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Pastimes : THE SLIGHTLY MODERATED BOXING RING -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: thames_sider who wrote (4874)	3/26/2002 10:17:34 AM
From: J. C. Dithers	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 21057

Thames, you yearn for explanations of the unexplainable... Your responses are provocative, and I, least of all, can provide enlightenment. Your question about whether we are the highest of life-forms does interest me. Those who argue for a God seem to assume that proof of God equates to proof of an after-life for humankind. I, too am curious about why this should be so. If we are evolutionary products of an intelligently-designed existence ... why should we assume that the whole thing is about us? Humans could simply be the current state-of-the-art of life-forms in an immature universe, destined eons from now to be regarded as primitive creatures by life-forms to come who develop far superior attributes and resemble us not at all. Perhaps the purpose of it all is about them. I do believe that the orderliness of the universe, and the fact that it is governed by immutable laws, speak powerfully to intelligent design (as opposed to random accident). The constancy of matter and energy in an expanding universe also speaks to me of intelligent causation (although I don't pretend to understand these concepts as Einstein would have) What I have no clue about, is where do I fit into this? If it turns out that I am only one of numerous transitory animals that play supporting roles of no consequence in this unfolding drama, then all of these speculations are of no consequence :-( I am intrigued as to why we (as humans) have "emotions" ... where did these come from? How would evolution account for them? Would not natural selection favor the most ruthless and unconscionable of our species as the survivors? How and why did we get a conscience? Pity? Sorrow? Compassion? Courage? Self-sacrifice? Love? And in what form do these attributes exist in us, just chemistry or energy? Similarly, I wonder where and how we got our aesthetic standards, such as "beauty." Why do we think roses smell good? Why do I think my Golden Retrievers are beautiful creatures? Why do we think a soaring eagle is "majestic"? Why doesn't a Beethoven symphony simply sound like so much cacophony, along with car horns and rattling trash cans? Where did we get these "tastes," so universally shared in the main? I would like to think that these mysterious attributes are supra-normal characteristics of our existence, beyond chemistry, energy, or electro-magnetics ... that they suggest something akin to a "soul," that could transcend "death" as we comprehend it. But I don't pretend to know. I do not believe that a "Creator" would ever intervene in earthly matters, nor would He(?) reveal anything to us in some divine manner. I believe that the paradox of our existence is intended to remain just that. Well, I hope I have cleared everything up for you <ggg>.