[lbo-talk] Strange... before the Global Minotaur...

[Somebody Somebody]

Chuck Grimes: But, playing Gould, if I can, it is the thought that there is a unifying principle to the universe that is the foundational thought of God. If you can abandon God, you can accept the idea there is no such thing as a unifying principle. The universe does not have either a unity, or a principle. It is an utterly different phenomenon, an unfolding process in time. It has its forces which may not be united: gravity, magnetism-electricity, and some strange probably unrelated micro-bonding forces.

Somebody: With respect, the existence or non-existence of God is not necessarily relevant to any putative underlying principle of the universe as described by physics. Such a principle would only describe a physical universe which is internally coherent with itself, irrespective of any deity or deities. For example, physicists are now searching in earnest for the Higgs boson to confirm an aspect of the Standard Model of particle physics. So far, it remains elusive.

Now maybe the universe is not consistent with itself. That seems to me to be a question separate from whether there is any God. However intuitive or counter-intuitive the self-coherence of the universe may be, it is a matter of scientific investigation.