(April 22, 2016 at 8:43 am)SteveII Wrote: Sorry, I have tried to reply to this post 3 times and it keeps eating my response.
My point is that Carroll believes that the universe (or its quantum vacuum predecessor) does not exist necessarily (could have failed to exist) and that it has existed from infinity with no explanation--a "brute fact" as he also put it. He does not believe in God so that is not an explanatory option for him. Other atheists might have a slightly different idea about universe generators, endless expansion/contraction, etc. but that does not escape the problem of eventually you have to say something always existed (brute fact) even in the face of the absurdity of a past infinite. A) If atheism is true, the universe (or its predecessors) has no explanation of its existence.
If you believe A) to be true then you also believe B) If the universe (or its predecessor) has an explanation of its existence, then atheism is not true because it is the logical equivalent. You cannot affirm A) and deny B) --they rise and fall together.
Did god cause 2 + 2 = 4? If so, could god have made 2 + 2 = 5 or any other number? Now, if 2 + 2 = 4 exists independently of god, then there are an infinite number of truths which exist independently of god.