(April 25, 2017 at 5:03 pm)Brian37 Wrote:(April 25, 2017 at 2:57 pm)Thumpalumpacus Wrote: I like Harlan Ellison's formulation: "We are the universe, observing itself."
OUCH, um no. That to me is simply a si fi version of "forever". We are made up of the same matter that lead to the big bang, yes. And the atoms in us are the result of stars that died before our own sun. But we are not the universe nor is the universe us. The structure of the universe as a whole is not the same structure as an individual human, the two are completely different.
We are a temporary blip, just like a temporary hurricane may be result of the earth's atmosphere but is not the entire earth itself. There is no such thing as a "forever" cognition.
I always thought he meant that each of us is a part of the universe that has become temporarily self aware and that he made this point to differentiate from the religious view that we were created separately from the universe and imbued with Freewill.
His version is far more succinct.
If god was real he wouldn't need middle men to explain his wants or do his bidding.