A Scientific Basis for Spirit

[Abracadabra]

At one time it was thought impossible to know the distances to the stars. Now we not only those distances to the stars in our own Galaxy, those measurements proved that what were thought of as fuzzy patches of light or gas are in fact galaxies beyond our own. Measuring the distances to those galaxies helped refine the estimates of the age of the Universe which in turn helped validate the Big Bang model (it's rather an involved story).

So yeah, science. Pretty limited.

I'm fully aware of the entire cosmological picture in extreme detail from the very earliest microseconds of the Big Bang to our current state today, and pretty everything in between. I'm also fully aware of why it can't possibly be wrong. Unlike many Christians who claim that it's all "just theory".

I mean, sure, there are some details that may be open to adjustments, but the bulk of the story is obviously right on the money. And the CMBR supports this story in ways that are basically irrefutable.

However, what most people don't seem to be aware of is that the CMBR actually fits both the Inflation Theory and M-Theory of Branes colliding. So either one of those two theories are possible. And potentially others.

Although, the unfolding of the universe shortly after its creation is clearly carved in star light.

Unfortunately the whole entire fabric of the universe and it's unfolding may actually be just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the true nature of reality.

Thus it can still be true that science is pretty limited in knowing anything at all about the true nature of reality. Spacetime may only be a very small fraction of what constitutes reality. And that includes dark matter and dark energy because both of those would actually be part of the fabric of spacetime.

Actually that's not at all what I said. It's all very well saying that something is beyond scientific investigation, but that just means it has no discernable or measurable effect on what we do know. As such it can probably be eliminated safely from the system à la Occam's Razor.

You're misusing Occam's Razor, IMHO.

Occam's Razor simply states that if you have multiple theories that actually explain something then you should go with the simpler theory.

The reason Occam's Razor can't be applied here is because there doesn't even exist a single theory that actually explains what consciousness is. Therefore there's nothing to eliminate.

The emergent property idea is just a speculative guess. It's hardly an explanatory theory. So Occam's Razor has nothing to do with it.