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1. This Saturday on Counter-Currents Radio:
Greg Johnson welcomes Eric Orwoll back to Counter-Currents Radio to talk about Return to the Land and all the amazing things that have happened since his last appearance. We will also talk about philosophy, Current Things, and YOUR QUESTIONS.
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- Odysee: https://odysee.com/@countercurrents:6/ccradio:e
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11 comments
The “Past Hypothesis” in physics, cosmology and philosophy, proposes that the universe began in a specific low entropy state, which is essential for explaining the observed arrow of time and irreversible processes in the universe. Greg’s answer to my “dart in the dark” question goes right to the edge of human knowledge. There must have been order and beauty (low entropy) encoded in the universe from the very beginning. That begs the question though, how is that possible without intentional intelligent intervention? Maybe some sort of evolution of multiple beginnings? Or maybe one should just accept the existence of God.
It’s true, that wasn’t a $10 question. If you want questions like that answered at the PhD level, the hourly rate on the internet is between $150-$200.. Thank you.
Related to the return to the land movement, I will offer my unsolicited opinion. If it becomes mainstream, then it’s a good thing. If on the other hand it remains an odd curiosity along the lines of Amish and Mennonite communities, then it’s not that great.
Intelligent design is just another version of the assumption that order is extrinsic to the cosmos, and its presence needs to be explained. Intelligence is posited outside the cosmos and is then inserted into it. Of course intelligent design posits that order is always around somewhere. By why not just accept that it is always around in nature?
In thermodynamics the order(or low entropy) of life on earth is explained by the vast entropy of the sun. We are chance receptacles of potential energy created by the sun. But the earth/sun system taken as a whole has positive entropy.
I think the low entropy of the early universe could only mean that all the particles or whatever were grouped more closely together, and had a more uniform distance between them than they do now, still a chance phenomenon, not low entropy like life or purposeful order as we would understand it.
The evolution of a physical system is fundamentally determined by the initial conditions and the laws of nature. In our case even the laws themselves depend on the initial configuration. Probability is involved in quantum mechanics for example, but the general characteristics of the system at a later time depend directly on the same initial conditions. The emergence of a work of art like Van Gogh “Starry Night” on some speck of dust floating at the edge of some galaxy billions of years after the beginning, or something in the same class, is inevitable at some point in time, given the initial conditions of our universe. This also touches on the anthropic principle.
I’m not sure what you’re trying to say. I guess so, but what’s to say all of this is not part of a complex chemical reaction. If you study the history of evolution on the life on earth, it’s just an accruement of gradual complexity. The entire mechanism appears to be explainable by chance so far.
In physics and cosmology fine tuning refers to the fact that the fundamental constants and initial conditions of the universe appear to be set within a very narrow range that allows for the existence of life and consciousness in the universe. Chance alone cannot explain the universe as we see it. A reasonable analogy is the axiomatc method in mathematics, introduced by Euclid. All the beauty of mathematics is in fact encoded in a small set of axioms with which we start. Going back to our universe, all the relevant information , all that beauty present in our universe is encoded in the initial conditions. The fact that it takes time to unravel has more to do with our limited perception, but it’s all there. As Greg noticed, that beauty is extrinsic to our universe.
That’s an interesting way of looking at things. My own personal theory or hypothesis, I’m not sure that it rises to the level theory, mere speculation, is that the secret of the universe is that this is the only set of variables are self consistent conditions that lead to a universe. That’s why we have the universe. Any other set of variables, lead nowhere and collapse to a point. It’s sort of like the best of all possible worlds or the theodicy, except I mean, it’s the only possible world!
beauty on the other hand is our reaction to the world. It is part of our will to live. It is merely evolutionary. Darwin himself said “animals should see the world as brave. “. For example, we perceive red as bright and beautiful because our near ancestors monkeys look for fruit in the trees. Dear actually perceive a myriad of greens and beautiful hues in the leaves.
you have to come to understand there’s nothing good or special in the world. Stop hoping.
This vision doesn’t belong to me, I learned it from the masters.
“We may regard the present state of the universe as the effect of its past and the cause of its future. An intellect which at a certain moment would know all forces that set nature in motion, and all positions of all items of which nature is composed, if this intellect were also vast enough to submit these data to analysis, it would embrace in a single formula the movements of the greatest bodies of the universe and those of the tiniest atom; for such an intellect nothing would be uncertain and the future just like the past could be present before its eyes.”
That was Pierre Simon Laplace, ” A Philosophical Essay on Probabilities”, 1814.
That’s determinism, the story today is a bit more complicated because you have the uncertainty in quantum mechanics, chaotic systems, but the spirit of his vision lives on, waiting for better theories.
Evolution is just a tool in the hands of God, and the perception of the passing of time is due to the limited power of our finite minds. Beautiful, ugly, good, evil, are indeed human conventions (probably with an evolutionary purpose), but for lack of better words and understanding I will continue to use them. What I am trying to say is that they were all there at the very beginning, in their full glory, and what they represent does not come from our universe.
In today’s world it takes courage to hope. Besides, life would ve too boring without it. Free will, now that’s a different matter.
A country is the private property of a nation.
Are there any projects like this in Australia or New Zealand?
The White Australia project has creating an intentional white community as a goal, and they made some effort towards that end, but it’s not their primary focus and I don’t think it actually exists yet.
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