From: Lee Daniel Crocker (lcrocker@mercury.colossus.net)
Date: Wed Nov 03 1999 - 09:28:46 MST
> > Like "infinity", this "God" is a symbol and a useful meme.
>
> "infinity" may be useful - "God" is not
A silly naked assertion. I'm as militant an atheist as
anyone, but I cannot honestly deny that the "God" concept
is a very useful part of the language, and that it is
likely that our brains have evolved in such a way as to
make it useful, for reasons I can only imagine. It is a
very convenient way of expressing superlatives, ideals,
unexplained things: God's algorithm, God's intent, acts
of God, God only knows, thank God; these are all useful
expressions that convey their meaning far more clearly
and powerfully than many alternatives.
I think the analogy with "infinity" is perfect: we all
know that infinity doesn't exist either, but it is quite
a useful concept for expressing ideas about the limits of
things. Similarly, "God" is a useful way of expressing
the ways of the universe by personifying it, much the way
we often personify cars and computers to describe their
behavior.
It is good that we fight dogmatism and irrationality; but
let's not get so hung up on a word that we sacrifice the
elegance and power of the language available to us.
-- Lee Daniel Crocker <lee@piclab.com> <http://www.piclab.com/lcrocker.html> "All inventions or works of authorship original to me, herein and past, are placed irrevocably in the public domain, and may be used or modified for any purpose, without permission, attribution, or notification."--LDC
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