November 10, 2021 • 15 mins
That's right. Today, I tackle the age old paradox and favorite atheists: How can God have a plan if mankind has free will? And what's more, I show the crazy correlation it has with the Copenhagen Interpretation (way more fun than it sounds). Tell me this doesn't make waaaay too much sense.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
(Auto-generated)Hi, I'm Will. If you're wondering why I gathered you guys here today across the
(00:07):
internet, I've had this kind of nagging thought process lately and it makes a
lot of sense. Well, it's because I wanted to tell you guys that there is no
paradox when it comes to free will and God's plan that I'm gonna explain here.
So many people seem to think that because science can explain so much of
(00:31):
this world, God's no longer really needed for the explanation, and that a belief in
God serves the purpose of a lazy explanation for people who just aren't
quite smart enough to understand the sciences of the natural world and a
coping mechanism for people because we simply can't fathom what it would be
(00:52):
like not to exist. But what are science and logic but observable patterns?
Science and the math that physics are based in, these studies at their cores
are... if we do this like that, this will always repeat in a pattern. So human
(01:15):
beings with their powers of deduction created scientific laws and somehow
because we're able to understand on a surface level simplified version how
quite a lot of our world behaves, we've convinced ourselves that there's no need
for God as an explanation. But the question missing from these people's
(01:38):
minds is how this is perfect balance of physics, natural elements, and God knows
what else, and God knows what else, come together and create and sustain mankind.
How did these patterns come to repeat in all those billions and billions of
(02:00):
independent ways that just so happened to work in complete unison? And one of
the issues that these people have taken with the idea of God is the idea that
God has a plan. They argue that if man has free will then a plan is out of the
question and I will address that shortly. But first, it's important to realize that
(02:25):
we've come to exist through a very intricate set of events beginning over
13 and a half billion years ago. God, who unlike us, is not subject to existing in
a single moment that progresses through time at a steady rate and exists all the
(02:45):
time at once. God has formed our world and our home through an incomprehensible
amount of events. The enormity of the plan is so bafflingly huge there are a
staggering number of people who just simply can't accept that these events
and designs were created and therefore must have occurred by their own accord
(03:10):
or as a result of chaos. Chaos being, you know, the unattended results of random
interactions. I get that. It's hard to comprehend a being so powerful that it
could mindfully design our existence. But again, God is not subject to time. He is
(03:31):
not subject to the limitations of the human brain. Designing is a lot different.
He carefully designed this existence to occur cause and effect style like an
infinitely complex Rube Goldberg machine to culminate into a world which we live
(03:52):
in today and the world that we will have tomorrow. Now I know we talked about how
you'll never be able to comprehend God in the last episode, but think about it.
Which is absurd phrasing for what I'm about to say, admittedly. God created
your ability to comprehend. God created you and all that you could ever wish to
(04:14):
comprehend. The wise man accepts that there will be no final truth that he can
discover about his Creator and that his Creator simply is. And that's enough. How
can one hope to understand the motivations of God via logic? When that
(04:38):
which they seek to understand designed and created the brain that is doing the
pondering, created the world that has taught said brain everything it's ever
learned and designed the very systems of logic that the brain is using. But here's
the thing that took me years and years of studying and searching to finally come
(05:03):
to logically. There was always just enough to finally comprehend that we do
not need to understand. It's not required. It's not expected of us. He wants you to
believe and act with him believe. He expects from you and return for this
magnificent world that he created an entire universe to support. That you
(05:27):
believe and that you treat those that he has lovingly created with the love that
they deserve. This is often difficult as we tend to treat others as if they were
their own Creator and they are not. They are God's children and loved by him
every bit as much as you are. We judge their choices and ration our love based
(05:51):
on whether or not we believe they deserve it. They do. We reserve love
because of a lack of trust. Don't. Not only is God always watching, God is
actually part of the scene even if that person's free will choice takes advantage
of you. God will provide. He only asks that you love and believe and that you
(06:19):
try to make decisions and take your fellow man into consideration and make
the choices that echo out that which is good. He put us all on the same gigantic
playpen loaded down with stuff to do. He expects us to share the things he gave
us. Now, on to the fun part. The following is my theory regarding the answer to
(06:45):
God's plan slash free will paradox. Also included is a brief description of the
interaction of this theory with wave function collapse and the Copenhagen
interpretation. So if you already know what these are I'm gonna do short
versions of them. Anyways, so God loves us enough to give us free will, right? But if
(07:06):
we should have the freedom to do whatever we choose to do, how could God
have a plan for us? If God has a plan for us, doesn't that mean that there's only
one route that may be taken throughout one's life and that free will is merely
an illusion? Well, to propose my theory, we must begin with recognizing where we
(07:31):
stand within the scope of God. We are creations, humans, living on a creation,
Earth, universe, etc. Governed by a number of creations, space, time, forces,
thermodynamics, etc. God is not limited to time as he created time. God's not
(07:52):
limited to finite matter as he created all when there was none. We can only know
within creation and God's existence, for lack of a better word, is not limited to
that, nor is he governed by our laws. Our laws and theories are governed by him.
(08:13):
That said, you've most likely heard about the theories of the multiverse. If you
haven't, you're not a Marvel fan, which is an infinite amount of universes that
encompass all possibilities. In other words, if there is a combination of
events that, regardless of their probability, could result in an outcome,
(08:36):
it exists in one of these parallel universes. In the case of Schrodinger's
cat, the moment the cat becomes unobserved, it's inside the box and its
life is dependent on that 50-50 chance, a branching occurs and two different
universes continue on from that moment. One in which the cat is alive and one
(09:00):
in which it's... I'm sorry to tell you this, the cat died... in that universe. Some
physicists have theorized that these universes exist outside of our
observable universe. Some think that they exist in other dimensions and that,
apart from the moment of division, our universe will never again interact with
(09:22):
the others. Most of these theories have a common thread though, that the universes
are created at some point between the beginning of probability and the moment
of deciding interaction. Observation or measurement is usually the case. Now,
physicists have generally accepted the Copenhagen interpretation, which in
(09:43):
layman's terms basically states that until something is observed or measured,
that something exists in all places that it is possible for it to exist in. Not
only that, but the amount that something exists in each place or position in
space and time is directly proportional to how likely it is to be in that
(10:05):
position. In other words, before it's observed, the more likely something is to
be somewhere, the more of it actually is in that position. The moment that it's
observed, however, all of those probabilities gather or collapse into
one position and one singular 100% probability. Imagine reaching your hand
(10:32):
into an opaque bag of marbles that you've just mixed up without looking and
it contains 99 blue marbles and one green marble. The moment you close your
hand around a group of marbles is not the moment at which the green marble has
a 100% probability of being in your hand or being with the rest of the marbles. I
(10:55):
know that's bizarre sounding. That moment only occurs when the hand is opened and
the marbles inside the hand are observed. Until that moment, the green marble
exists in all the possible positions inside and outside of the bag. The
moment where you open your hand and you look, this is what's referred to as
(11:18):
wave function collapse. This is the moment where it either is or is not. And
wave function collapse is the point in the many-worlds theory that the
branching of these multiple universes occurs, a new universe created for every
single possible outcome. I know that last bit there was a doozy and I highly
(11:41):
recommend looking up a few videos on Copenhagen interpretation, the many
worlds theory, and the double slit experiment to get a better grasp of why
physicists are inclined to believe that these are the theories, these are the
this is the way it works. But back to the main topic, how does this relate to
free will slash God's plan? Well, if God exists outside of time, then God exists
(12:05):
all at once. I've said several times, he's the beginning, the middle, and the end
simultaneously. God's plan has often been interpreted as this linear single path
for each of us. Those that assume this may also come to believe that we may
wander off set path and respectively wander back onto the path. But I propose
(12:29):
this. What if God's plan is the options we have? What if we stop selling God
short on credit and he designed every possible outcome before we choose? Allow
me to explain. It would not seem like much of a plan to say that he designed
(12:51):
all these branching universes in which every single possibility is present.
However, how all of these possibilities for one person's decisions interact with
every possibility for every single decision made by every single life form,
natural phenomenon, and physical interaction in the world and beyond? Well,
(13:14):
they offer a myriad of possibilities as well. And who but God is to say that all
these possibilities do not converge at points within each of our lives? Each
person's nearly infinite amount of possible paths always leading to the
same important moments and all those possible worlds. What if these many
(13:38):
worlds have existed since the very beginning and through the process of
deciding and existing in the present, these many worlds become a singular
world in the wake of now, our past. Millions of single fibers braided into
the same rope. Is it possible that we are not creating these worlds but actively
(14:05):
selecting from the infinite possibilities which world ours will be
with each decision? I propose that we do not create the paths, but we do choose
them. Not all paths are obvious either. It's far too easy to miss so many of them
in our day-to-day and not see them for what they are. There are so many
(14:30):
opportunities to do something kind that will resound into the human race that
just wouldn't occur to us. So when you're unsure what to do, I give you the
advice that I gave a friend of mine that I was trying to shake out of a mental
funk. Pick up a good feeling, give it a hug, and then pass it along. Granted, not
(14:54):
everything you do will resonate, but frequently something you did or said
will and it fires out like fireworks. It's been my experience that you only
get to see the back trail of the cause slash effect of your actions or words a
few times in your life. I pray for your clarity of mind so that you recognize
(15:18):
what you're witnessing when it happens to you.
(Auto-generated)Hi, I'm Will. If you're wondering why I gathered you guys here today across the
(00:07):
internet, I've had this kind of nagging thought process lately and it makes a
lot of sense. Well, it's because I wanted to tell you guys that there is no
paradox when it comes to free will and God's plan that I'm gonna explain here.
So many people seem to think that because science can explain so much of
(00:31):
this world, God's no longer really needed for the explanation, and that a belief in
God serves the purpose of a lazy explanation for people who just aren't
quite smart enough to understand the sciences of the natural world and a
coping mechanism for people because we simply can't fathom what it would be
(00:52):
like not to exist. But what are science and logic but observable patterns?
Science and the math that physics are based in, these studies at their cores
are... if we do this like that, this will always repeat in a pattern. So human
(01:15):
beings with their powers of deduction created scientific laws and somehow
because we're able to understand on a surface level simplified version how
quite a lot of our world behaves, we've convinced ourselves that there's no need
for God as an explanation. But the question missing from these people's
(01:38):
minds is how this is perfect balance of physics, natural elements, and God knows
what else, and God knows what else, come together and create and sustain mankind.
How did these patterns come to repeat in all those billions and billions of
(02:00):
independent ways that just so happened to work in complete unison? And one of
the issues that these people have taken with the idea of God is the idea that
God has a plan. They argue that if man has free will then a plan is out of the
question and I will address that shortly. But first, it's important to realize that
(02:25):
we've come to exist through a very intricate set of events beginning over
13 and a half billion years ago. God, who unlike us, is not subject to existing in
a single moment that progresses through time at a steady rate and exists all the
(02:45):
time at once. God has formed our world and our home through an incomprehensible
amount of events. The enormity of the plan is so bafflingly huge there are a
staggering number of people who just simply can't accept that these events
and designs were created and therefore must have occurred by their own accord
(03:10):
or as a result of chaos. Chaos being, you know, the unattended results of random
interactions. I get that. It's hard to comprehend a being so powerful that it
could mindfully design our existence. But again, God is not subject to time. He is
(03:31):
not subject to the limitations of the human brain. Designing is a lot different.
He carefully designed this existence to occur cause and effect style like an
infinitely complex Rube Goldberg machine to culminate into a world which we live
(03:52):
in today and the world that we will have tomorrow. Now I know we talked about how
you'll never be able to comprehend God in the last episode, but think about it.
Which is absurd phrasing for what I'm about to say, admittedly. God created
your ability to comprehend. God created you and all that you could ever wish to
(04:14):
comprehend. The wise man accepts that there will be no final truth that he can
discover about his Creator and that his Creator simply is. And that's enough. How
can one hope to understand the motivations of God via logic? When that
(04:38):
which they seek to understand designed and created the brain that is doing the
pondering, created the world that has taught said brain everything it's ever
learned and designed the very systems of logic that the brain is using. But here's
the thing that took me years and years of studying and searching to finally come
(05:03):
to logically. There was always just enough to finally comprehend that we do
not need to understand. It's not required. It's not expected of us. He wants you to
believe and act with him believe. He expects from you and return for this
magnificent world that he created an entire universe to support. That you
(05:27):
believe and that you treat those that he has lovingly created with the love that
they deserve. This is often difficult as we tend to treat others as if they were
their own Creator and they are not. They are God's children and loved by him
every bit as much as you are. We judge their choices and ration our love based
(05:51):
on whether or not we believe they deserve it. They do. We reserve love
because of a lack of trust. Don't. Not only is God always watching, God is
actually part of the scene even if that person's free will choice takes advantage
of you. God will provide. He only asks that you love and believe and that you
(06:19):
try to make decisions and take your fellow man into consideration and make
the choices that echo out that which is good. He put us all on the same gigantic
playpen loaded down with stuff to do. He expects us to share the things he gave
us. Now, on to the fun part. The following is my theory regarding the answer to
(06:45):
God's plan slash free will paradox. Also included is a brief description of the
interaction of this theory with wave function collapse and the Copenhagen
interpretation. So if you already know what these are I'm gonna do short
versions of them. Anyways, so God loves us enough to give us free will, right? But if
(07:06):
we should have the freedom to do whatever we choose to do, how could God
have a plan for us? If God has a plan for us, doesn't that mean that there's only
one route that may be taken throughout one's life and that free will is merely
an illusion? Well, to propose my theory, we must begin with recognizing where we
(07:31):
stand within the scope of God. We are creations, humans, living on a creation,
Earth, universe, etc. Governed by a number of creations, space, time, forces,
thermodynamics, etc. God is not limited to time as he created time. God's not
(07:52):
limited to finite matter as he created all when there was none. We can only know
within creation and God's existence, for lack of a better word, is not limited to
that, nor is he governed by our laws. Our laws and theories are governed by him.
(08:13):
That said, you've most likely heard about the theories of the multiverse. If you
haven't, you're not a Marvel fan, which is an infinite amount of universes that
encompass all possibilities. In other words, if there is a combination of
events that, regardless of their probability, could result in an outcome,
(08:36):
it exists in one of these parallel universes. In the case of Schrodinger's
cat, the moment the cat becomes unobserved, it's inside the box and its
life is dependent on that 50-50 chance, a branching occurs and two different
universes continue on from that moment. One in which the cat is alive and one
(09:00):
in which it's... I'm sorry to tell you this, the cat died... in that universe. Some
physicists have theorized that these universes exist outside of our
observable universe. Some think that they exist in other dimensions and that,
apart from the moment of division, our universe will never again interact with
(09:22):
the others. Most of these theories have a common thread though, that the universes
are created at some point between the beginning of probability and the moment
of deciding interaction. Observation or measurement is usually the case. Now,
physicists have generally accepted the Copenhagen interpretation, which in
(09:43):
layman's terms basically states that until something is observed or measured,
that something exists in all places that it is possible for it to exist in. Not
only that, but the amount that something exists in each place or position in
space and time is directly proportional to how likely it is to be in that
(10:05):
position. In other words, before it's observed, the more likely something is to
be somewhere, the more of it actually is in that position. The moment that it's
observed, however, all of those probabilities gather or collapse into
one position and one singular 100% probability. Imagine reaching your hand
(10:32):
into an opaque bag of marbles that you've just mixed up without looking and
it contains 99 blue marbles and one green marble. The moment you close your
hand around a group of marbles is not the moment at which the green marble has
a 100% probability of being in your hand or being with the rest of the marbles. I
(10:55):
know that's bizarre sounding. That moment only occurs when the hand is opened and
the marbles inside the hand are observed. Until that moment, the green marble
exists in all the possible positions inside and outside of the bag. The
moment where you open your hand and you look, this is what's referred to as
(11:18):
wave function collapse. This is the moment where it either is or is not. And
wave function collapse is the point in the many-worlds theory that the
branching of these multiple universes occurs, a new universe created for every
single possible outcome. I know that last bit there was a doozy and I highly
(11:41):
recommend looking up a few videos on Copenhagen interpretation, the many
worlds theory, and the double slit experiment to get a better grasp of why
physicists are inclined to believe that these are the theories, these are the
this is the way it works. But back to the main topic, how does this relate to
free will slash God's plan? Well, if God exists outside of time, then God exists
(12:05):
all at once. I've said several times, he's the beginning, the middle, and the end
simultaneously. God's plan has often been interpreted as this linear single path
for each of us. Those that assume this may also come to believe that we may
wander off set path and respectively wander back onto the path. But I propose
(12:29):
this. What if God's plan is the options we have? What if we stop selling God
short on credit and he designed every possible outcome before we choose? Allow
me to explain. It would not seem like much of a plan to say that he designed
(12:51):
all these branching universes in which every single possibility is present.
However, how all of these possibilities for one person's decisions interact with
every possibility for every single decision made by every single life form,
natural phenomenon, and physical interaction in the world and beyond? Well,
(13:14):
they offer a myriad of possibilities as well. And who but God is to say that all
these possibilities do not converge at points within each of our lives? Each
person's nearly infinite amount of possible paths always leading to the
same important moments and all those possible worlds. What if these many
(13:38):
worlds have existed since the very beginning and through the process of
deciding and existing in the present, these many worlds become a singular
world in the wake of now, our past. Millions of single fibers braided into
the same rope. Is it possible that we are not creating these worlds but actively
(14:05):
selecting from the infinite possibilities which world ours will be
with each decision? I propose that we do not create the paths, but we do choose
them. Not all paths are obvious either. It's far too easy to miss so many of them
in our day-to-day and not see them for what they are. There are so many
(14:30):
opportunities to do something kind that will resound into the human race that
just wouldn't occur to us. So when you're unsure what to do, I give you the
advice that I gave a friend of mine that I was trying to shake out of a mental
funk. Pick up a good feeling, give it a hug, and then pass it along. Granted, not
(14:54):
everything you do will resonate, but frequently something you did or said
will and it fires out like fireworks. It's been my experience that you only
get to see the back trail of the cause slash effect of your actions or words a
few times in your life. I pray for your clarity of mind so that you recognize
(15:18):
what you're witnessing when it happens to you.
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