Subject:
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Re: Does God have a monopoly on gods?
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Wed, 8 Mar 2000 10:41:00 GMT
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Viewed:
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1264 times
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I've been steadily wading through this thread for several days now (you have
a lot of catching up to do when you go to the field for a week), and have
promised myself to stay out of the debate, and I will continue to do so
(although the temptation is great!). However, Lar, I believe that your
mathematical reasoning is flawed, see comments below:
"Larry Pieniazek" <lar@voyager.net> wrote in message
news:38C5A25C.6BA832E3@voyager.net...
> Briefly, my flight boards soon.
(major snippage)
> Having said that, what are the possible mathematical permutations of
> universes around most perfect/most evil?
>
> We could have a universe in which there is no most perfect being and no
> most evil being. Just lots of strivers on both sides of the battle line.
If there are "strivers" on both sides of the battle line, then one of them
on each side *must* be the most evil/good. I am speaking mathematically
here, of course. Using mathematics implies that you can somehow quantify
the *amount* of good/evil in a being. So the amount of "morality" (for lack
of a better term) in a person can be assigned a number, for purposes of
explanation, a number less than 0 for evil, and a number greater than 0 for
good. Using the set of integers for this purpose, then that being with the
lowest "morality value" would be the most evil, conversely the being with
the highest morality value would be the most good. If you wish to go into a
more refined valuation system, you could expand your number set to the
rational numbers (although there are exactly as many rational numbers as
integers, even though the integers are a subset of the rational numbers, I
could explain by proof if needed, but infinity mathematics makes my head
hurt). You could even expand further to the set of irrational numbers or
the set of imaginary numbers, but with the latter things could get
complicated :).
>
> We could have a universe in which there is a most perfect being but no
> most evil being against him, just a bunch of imperfectly evil limited
> power guys... up against mr perfect and his good guy imperfect but heart
> in the right place guys.
Again, of all those "imperfectly evil limited power guys," *someone* must be
the most evil. Not "perfectly evil," but the most evil nonetheless.
>
> We could have a universe in which there is a most EVIL being but no most
> perfect, just mortals and limited power gods on both sides
Same as above, but conversely.
>
> We could have a universe in which there is both a most perfect and most
> imperfect.
Actually this is the only possible situation, from a mathematical standpoint
of course.
(snipped the rest for brevity)
> Larry Pieniazek - lpieniazek@mercator.com - http://my.voyager.net/lar
> http://www.mercator.com. Mercator, the e-business transformation company
> fund Lugnet(tm): http://www.ebates.com/ ref: lar, 1/2 $$ to lugnet.
>
> Note: this is a family forum!
Lar, don't take this as purely bashing on you, because that is not my
intent. From what I have read on Lugnet, you appear to be both very
intelligent and a skilled debater. Even though I am a communicator by
profession, I am a mathematician by education, and the improper application
of mathematics sometimes gets the hairs on the back of my neck up.
--
William A. Swanberg
CPT, SC
Commander, 229th Signal Company (TACSAT)
swanberg@msn.com
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: Does God have a monopoly on gods?
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| (...) Reasoning is OK, nomenclature was wrong (I was rushed, and I JUST made the flight, they closed the door just after I boarded). See below... (...) Most perfect is an INCORRECT label for what I meant, an entity that is omnipotent (which carries (...) (25 years ago, 8-Mar-00, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: Does God have a monopoly on gods?
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| Briefly, my flight boards soon. (...) With you so far. A devil is an evil being. You can't know evil without knowing good. As I've said before, animals are amoral and know neither good nor evil. (well, except for cats. Cats are evil. :-) ) (...) (...) (25 years ago, 8-Mar-00, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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