A "Proof" for the Existence of God, Part 6: The Moral Universe

[Disclaimer: This series is not really going to deliver a proof for God's existence. This is why the word "proof" is in scare quotes. It is, rather, a suggestive line of argument. However, "A suggestive line of argument for God's Existence" isn't a very good blog title. So, the goal of the series is not to arrive at a Q.E.D. moment. It is, rather, to end with a "That's an interesting argument" moment.]

Last post in this series.

First, let me lower your expectations. This series was very "experimental." It was a way for me to determine if some loose associations of mine could cohere in a speculative argument for the existence of God. As I look back over the series, and knowing what I am about to write, the argument has turned out to be very speculative. Very.

In the end, like all other arguments for the existence of God, the argument will only be persuasive if you WANT it to be true. I remember in college hearing Anselm's Ontological Argument for the first time and thinking to myself, "That is the most fishy argument I've ever heard. Who would ever find this argument persuasive?" Anyway, you've probably had the exact same feeling about my argument.

But that's okay. I think everyone should, at least once their life, attempt to prove that God exists in some original fashion. It's a fun but humbling experience. Plus, series like these tend to chase away the casual reader...

Now, on to the final part of the argument!

Consciousness helps to create, or at least preserve, structural complexity against the flow of entropy. Complexity involves structural and functional interdependence. This seems to imply that the telos of consciousness leads toward complex structures where consciousness become becomes increasingly interdependent. That is, functional and structural complexity produces interdependence among conscious systems (e.g., the "web" of life from the last post: interdependent conscious systems).

Eventually, the interdepedence of consciousness will needed to be managed. When? When consciousness becomes self-conscious. That is, when a self-reflective form of agency emerges. Agency will allow self-reflective systems to surf the causal foam of the universe in ways that can exponentially enhance their ability to stave off entropy. But, a self-reflective system will eventually run into an obstacle: the pursuits of other expoentially enhanced causal surfers. This clash brings the implict issues of interdepedence to the fore. The systems depend on and need each other. Entropically speaking, they need each other. Further, they need lots of systems of rudimentary conscious ability (e.g., plants, bugs, etc.). And all this interdependence looks suspiciously like...what?

I think it looks like morality.

Let me unpack the preceding more explicitly:

Self-conscious system surfing the causal foam = You

Exponential ability to enhance our ability to stave off entropy = All the ways you can prolong our own life (e.g., secure
housing, clothing, medicine, hygiene, vaccines)

The pursuits of other causal surfers = The entropic/conscious interests of other people

Clash between surfers and their interdependence = The moral nexus

Pursuing my ability to stave off entropy at your expense = Selfishness

Pursuing mutually agreeable ways to surf the causal nexus for the good of all = Morality

Using the words like "exponential" and "causal surfer" to speak about morality = Priceless

None of these equations seem strained to me. They are only odd in that I've built them up from the bottom.

Here's my point: Morality isn't the by-product of consciousness. Morality isn't a local (as in earth) phenomena. Rather, morality is "in the cards" as it were. Morality is implicit in the laws of nature. It is just a stage (the final one?) in consciousness' inexorable march AGAINST the flow of the universe.

What happens as interdependence increases? Well, morality will attempt to find the best way to manage the interdependence. But, interestingly, we already know the end point of this telos: Love.

Love is where all this is moving toward. Love is the singularity of consciousness. The singularity that is the antithesis the thin entropic spread. Conscious interdependence. Loving you as I love myself. The two become one flesh. Seeing all people, all things as an extenuation of me. It is all One. God will be all in all.

What I'm saying is this: Love is built into the fabric of the universe. Just as the laws of General Relativity predict black hole singularities, the laws of consciousness predict the singularity of love. And consciousness is as brute a fact of nature as the particles of physics. In sum, love is the culmination, the telos of consciousness.

And religious mystics of all stripes have agreed on this point. I've just come at it from a different angle. But I think my arguments and the testimony of the mystics do converge:

God will be all in all.

And God is love.