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enlightenment
November 2007 
The Grand Unified Theos
Posted on Dec 19th, 2006
by 
Jeremy
Jeremy
The Age of Reason
"Soon after I had published the pamphlet, Common Sense, in America, I saw the exceeding probability that a revolution in the system of government would be followed by a revolution in the system of religion,"
Thomas Paine -The Age of Reason
One may argue that the Age of Enlightenment is not yet complete, for although the institutions of science, government, and economics have shaken of their pre-medieval structures, the institute of religion has not undergone any similar revolution. Since the beginnings of the Age of Enlightenment, science, government and economics have looked deeply within, and have been changed and improved by their self-introspection. It is easily imagined that if citizens were taken from the era of feudalism into the modern world, they would scarcely be able to understand how society operates and would be utterly bewildered by the workings of science. In all likelihood, they could easily find comfort in the fact that religion has been scarcely altered in the centuries following the Scientific Revolution. The question that this article presents is as follows: Is it possible for religion to undergo an equally transformational change?
It may be said that religion has evolved with the times and has made much progress. Clearly, religion has been forced to change to maintain its position in the modern world, but the changes are often the bare minimum. Unlike the changes that have befallen science, government and economics, the changes that individual religions made to survive did not generally promote unity. Science, government and economics have increasingly moved towards universal acceptance, and although they have not entirely succeeded, each decade that passes brings forth a tendency towards unification. Science is identical in every nation, governments are increasingly democratic and economics have largely developed a practical global organization based on the universal systems of supply and demand. By evolving through careful introspection, these institutes have allowed increased capabilities for its human citizens.
If religion could successfully undergo a revolution that sought out fundamental truths in a united, globally acceptable system we might find that the human experience would improve in ways that are simply unimaginable to the people of our times. Just as Nicolaus Copernicus could not have foreseen the epistemological revolution his theories helped to ignite, we would not be able to conceive of the eventual benefits of a spiritual revolution.
The Rise of Science
Of all of the changes that have swept over the planet, ones resulting from the so-called Scientific Revolution have had the greatest range and influence. The sweeping changes that this revolution brought allowed the people of the world to imagine that all human institutions could likewise reform. With these ideas in mind, bold attempts of transforming society have been in affect, changing the ways that groups, and individuals experience the world. Through the application of systematic doubt and empirical verification, the universe slowly revealed its secrets.
Before the application of empirical reason, science was more akin to religion; it was steeped in dogma, superstitions and absolute acceptance of Ptolemaic thought. Once the scientific method was developed, systematic testing revealed the fallacy of prior worldviews. The scientific method can be, at most, simplified into three parts.
1. Observation of Phenomenon: The experimenter views phenomenon, either directly or indirectly.
2. Hypothesis and Prediction: The experimenter finds a reason for this phenomenon and tries to find reasonable methods of predicting results based upon this hypothesis.
3. Experimentation and Repetition: The experimenter devises methods of making the predictions practical through experimentation. The experiment is repeated as often as possible thus proving or disproving the results.
Now this simplified method has many complex facets, not covered in this article, but the results of of the scientific method is clear. We live in a transformed world. Discoveries have shown us to the very beginnings of the universe, the fundamentals of matter and energy and the workings of life itself.
In the last few decades, physicists have been working hard at discovering a Grand Unified Theory in physics. This theory would help explain all physical phenomenon, and would have ramifications that would bleed into all other areas of science. It would represent the culmination of one of the greatest human adventures that has ever been attempted: the unraveling of the cosmos.
The Search for Truth
One aspect of science, that many are clearly aware of, is that science never contains the entire truth. Each discovery made helps to simultaneously clarify and abolish various tenets of scientific knowledge. The search for truth seems like an infinite quest from a reductionist standpoint. It is in this very dilemma that religion trumps science, for spiritual knowledge tends to come from a holistic view of nature. God, Buddha, the Tao, or any other commonly sought archetype is the highest conceptual archetype ever realized. The fact that many religions have developed throughout human history is a testament to the sheer difficulty of the human mind to completely fathom it. Each religion imagines their own understanding of the infinite and uses faith to bridge the gap. If faith could be replaced by using a system similar to the scientific method, would religion be transformed with the same level of success? Consider the following example of applying the scientific method to a religious question:
1. Observation of Phenomenon: We are complex creatures with intelligence, living in an infinitely complex universe. We, a part of the universe, have intelligence, awareness and consciousness, and therefore the universe has laws that govern the pattern of intelligence.
2. Hypothesis and Prediction: Our minds, also a part of the universe, are created by connections. Neurons communicate in an immensely complex pattern and the sum of that communication is our mind. The universe is also governed by connections. Particles (and perhaps superstrings) communicate in a likewise complex pattern, much of which is governed by laws and dimensions we do not currently understand. The sum of the universe is aware at a super-intelligent level. This is what we have called God. Our minds, the microcosm of the mind of God, are governed by laws of pattern. If we discover these laws that govern the pattern of intelligence we may find a similar set of laws in fundamental physics. This would highly suggest that the universe has intelligence, and would point to the existence of God.
3. Experimentation and Repetition: Create a workable artificial intelligence and compare its pattern of operation to the human mind. Compare patterns, and the laws that govern them, to the cutting-edge laws of physics to see whether there is any correlation.
Putting such a theory into practice would be extremely difficult, and it is uncertain whether such a theory would be successful. The challenge should not discourage any attempt, for discovering truths has seldom been easy and disproving such a theory is, in itself, valuable knowledge. It is not difficult to imagine that, if successfully proven, such a hypothesis would transform the spiritual quest of humanity. Such a discovery, or others like it, could develop into a unifying spiritual search, and may extend beyond humanity if we were to discover or create other intelligences. Would our traditional human religions be compatible with other minds in the universe? It is unlikely that such homo-centric religions would. A scientifically minded search that discovered the nature of mind, and of God would seem more compatible. Perhaps the culmination of such discoveries would be a great, universally accepted understanding of God: a Grand Unified Theos.
"Soon after I had published the pamphlet, Common Sense, in America, I saw the exceeding probability that a revolution in the system of government would be followed by a revolution in the system of religion,"
Thomas Paine -The Age of Reason
One may argue that the Age of Enlightenment is not yet complete, for although the institutions of science, government, and economics have shaken of their pre-medieval structures, the institute of religion has not undergone any similar revolution. Since the beginnings of the Age of Enlightenment, science, government and economics have looked deeply within, and have been changed and improved by their self-introspection. It is easily imagined that if citizens were taken from the era of feudalism into the modern world, they would scarcely be able to understand how society operates and would be utterly bewildered by the workings of science. In all likelihood, they could easily find comfort in the fact that religion has been scarcely altered in the centuries following the Scientific Revolution. The question that this article presents is as follows: Is it possible for religion to undergo an equally transformational change?
It may be said that religion has evolved with the times and has made much progress. Clearly, religion has been forced to change to maintain its position in the modern world, but the changes are often the bare minimum. Unlike the changes that have befallen science, government and economics, the changes that individual religions made to survive did not generally promote unity. Science, government and economics have increasingly moved towards universal acceptance, and although they have not entirely succeeded, each decade that passes brings forth a tendency towards unification. Science is identical in every nation, governments are increasingly democratic and economics have largely developed a practical global organization based on the universal systems of supply and demand. By evolving through careful introspection, these institutes have allowed increased capabilities for its human citizens.
If religion could successfully undergo a revolution that sought out fundamental truths in a united, globally acceptable system we might find that the human experience would improve in ways that are simply unimaginable to the people of our times. Just as Nicolaus Copernicus could not have foreseen the epistemological revolution his theories helped to ignite, we would not be able to conceive of the eventual benefits of a spiritual revolution.
The Rise of Science
Of all of the changes that have swept over the planet, ones resulting from the so-called Scientific Revolution have had the greatest range and influence. The sweeping changes that this revolution brought allowed the people of the world to imagine that all human institutions could likewise reform. With these ideas in mind, bold attempts of transforming society have been in affect, changing the ways that groups, and individuals experience the world. Through the application of systematic doubt and empirical verification, the universe slowly revealed its secrets.
Before the application of empirical reason, science was more akin to religion; it was steeped in dogma, superstitions and absolute acceptance of Ptolemaic thought. Once the scientific method was developed, systematic testing revealed the fallacy of prior worldviews. The scientific method can be, at most, simplified into three parts.
1. Observation of Phenomenon: The experimenter views phenomenon, either directly or indirectly.
2. Hypothesis and Prediction: The experimenter finds a reason for this phenomenon and tries to find reasonable methods of predicting results based upon this hypothesis.
3. Experimentation and Repetition: The experimenter devises methods of making the predictions practical through experimentation. The experiment is repeated as often as possible thus proving or disproving the results.
Now this simplified method has many complex facets, not covered in this article, but the results of of the scientific method is clear. We live in a transformed world. Discoveries have shown us to the very beginnings of the universe, the fundamentals of matter and energy and the workings of life itself.
In the last few decades, physicists have been working hard at discovering a Grand Unified Theory in physics. This theory would help explain all physical phenomenon, and would have ramifications that would bleed into all other areas of science. It would represent the culmination of one of the greatest human adventures that has ever been attempted: the unraveling of the cosmos.
The Search for Truth
One aspect of science, that many are clearly aware of, is that science never contains the entire truth. Each discovery made helps to simultaneously clarify and abolish various tenets of scientific knowledge. The search for truth seems like an infinite quest from a reductionist standpoint. It is in this very dilemma that religion trumps science, for spiritual knowledge tends to come from a holistic view of nature. God, Buddha, the Tao, or any other commonly sought archetype is the highest conceptual archetype ever realized. The fact that many religions have developed throughout human history is a testament to the sheer difficulty of the human mind to completely fathom it. Each religion imagines their own understanding of the infinite and uses faith to bridge the gap. If faith could be replaced by using a system similar to the scientific method, would religion be transformed with the same level of success? Consider the following example of applying the scientific method to a religious question:
1. Observation of Phenomenon: We are complex creatures with intelligence, living in an infinitely complex universe. We, a part of the universe, have intelligence, awareness and consciousness, and therefore the universe has laws that govern the pattern of intelligence.
2. Hypothesis and Prediction: Our minds, also a part of the universe, are created by connections. Neurons communicate in an immensely complex pattern and the sum of that communication is our mind. The universe is also governed by connections. Particles (and perhaps superstrings) communicate in a likewise complex pattern, much of which is governed by laws and dimensions we do not currently understand. The sum of the universe is aware at a super-intelligent level. This is what we have called God. Our minds, the microcosm of the mind of God, are governed by laws of pattern. If we discover these laws that govern the pattern of intelligence we may find a similar set of laws in fundamental physics. This would highly suggest that the universe has intelligence, and would point to the existence of God.
3. Experimentation and Repetition: Create a workable artificial intelligence and compare its pattern of operation to the human mind. Compare patterns, and the laws that govern them, to the cutting-edge laws of physics to see whether there is any correlation.
Putting such a theory into practice would be extremely difficult, and it is uncertain whether such a theory would be successful. The challenge should not discourage any attempt, for discovering truths has seldom been easy and disproving such a theory is, in itself, valuable knowledge. It is not difficult to imagine that, if successfully proven, such a hypothesis would transform the spiritual quest of humanity. Such a discovery, or others like it, could develop into a unifying spiritual search, and may extend beyond humanity if we were to discover or create other intelligences. Would our traditional human religions be compatible with other minds in the universe? It is unlikely that such homo-centric religions would. A scientifically minded search that discovered the nature of mind, and of God would seem more compatible. Perhaps the culmination of such discoveries would be a great, universally accepted understanding of God: a Grand Unified Theos.
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