tells us how to live our lives (like the bible, the quran, the collected works of Charles Schulz, and so on).
One little petty detail that no religion has a good answer to is this: if that supergeezer created everything and everyone, than whom created him? Aha! See how crappy religion is?
[4] Solipsism
When you think about it, solipsism is basically just a variant of religion. This time it is the 'I' that is the supergeezer and that 'I' created everything and everyone. Some people actually believe this and say funny stuff like: 'When I was 8, I invented the exclamation mark' or 'Don't you think it was a terribly good move of me to put breasts on the chests of women?' Solipsists are always individualistic, have bigger than life egos and think of themselves as highly creative personalities.
Whatever, right? People who believe in solipsism can not answer this: Well, if you created everything and everyone, then whom created you?
So they loose.
That's all we could come up with: four lousy theories that try to explain how it all happened.
My question is this: do you know of yet another way to interpret the fabric of reality? And no crappy stuff like 'Oh yeah, I believe in the spaghetti god of antipasta-rhubarb-tomato-sauce' or whatever. Just something totally different from the four 'theories' I already summed up.
And: where would you place Plato's cave? Would that be a fifth theory (matrix-style)?
