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The limits of the possible, continued
Mar. 30th, 2016 09:30 am"She's absolutely right, of course," Powers said, folding the note carefully and putting it into a pocket in his robe. Zander, who had never thought Powers's robe had pockets, tried to see where it went, and failed. "I shall have to watch this young woman's future career closely."
"My goodness," Rob said. "Shock horror. Powers finds a human being whose intellect he can't look down on."
"The woods are full of them," Powers said easily. "All over the world there are people cleverer than me. It's only in this tent that there seems to be a marked shortage." He chuckled. "'Create an invisible pink five-sided triangle.' I wish I'd said that."
"You will, Ethan, you will," Zander chimed in dutifully.
"That's the whole nub of it, though, isn't it?" Rob went on. "The definition of omnipotence."
"The definition of any word," Powers said, "in the mind of any person, unless it's founded on an external authority (like, say, a dictionary) tends to become that which best serves that person's fundamental, which is to say emotional, needs. If you are emotionally opposed to the idea of gods in general, you define the necessary attributes for godhood, like omnipotence, as something logically absurd, and then claim that any being described as a god who falls short of the absurdity is not a real god, or if it is a real god, it's 'not worth worshipping.' And that's the answer to the problem of evil."
"Why gods allow evil things to happen," Zander said. "They can't stop them...but that doesn't mean they're not--hypothetically--omnipotent."
"Give the boy a hedgehog," Powers said. "If you want to claim that the fact that people kill each other, or that people die of horrible diseases or in natural or man-made catastrophes, proves that there is no god because an omnipotent god would or could--or should--wave a wand and make it all not happen, while of course still preserving human free will and the nature of causality...well, you're entitled to do so, but there's no logic there, just a faulty definition of omnipotence.
"And if you go on to claim that if there is a god, then the fact that it does not stop these things from happening proves that it's evil, or stupid, or 'not worth worshipping,' then, again, you're entitled to do so, but that says more about how you feel about the idea of gods than about your understanding of logic. Admittedly, the things people say about gods don't help." He fluttered his eyelashes. "'Ooh, sir, you're so big and strong I bet you could lift a car off the ground.' Meaningless flattery. Can god create a rock so heavy god couldn't lift it? Of course not. What does that prove? Nothing, except that humans like to play games with words and then pretend they mean something."
"Hey," Zander said automatically.
"Your life's work, of course, young Zander," Powers said. "Nothing wrong with that. You only do it for fun. If someone started taking your stuff seriously, though..." He shook his head. "I would have to intervene."
"What about causality and human free will?" Rob protested.
"Not being a god," Powers answered, "I don't give a monkey's about them. And I don't have to be omnipotent." His eyes glittered for a moment, and the tent seemed to grow darker around him. "Just more omnipotent than you."
"My goodness," Rob said. "Shock horror. Powers finds a human being whose intellect he can't look down on."
"The woods are full of them," Powers said easily. "All over the world there are people cleverer than me. It's only in this tent that there seems to be a marked shortage." He chuckled. "'Create an invisible pink five-sided triangle.' I wish I'd said that."
"You will, Ethan, you will," Zander chimed in dutifully.
"That's the whole nub of it, though, isn't it?" Rob went on. "The definition of omnipotence."
"The definition of any word," Powers said, "in the mind of any person, unless it's founded on an external authority (like, say, a dictionary) tends to become that which best serves that person's fundamental, which is to say emotional, needs. If you are emotionally opposed to the idea of gods in general, you define the necessary attributes for godhood, like omnipotence, as something logically absurd, and then claim that any being described as a god who falls short of the absurdity is not a real god, or if it is a real god, it's 'not worth worshipping.' And that's the answer to the problem of evil."
"Why gods allow evil things to happen," Zander said. "They can't stop them...but that doesn't mean they're not--hypothetically--omnipotent."
"Give the boy a hedgehog," Powers said. "If you want to claim that the fact that people kill each other, or that people die of horrible diseases or in natural or man-made catastrophes, proves that there is no god because an omnipotent god would or could--or should--wave a wand and make it all not happen, while of course still preserving human free will and the nature of causality...well, you're entitled to do so, but there's no logic there, just a faulty definition of omnipotence.
"And if you go on to claim that if there is a god, then the fact that it does not stop these things from happening proves that it's evil, or stupid, or 'not worth worshipping,' then, again, you're entitled to do so, but that says more about how you feel about the idea of gods than about your understanding of logic. Admittedly, the things people say about gods don't help." He fluttered his eyelashes. "'Ooh, sir, you're so big and strong I bet you could lift a car off the ground.' Meaningless flattery. Can god create a rock so heavy god couldn't lift it? Of course not. What does that prove? Nothing, except that humans like to play games with words and then pretend they mean something."
"Hey," Zander said automatically.
"Your life's work, of course, young Zander," Powers said. "Nothing wrong with that. You only do it for fun. If someone started taking your stuff seriously, though..." He shook his head. "I would have to intervene."
"What about causality and human free will?" Rob protested.
"Not being a god," Powers answered, "I don't give a monkey's about them. And I don't have to be omnipotent." His eyes glittered for a moment, and the tent seemed to grow darker around him. "Just more omnipotent than you."