Re: U-Prime (and the Universe as 'God')

E. Shaun Russell (e_shaun@uniserve.com)
Sun, 17 Nov 1996 21:52:46 -0800 (PST)


On 18/11/96, David Musick wrote:

>As you observed, "God" is a worn-out, old word, with much extra baggage, and
>unfortunately, it is difficult to use that word without evoking all of the
>unintended meanings. I like the word, "U-Prime", which I first saw Michael
>Lorrey use. I use this word to refer to the hypothetical creator of
>universes, one of which we find ourselves inhabiting. It says nothing about
>the powers of this entity, except for the ability to have created our universe
>and possibly others, nothing more.

Though I don't quite understand the reason why the new
term is necessary (aren't we beyond emotional 'baggage'?) I'll
constrain myself to using the term 'U-Prime' in this post.

In my initial response to David's "God" post, I entertained
the thought of having the universe itself as 'God' a.k.a.: U-Prime.
Needless to say, there was no response to my post. So I'll make
the suggestion again...in a more detailed manner.

Let's assume for a moment that there is but one universe
that extends forever...to the point where eternity and infinity
are indistinguishable from one another. Let's assume that there
is always further out to go, i.e.: no physical limits. Now let's
look at the basic physiology of this universe. For one, if this
universe has no end, then ultimately everything tangible (I'm not
including the possibility of 'anti-matter') is within this
universe. Ultimately, if every iota of intelligence is within
this universe, the universe itself is omniscient, omnipresent
and omnipotent. I would consider those traits to denominate the
universe as a (or the?) U-Prime. The question will inevitably
arise as to "Who created the universe?". I hope this doesn't
sound closed-minded, but the universe might as well have *always*
been. Hey, it's possible.

Everyone on this list knows me as an artist. I make a
living out of creating. Everything I do, I do for making some
sort of progress or creation. I have a hard time believing that
there is some U-Prime controlling my mind and, in effect, my
creations and my life. If the definition of a U-Prime is "a
hypothetical creator of universes" as David says, then I would
be forced to call ourselves potential U-Primes --if my previous
paragraph is false. If there *are* other universes, then I
believe that eventually humans can and will have the ability to
create them. Why not? This universe surely has enough resources
to create another universe; all we need is the technology to do
so. If all of humanity is set on the goal of creating a new universe
through many generations, I think it is attainable. It may take a
few thousand years, but I don't think it should be ruled out.
But I hold to my thoughts that there is only one universe.

Now let's assume that there is one universe that has an
end to it. Imagine the day that humans have the technology to
extrope to the outer limits of *the* universe. Now imagine the
feeling once the end was reached. It would be like Christopher
Columbus seeing that the world was flat and had a drastic end.
Columbus would have been devastated; chances are, the chap would
have killed himself. Imagine the knowledge that *there is no
further to go*. I don't even want to think about it. Instead,
I'd rather see the universe as having *no* end. I'll maintain
that though until I'm PROVEN wrong.

In a nutshell (pun intended), I think that the universe
is eternal, infinite, omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent.
Probably enough in most people's books to classify the universe
as 'God' or 'U-Prime'. Ultimately, all that occurs is within
the universe, so it could be seen that all is caused *by* the
universe.

Now here's the disclaimer of this post. I'm a total
atheist. Not a single scrap of belief in a conventional or
dictative 'God' or 'U-Prime' whatsoever. I firmly believe that
we, as humans, totally control what we do and how far we go in
life. To put it bluntly I think that we are 'God'; 'God' on a
human progress basis. However, if a giant meteor comes from
virtually nowhere and knocks the earth into the sun, there will
be nothing I can do to stop it. I don't think anything can
stop it. It happens. No 'conventional God' or 'U-Prime'
caused it, the universe caused it because it happened within
the universe. *But* the universe is just a variable that human
'Gods' will have to accept. We cannot control the universe, but
we are a part of it just the same. We have the rationale to create
and explore. We can live our lives as we see fit, ignorant of
the universe around us. We can create as much as we want within
the universe. We can go farther and farther into the universe...
as far as we want to go. But we *are* the universe, or at least
a part of it.

Thus, my inflated response\post is done. I apologize
that the limitations of language made many of my views unclear
and hard to understand, but hey, c'est la vie!

Ingredi Externus!

-E. Shaun Russell

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~~~:~~~> E. ternity E. Shaun Russell
:~~> E. xpansion e_shaun@uniserve.com
:~~~> E. xtropy Extropian poet\musician

-"Outward is the only place to go that is not bound"-
From "Verging On A Brink"
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