Can critical thinking explain why we are here?

[ZEE]

Science can explain how we got here, but could it ever explain why we are here? I think that is a more important question, and when I say "we" I don't mean us humans, I mean all of existence.

I'm not suggesting that people of faith have the ability to find that answer, just wondering what it would take to find out the why, not the how.

People are irrelevant.

you seem to contradict yourself here or just made this thread as a troll

[Japher]

Ours is not to ask the reasons why, but to burn ants with magnifying glasses... trust me, when you die you'll wish you had.

[chequita guevara]

you seem to contradict yourself here or just made this thread as a troll

AAHZ for the smack down.

[ZEE]

he got to page 7 though so he beat mine. well played IMO

[a.kitman]

you can try to be deep and stuff but http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYrdC...eature=related

is why we are here

[MattBowron]

Frostyboy, science is limited through what information is available. Currently people cannot see beyond the visible universe, and thus many ideas about what happened before the universe was created are currently theoretical. However if you are interested in these theories you may be interested in some of the following:

1) closed universe theories, the ideas that the universe expands, contracts, expands and contracts forever and ever, aka The Big Bang - Big Crunch - Big Bounce.

2) multidimensional theories, such as Superstring Theory, give the idea of there being extra dimensions, from 10 to 26 dimensions, in which other universes interact with our own, colliding off one another, or compressing one another, creating contracted universes which then expand outwards.

3) universal connection theories, that suggest all things in the universe are eternal, Quantum Loop Theory and Holographic Theory suggest that all particles are forms of warped space-time, the universe itself being one of the many infinite forms this space-time or vacuum space has taken

4) new age theories - What The Bleep Do We Know, which interprets the universe as made of consciousness, Law of Attraction, same thing, and most New Age Faiths, but most scientists believe this to be pseudo-science, or religious spiritual thinking and thus not linked to rational/critical/scientific thinking

5) athiest thinking - that there's no real purpose to life, the only purpose is what we as humans make of it, there is no why, there is only our interpretation of things, aka Richard Dawkins.

6) spiritual thinking - that a god rules and make things happen. Some scientists believed this, such as Sir Isaac Newton.

That's all I can think about. Hope I've been of some help.

Cheers

MattBowron

[KrazyHorse]

I read the first couple of sentences of that. I think I just had a stroke.

[MattBowron]

ok, we can see beyond the physical universe into what radiation is left out where with our instruments, satellites, etc. Science is not limited, as more information is coming in all the time.

[notyoueither]

you can try to be deep and stuff but http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYrdC...eature=related

is why we are here

I believe we should enlarge our toolset and begin a thorough probing of the hidden potential of this theory.

[chequita guevara]

The following link may or may not be relevant.

http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/primer/java/scienceopticsu/powersof10/

[Berzerker]

according to the Sumerians we were the product of binding the image of the gods onto a creature roaming Enki's Absu to fashion a primitive worker... Can science figure that out? Sure, if its true, science will figure it out...

[Berzerker]

1) closed universe theories, the ideas that the universe expands, contracts, expands and contracts forever and ever, aka The Big Bang - Big Crunch - Big Bounce.

that might explain the variations in the background radiation

or has that been shown to be non-existent?

[JEELEN]

Can critical thinking explain why we are here?

Science can explain how we got here, but could it ever explain why we are here? I think that is a more important question, and when I say "we" I don't mean us humans, I mean all of existence.

I'm not suggesting that people of faith have the ability to find that answer, just wondering what it would take to find out the why, not the how.

Critical thinking can explain how it is that one should ask why. Why are we here? presupposes a reason, not a cause, i.e. it presupposes a will. Events do not have a will, therefore it's impossible to speak of a purpose. Why we are here depends on the purpose one gives to it in one's own life. (It does not reflect back on any general purpose of existence.)

[KrazyHorse]

that might explain the variations in the background radiation

or has that been shown to be non-existent?

Oh, lord.

What the hell makes you think that CMB fluctuations aren't currently explicable?

[Berzerker]

Oh, lord.

What the hell makes you think that CMB fluctuations aren't currently explicable?

First, I said "might". Second, the only other explanation I've heard is that the "singularity" or whatever you wanna call that point before the bang was not uniform, or that uniformity did not exist as the universe began expanding. What caused that?

On the other hand, if the universe goes thru cyclical bangs and crunches then variations in the background radiation could be caused by a new universe expanding into (and over) the still in-falling material of the prior universe.