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What the trolly problem actually looks like (lemmy.world)
submitted 10 months ago by bobby_hill@lemmy.world to c/atheism@lemmy.world
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[-] Sterile_Technique@lemmy.world 9 points 10 months ago

As a thought experiment, if we think of a god as a being that exists in the 5th dimension, it could be omnipotent/omniscient to the lower 4 (3 spacial + time) but only have a limited presence/influence regarding things like probability, and no influence whatsoever on things like other realities.

Similar to how we exist in the 4th dimension and can fully manipulate the lower three; but while we exist and are aware of time, we can't manipulate it outside of trying to nudge it with extreme speed or gravity.

A god in 5th dimension then would kinda look like someone playing the Sims and making use of save states to try to optimize every decision in the game; and while you might be aware that other games exist, -this- one can only ever be Sims.

This would make omnipotence a question of scope - to the individual sim, the player is all powerful in the ways that an individual sim can experience, so, omnipotent; but that player can't do shit to Minecraft, or instances of Sims running on other computers, so, simultaneously not omnipotent.

Basically the Many Worlds theory, but each reality would have its own god.

...which still doesn't really pass the all-knowing, all-powerful, all-good test, but it does at least frame the concept of god in a more interesting way from a mythology perspective.

No religion that I'm aware of acknowledges things like dimensions, but then they present their god as existing in a way that's clearly outside the scope of the 4 we experience... So, there's wiggle room even in actual religious lore in how we package things like "omnipotence".

[-] phx@lemmy.world 7 points 10 months ago

I love movies and books that touch on topics like this, like situations where you've got a super-being but they build in limitations.

  • one who can "see" into the future for hundreds of years but can only actually view one timeline simultaneously and in real-time (meaning they could see any event in the future but would need to burn time in "the now" like watching a recorded video)

  • beings that constantly lose track of what the "current" reality/timeline is in a seas of possibilities (MIB3's "Griffin" is a fun example of this)

  • being able to know what significant future events will occur but unable to influence whether they do or not. Unavoidable destiny (e.g. Emma's Death in "the Time Machine" is unavoidable, though the exact many it occurs changes)

  • Knowing what "bad things" will happen but still being on the "best track" timeline as deviations make things worse (Loki, Butterfly Effect)

  • Macro level knowledge overcrowding micro level suffering in the backdrop of inter-galactic scales and infinite time

  • semi-autonomous superpowers commanded by unfathomable beings without fine control and a limited self-awareness

None of this of course is an argument for the existence of an actual deity that loves us but ignores us, however they are fun ways to think of how one might know the future yet not want or be able to change it.

this post was submitted on 08 Oct 2023
1090 points (94.9% liked)

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