Ok, so I'm going to try to respond to much of your posts at once...
First, I never claimed to have expert knowledge of any of these fields of inquiry, only that I've done my share of reading. In fact, if you read the article I posted "The Truth", you will see I admitted that I'm not omniscient, wherefore I'm humbly ignorant regarding "the truth".
I do believe that many of you probably have more expertise in these fields than I do, which is helpful, but does not convince me that any of you are any less ignorant of "the truth" than I am.
The way I see it, we have learned a bit about the stuff that makes our reality. We have learned through experiments in classical physics, chemistry and biology that things are correlated and we have made predictions based on this that have been reliably accurate when looking at those things in that context. But, the way I see it, this is metaphorically like knowing what's written in the first section of a book. I may have only memorized what's written on the first few pages while you may have memorized the first chapter. Neither of us can claim we know the whole of the book. We also don't know if what we've concluded based on the first section is going to be an accurate conclusion once we've read chapter 3 or 4.
That's the way I feel about the topic we're referring to. Claims that I don't understand physics are silly, because really, if we're generalizing all of physics, neither do you. Quantum physics, astrophysics, all those unknowns... Simply skimming the beginning of the metaphorical 'chapter 2' is leading me to assume there is a lot more, a lot, lot more that we have yet to experience and learn. And yes, I do think that "consciousness" is going to be a big part of this.
The focus of my studies has always been "consciousness" and the role it plays in our existence. When I refer to the concept of ID, that is all I'm referring to is the role consciousness plays and yes, I do believe we have, and will find more evidence of it's role through experiments using the scientific method.
If anyone still believes I'm trying to argue in favor of a "god" concept that cannot possibly be proven using science, please rest assured I am not. Further, if "consciousness" is related to alien life, or advanced humans, or some manifestation of a universal consciousness, I'm not claiming to know. Nor do I feel that eventually explaining the nature of consciousness in our observed reality (4% of the "all") will ultimately explain the nature of consciousness with regard to all that is (for example, getting evidence that all we see or know is just a projection of an alien mind, does nothing to explain the origins of the alien mind). I guess, in that sense, we can only continue taking it revelation by revelation, advancing our understanding as we go.
So again, I came to atheist forums because I don't want to hear the answer "godditit". I came to atheist forums because I thought there would be people who are interested in science that would want to engage in conversations (speculate) regarding how science may be able to explain the role consciousness/"intelligence" plays in our reality. I'm interested in speculating about the implications of what the beginning of 'chapter 2' is saying and what it could mean for 'chapter 3' and 'chapter 4'.
So, saying that you have found no convincing evidence that consciousness/"intelligence" plays an important role in the functioning of our existence implies to me that you've explored all of what science has revealed to date and have formed your opinions as such.
So, what do you know about consciousness? What have you concluded regarding it's origins, it's influence, the role it plays? What about those 'chapter 2' revelations confirms what you previously assumed?
First, I never claimed to have expert knowledge of any of these fields of inquiry, only that I've done my share of reading. In fact, if you read the article I posted "The Truth", you will see I admitted that I'm not omniscient, wherefore I'm humbly ignorant regarding "the truth".
I do believe that many of you probably have more expertise in these fields than I do, which is helpful, but does not convince me that any of you are any less ignorant of "the truth" than I am.
The way I see it, we have learned a bit about the stuff that makes our reality. We have learned through experiments in classical physics, chemistry and biology that things are correlated and we have made predictions based on this that have been reliably accurate when looking at those things in that context. But, the way I see it, this is metaphorically like knowing what's written in the first section of a book. I may have only memorized what's written on the first few pages while you may have memorized the first chapter. Neither of us can claim we know the whole of the book. We also don't know if what we've concluded based on the first section is going to be an accurate conclusion once we've read chapter 3 or 4.
That's the way I feel about the topic we're referring to. Claims that I don't understand physics are silly, because really, if we're generalizing all of physics, neither do you. Quantum physics, astrophysics, all those unknowns... Simply skimming the beginning of the metaphorical 'chapter 2' is leading me to assume there is a lot more, a lot, lot more that we have yet to experience and learn. And yes, I do think that "consciousness" is going to be a big part of this.
The focus of my studies has always been "consciousness" and the role it plays in our existence. When I refer to the concept of ID, that is all I'm referring to is the role consciousness plays and yes, I do believe we have, and will find more evidence of it's role through experiments using the scientific method.
If anyone still believes I'm trying to argue in favor of a "god" concept that cannot possibly be proven using science, please rest assured I am not. Further, if "consciousness" is related to alien life, or advanced humans, or some manifestation of a universal consciousness, I'm not claiming to know. Nor do I feel that eventually explaining the nature of consciousness in our observed reality (4% of the "all") will ultimately explain the nature of consciousness with regard to all that is (for example, getting evidence that all we see or know is just a projection of an alien mind, does nothing to explain the origins of the alien mind). I guess, in that sense, we can only continue taking it revelation by revelation, advancing our understanding as we go.
So again, I came to atheist forums because I don't want to hear the answer "godditit". I came to atheist forums because I thought there would be people who are interested in science that would want to engage in conversations (speculate) regarding how science may be able to explain the role consciousness/"intelligence" plays in our reality. I'm interested in speculating about the implications of what the beginning of 'chapter 2' is saying and what it could mean for 'chapter 3' and 'chapter 4'.
So, saying that you have found no convincing evidence that consciousness/"intelligence" plays an important role in the functioning of our existence implies to me that you've explored all of what science has revealed to date and have formed your opinions as such.
So, what do you know about consciousness? What have you concluded regarding it's origins, it's influence, the role it plays? What about those 'chapter 2' revelations confirms what you previously assumed?
