June 17, 2007

How Rudy Rucker Showed Me God

Posted at 11:07 pm by Richard and tagged books, flatland, god, rudy-rucker, sci-fi, science. Popularity: 13% [?]

One of the earliest books I can remember reading that had an influence on my spirituality was not a book on religion at all but a book by a science fiction writer, Rudy Rucker. “God” is usually talked about as a father figure, or some mystical being (who looks somewhat like us – old dude, white beard) in the sky – and while these stories might be just metaphors for the true nature of God, it created a barrier to the possibility of me ever accepting the existence of higher power. I remember that “The Fourth Dimension: And how to get there”¹ inspired me to think about the possibility of this higher power in a new way. Rudy Rucker is best known as a science fiction writer, but the book “The Fourth Dimension” is a work of non-fiction. In it, Rucker draws on the works of Edwin A. Abbott who wrote “Flatland” in 1884.

In “Flatland” Abbott explores the fictional life of “A. Square”, who lives in a two dimensional world and is visited by “A. Cube” (a 3-dimensional creature). While it’s a rather simplistic example, it raises the possibility that we (3-dimensional creatures) may be surrounded by “beings of a higher dimension” who could interact with us in God-like ways. While I don’t necessarily believe that God is, in fact, a creature from a higher-dimensional universe, the book suggested the possibility that maybe God can physically exist, but still be “omnipotent”.

²

Rudy Rucker gave me a way of thinking about the nature of a higher power that still allowed me to understand the world from a scientific viewpoint, and while I’m sure it wasn’t his intention – Rudy Rucker opened my mind to the possibility of “God”.

• View my review on “The Fourth Dimension: and how to get there“

Popularity: 13% [?]

1. Also known as “The 4th Dimension: Toward a Geometry of Higher Reality“ [↩]
2. Image taken from Rudy Rucker, “The Fourth Dimension: and how to get there“, p.41 [↩]

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June 12, 2007

20 gram Links for June 11th ’07

Posted at 10:36 am by del.icio.us and tagged agnosticism, atheism, bible, christianity, creationism, dinosaurs, education, evolution, flickr, fundamentalism, georgebush, god, humour, Links, photography, religion, statistics, terrorism, usa. Popularity: 25% [?]

Here are some of the sites I’ve been looking at recently, that I wanted to share:

• Heed the word of God – An amusing commentary about George Bush’s claims that God is speaking to him
• I Believe In Evolution, Except For The Whole Triassic Period – From The Onion: “Scientific reasoning can explain nearly every stage of life from the Big Bang to the present day. I say ‘nearly’ because the period commonly known as the Triassic period was quite obviously the work of the Lord God Almighty.”
• The Atheist Delusion – A satirical response to Richard Dawkins’ “God Delusion”
• The Official God FAQ – Visit this page to find out everything you need to know about God
• God is Imaginary – 50 simple proofs – It is easy to prove to yourself that God is imaginary. The evidence is all around you. Here are 50 simple proofs
• World Religions Religion Statistics Geography Church Statistics – A collection of statistics and religious geography citations
• You Know You’re An Atheist When…
• Ars takes a field trip: the Creation Museum – The new “Creationist Museum” in Kentucky – “This walk through history museum will be a wonderful alternative to the evolutionary natural history museums that are turning countless minds against the gospel of Christ”

Popularity: 25% [?]

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