how am i not god?
What is the relationship between the Creator (‘God’) and the perceiver (‘me’)? I claim they are one and the same thing. The Creator = the perceiver. As a perceiver, I have all the attributes that are traditionally ascribed to God:
Creator ex nihilo - My act of perception is identical to the act of creation.
Omnipotence - I am omnipotent since I am apparently perceiving/creating ex nihilo the entirety of the world without any effort at all.
Omniscience - I am omniscient since perception gives me infallible knowledge of the world. Perceptual knowledge is *indubitable* – I can’t be mistaken/fooled about the contents of my perceptions. And since my perceptions constitute the entirety of the world then this means I have infallible knowledge of everything that happens in the world – the God’s eye perspective.
Omnipresence - I am omnipresent since I am present anywhere a perception exists and my perceptions constitute the entirety of the world.
Immutability – I am unchanging since perceptions are constantly changing and whatever perceives perceptions can’t itself be a changing thing. I am Aquinas’s unmoved, mover.
Eternal - I am uncaused, ever-present and exist outside of the temporal succession of perceptions.
Immaterial - I am outside of space (and therefore immaterial) since the perceiver must exist in some domain *beyond* perception (since the perceiver can’t be another perception).
Etc. etc.
Thus I am the creator (ex nihilo), omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, immutable, eternal, and immaterial. Furthermore, I am ‘simple’ since all of these attributes are unified in my act of perception/creation. My omnipotence is identical to my omniscience which is further identical to my omnipresence which is further identical to my eternality (which is further identical to every other attribute) which is finally identical to my act of perception/creation. This is sometimes called ‘divine simplicity’ – the doctrine that God’s attributes are all identical to each other.
What’s even more curious is the fact there is one particular human being who is constantly at the center of perception/creation (the human being at the center of my visual field who is currently typing this message) who can almost be said to be my incarnate Son.
So with all of that said, how am I not god? All my life I have been searching for God but now I realize that I’m him. Funny how that works.
Creator ex nihilo - My act of perception is identical to the act of creation.
Omnipotence - I am omnipotent since I am apparently perceiving/creating ex nihilo the entirety of the world without any effort at all.
Omniscience - I am omniscient since perception gives me infallible knowledge of the world. Perceptual knowledge is *indubitable* – I can’t be mistaken/fooled about the contents of my perceptions. And since my perceptions constitute the entirety of the world then this means I have infallible knowledge of everything that happens in the world – the God’s eye perspective.
Omnipresence - I am omnipresent since I am present anywhere a perception exists and my perceptions constitute the entirety of the world.
Immutability – I am unchanging since perceptions are constantly changing and whatever perceives perceptions can’t itself be a changing thing. I am Aquinas’s unmoved, mover.
Eternal - I am uncaused, ever-present and exist outside of the temporal succession of perceptions.
Immaterial - I am outside of space (and therefore immaterial) since the perceiver must exist in some domain *beyond* perception (since the perceiver can’t be another perception).
Etc. etc.
Thus I am the creator (ex nihilo), omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, immutable, eternal, and immaterial. Furthermore, I am ‘simple’ since all of these attributes are unified in my act of perception/creation. My omnipotence is identical to my omniscience which is further identical to my omnipresence which is further identical to my eternality (which is further identical to every other attribute) which is finally identical to my act of perception/creation. This is sometimes called ‘divine simplicity’ – the doctrine that God’s attributes are all identical to each other.
What’s even more curious is the fact there is one particular human being who is constantly at the center of perception/creation (the human being at the center of my visual field who is currently typing this message) who can almost be said to be my incarnate Son.
So with all of that said, how am I not god? All my life I have been searching for God but now I realize that I’m him. Funny how that works.
Comments (9)
But can you choose to experience whatever you like? Can you make it so that you experience yourself as rich, powerful, and successful? Can you make it so that you experience yourself flying or breathing underwater[sup]1[/sup]?
[sup]1[/sup] Don't try this at home, kids.
No, I cannot choose experiences. :C
Perception/creation just happens involuntarily. I have no choice about which experience to create or whether to create experiences at all.
But why is that a problem? God never chose to be a creator. He just is a Creator.
Choosing experiences leads to an infinite regress anyway, so creation can't be a matter of choice.
Why choose experience A? Because of B. But why choose B? Because of C. Why choose C? Because of D.... and so on to infinity.
"Choice" is an anthropomorphic phenomenon. God is no less of a God if he is unable to choose. (or is he? Lol, I don't know).
Quoting lambda
Happy Christmas.