@Dexter78,
Dexter78 wrote:One application of quantum is to try and explain the nature of consciousness, but you are saying that a pre-existing consciousness explains quantum theory.
No, that's what a published article in the "Foundation of Physics" suggests. Quantum theory might be explained by yet a more fundamental theory. However, I think that consciousness is the most fundamental aspect of reality.
Dexter78 wrote:Indeed he did say this. Any why does omnipotence require a creation in order to be omnipotent? Becuase the early Christian theologian Origen in the 3rd century believed it so? What is conditional unlimited power?
Again, you are trying to attribute irrationality to something simply because we lack a "theory of God." But, this is not a justified position since we lack a lot of theories that science is currently seeking. This by no means makes the world irrational, or makes the scientific quest an irrational quest.
I have no problem with restrictions on omnipotence. I don't think strong omnipotence is biblical, and I don't see any instances of Christians ever believing in a strong version of omnipotence. I prefer a weaker version of omnipotence where God can do whatever is physically possible and still accomplish the divine will.
Dexter78 wrote:Again, a statement, not an argument. This appears to start with the assumption that God exists, and then looking around forcing what he sees to confirm, this conclusion. Unless he first started with the observation of, "Hmm, existence seems to be a demonstration of greatness with least action in the world..." and came to the conclusion of a God.
I'm not making arguments but showing a small sampling of how an unknown (i.e., a God theory of how God could have motivation to create a world) can be resolved with numerous possible answers that have been proposed.
Dexter78 wrote:It's true, physicists have not successfully derived the equation that would contain quantum physics and relativity. However, they have a wealth of previous bodies of work and experiements they can reference, they do not simply believe something because it can potentially explain something. They test it, and retest, experiement, and modify the theories when necessary. If someone had proposed M-theory, and physicists said, "Yep, that explains it" and made no attempt to verify, then yes, I would agree this would be irrational, but this is not what occurs.
That's not my point, though. A proposed phenomena (e.g., God, the unification of the laws of physics) that includes an unknown (e.g., intention to create, some unification theory that does not yet exist) does not mean the proposed phenomena is irrational. If a proposed phenomena included an unknown that has no possible solution (e.g., logical contradiction), then the belief in that proposed phenomena is therefore irrational. However, in this case you are just throwing out unknowns and that is not sufficient to show that God is an irrational belief. You must show that there is something inherent in every possible proposed solution that is logically impossible. That's a very tough task, and I don't think you have even begun to do so.
Dexter78 wrote:It is the properties of stuff, and subsequent behavior, that equations attempt to decribe, but none of the properties arise from pre-existing equations.
Well, that's your opinion. Many other physicists now and throughout recent past have an entirely different view (e.g., Einstein, Heisenberg, Feynman, Hawking, Weinberg, etc., etc.).
Dexter78 wrote:The fundamental properties are what they are because they could not be otherwise. Are you suggesting that because these properties exist, they therefore have meaning, and since meaning requires interpretation, there is therfore a God?
I'm suggesting that the propositions of math exist and as a result they in turn dictate the propositions (laws) of physics. The only way a
proposition can exist is if it is different than jiberish, and therefore a proposition requires interpretation and comprehension. This requires God to exist.
The argument against your nominalism of physical laws is that it does not explain the "unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics." For example, Murray Gell-Mann's Eightfold Way is a mathematical structure that he proposed by doing the math. If it were just a useful fiction as you suggest, then he'd be exceedingly lucky to happen to stumble upon a unique process of nature. In my opinion, if your view were correct then physics would be much more similar to psychology than mathematics. We'd have theories of nature, but we would have very little success with prediction since our theories are just very rough approximations that other theories would contend to explain just as well as another theory. We don't see this kind of situation in physics. Rather, the world, or at least a great deal part of it, is neatly described by a few equations.