You are God: now what?

[His Noodly Appendage]

You are aware.

You have no memory of what came before this moment, or of yourself.

You do not seem to have physical form.

Neither does anything else. In all directions lies infinite void without form.

You reach out to the void with your will, and the void... responds. You will energy, matter and form to exist, and they do, as simply as that. You will them to act, and they do. You will the physical laws governing them to change, and they do.

You reach out to the void with your senses, and find no limits on the scope or detail of what you perceive.

You reach out to the void with your cognition, and find no limit to the deduction, calculation, inference, prediction, or simulation of its contents that you are able to perform.

You reach out to time within the void, and find that you can pause, rewind, fast-forward, cut, copy and paste spacetime simply by wishing to, while your own experience remains linear.

You erase all your experiments, and pause to reflect.

You are, apparently, a God. This comes as something of a surprise, but having no accessible experience of any other mode of existence, you can see no reason why you shouldn't be one, either.

What do you do next?

[Tartantyco]

-Hookers and blow!

[Christina]

Make someone to keep me company.

(I know, boring and trivial but it was the first thing that I thought of.)

[nygreenguy]

make the internets so i can post online.

But in all seriousness, what need do i hae that needs to be satisfied?

Any being i make will be simply too stupid to entertain me.

existence would be meaningless.

[DMB]

That is such a poetic OP, HNA!

I wonder how you sense anything without being physical.

[Dlx2]

What do you do next?

Smite.

[His Noodly Appendage]

Wel, that's the thing. You're not entirely sure that the universe you're manipulating isn't just a case of very, very good visualisation. For all you know, it's a mental, rather than physical construct.

Also, along with memory, you lack insight. All you know about your own mind is what it's like to be in it, so you're not quite sure how to go about creating some company. If you just had a functional requirement or design spec, actually implementing it would be cake. Um... what exactly should they be able to do?

[Febble]

Been there, done that. (http://www.geocities.com/lizzielid/Perhaps.pdf)

[Febble]

Make someone to keep me company.

(I know, boring and trivial but it was the first thing that I thought of.)

Well, boring and trivial it may be, but it was the basis of my entire theology.

[Christina]

I'm not sure what you mean, Febble.

[Febble]

I'm not sure what you mean, Febble.

Well, the idea that the purpose of the universe was to love God back.

[Jobar]

Divine awareness would have to be non-temporal, thus, non-changing from its own perspective.

We, being temporal, can't even imagine what non-temporal consciousness might be like, if it can exist at all. Past, present, future- no difference. Just, NOW.

Even the word 'being' (be - ing) implies process, and so you can't even call an eviternal god a 'being'. It also implies apartness from other beings, and thus you can't call an omnipresent god a 'being' either.

The medieval Catholic priest/mystic Meister Eckhart spoke of these things; my favorite line of his is "Why dost thou prate of God? Whatever thou sayest of Him is untrue."

Of course, his sermons were declared heretical, and though we don't have definite historical testimony, it's quite possible he was put to death by the Catholic church.

[seebs]

I don't think I accept the analysis that divine awareness would have to be unchanging from its own perspective.

Imagine, if you will, that I create a simulation. With respect to the contents of the simulation, I am non-temporal, I am outside of time, I can move forwards and backwards in time as I will, and so on. I am capable of interaction with any part of that simulation, making me effectively omnipresent in it.

I don't see why a hypothetical God's relationship to the universe would be less flexible.

[Christina]

Well, the idea that the purpose of the universe was to love God back.

I had to think about this for a while. I think that the difference is that my first instinct was to create an equal, not subservient masses to worship me. I felt lonely when I imagined it.

[RexT]

To the OP. This is an experience I've had many, many times (being god that is). I dream the most incredible dreams you could imagine. In those dreams I do exactly what you suggest - I create worlds. I have unlimited powers at the tip of my will. What I do is to invent personalities with whom I interact. But the odd thing is the laws in the worlds I create. They are sometimes similar to our familiar laws but often very different. I can fly, become invisible, telepathic, time travel, you name it I can do it.

So in those dreams I essentially create a narrative that unfolds according to whatever laws I invented in the beginning, though sometimes I change the laws mid-dream -that can often suck. And then...

I wake up of course! And that can really, really suck. It's a big freaking letdown to go from being a god to being an earthbound mortal in a single uninvited moment. But hey, only gods can do that.

[RexT]

I had to think about this for a while. I think that the difference is that my first instinct was to create an equal, not subservient masses to worship me. I felt lonely when I imagined it.Which part made you feel lonely?

[Ray Moscow]

What do you do next?

Create some people.

Then, if they don't turn out the way that you expected, despite all your omniscience and omnipotence, start smiting them.

A bit later, incarnate one of your begetted aspects and get killed to appease yourself.

Don't forget to torture forever those who don't believe the above.

[Christina]

Which part made you feel lonely?

I'm not sure, exactly. I just had this sense of vast emptiness and a thought of 'oh great, I get to have a reality that no one shares again'.

[yautja_cetanu]

Well, boring and trivial it may be, but it was the basis of my entire theology.

hehe I thought that whilst reading this thread :P

[RexT]

I'm not sure, exactly. I just had this sense of vast emptiness and a thought of 'oh great, I get to have a reality that no one shares again'.I can relate to those feelings.

[A Dead Relative]

I would get a hold of Santa and the Easter Bunny, because if I couldn't find them, I would know I didn't exist.:p

[Jobar]

I don't think I accept the analysis that divine awareness would have to be unchanging from its own perspective.

Imagine, if you will, that I create a simulation. With respect to the contents of the simulation, I am non-temporal, I am outside of time, I can move forwards and backwards in time as I will, and so on. I am capable of interaction with any part of that simulation, making me effectively omnipresent in it.

I don't see why a hypothetical God's relationship to the universe would be less flexible.

I've seen many arguments to the effect that perfection is of necessity a changeless state. Change requires beginnings and endings, and what of perfection can ever end, or begin?

Then again, I've seen arguments that you can have an ever-changing, and also ever-perfect, being. But if you allow for that, how do you then say that any and all of us aren't such beings?

[dancer_rnb]

Tentacles...........

[trendkill]

Now what? Nothing. As God, I want nothing, I need nothing, I'm perfection itself. Everything is just...perfect. Why would I want to do anything? Only if I were a figment in the imagination of a needy, mortal being would I take action.

[shipload]

So...you got an admin spot at IIDB.

So what?

[fundie]

I agree with God having no memory, because that would require a past. All thoughts would be present, consciousness would be aware of them all. So its not like God would be learning things. Not like He would be checking out his powers and running simulations and thereby learning new things. Some of Gods thoughts could be sequences of ideas, and that sequencing has similarities to time. But they could also be related like math filters, and in ways that we are not capable of thinking. In the Bible God declares that His ways are not our ways, and His thoughts are not our thoughts. He states that His thoughts are higher. God is very aware of himself, of his own qualities such as holiness and love. Also there are the seven spirits of God. Since God does not change, I think God has always had these seven spirits, even in His timeless precreation state.
So what does such a God do? I dont think it makes sense to ask what would I do, since who I am is in large part a product of my experiences, and of my fallen human nature, none of which God would have.
One issue is how would a timeless God 'do' anything, since doing is a time based concept. But I will ignore this detail, assuming that God has a reason to create some sort of time dimension in which he can act.
I suppose one question is why would God do anything, in particular why would he create other beings, spirit-beings with their own will. I have no idea, but I think it is presumptuous for people to assert that God would have to remain alone and do nothing. I dont think we know enough to assume that because God is perfect he would have to be so dull.

[Jest2Ask]

....Also there are the seven spirits of God. Since God does not change, I think God has always had these seven spirits, even in His timeless precreation state.


What is the source / reference for the seven spirits of God ? I have never heard that before.

So what does such a God do? I dont think it makes sense to ask what would I do, since who I am is in large part a product of my experiences, and of my fallen human nature, none of which God would have. which pretty much means (IMO) God is incomprehensible, which leads me to question how anyone can say anything about God.



Jobar : The medieval Catholic priest/mystic Meister Eckhart spoke of these things; my favorite line of his is "Why dost thou prate of God? Whatever thou sayest of Him is untrue."



One issue is how would a timeless God 'do' anything, since doing is a time based concept. But I will ignore this detail, assuming that God has a reason to create some sort of time dimension in which he can act.
I suppose one question is why would God do anything, in particular why would he create other beings, spirit-beings with their own will. I have no idea, but I think it is presumptuous for people to assert that God would have to remain alone and do nothing. I dont think we know enough to assume that because God is perfect he would have to be so dull. :confused: I agree with the emphasised portions , prompting me to ask why do you even believe a God exists (would / could needs to) which is another discussion entirely.

[Jest2Ask]

:wave: Hello Fundie love your avatar I have used something very similar in the past.

[Jet Black]

Destroy space family Robinson....

[linwood]

What do you do next?

I`d go mad, subjectively speaking.

Christina speaks of the loneliness in your description and I feel it too.
A vast empty immeasurable void and my consciousness.

Yeah, I`d go mad I think.

I might create toys, things to entertain me but after awhile it would all seem so freaking pointless.
Creating an equal, well I suppose that would be possible but would it really?

Wouldn`t I always hold a dominant power over that which I created?

[FyreWyngz]

What do you do next?

LOL! You silly mortal. God doesn't "do" anything! And even if God did, nothing's next! :cool:

[Craig]

This thread shows me there is hope. These are all some very open-minded ideas and approach the kind of inquisitiveness that leads to real wisdom. I find that Wonderful. So then, if it were up to me, you all would be a part of what I would want to associate with in an otherwise vast and empty conscious-nest. We could all move and grow together within that to experience our dreams in a dimension of time. Then, in time, we'd realize who we were, and make sure that all we did was done in a way that "it" worked for everyone. Quite a challenge, actually, but well worth the effort.

[Plognark]

The things I'd want to do would probably make me cease to exist out of sheer paradox.

I'm only half joking with that answer, too.

[Plognark]

Ok, you know what I would do? I would set up a contingency that would randomly create an infinite variety of existences and universes upon my suicide, and then off myself.

I can't even imagine any point to going dormant and un-involved, given how expansive my knowledge would be. Anything I would look at I would instantly comprehend, so there wouldn't even be any point to sticking around to watch things unfold.

I might want to put in inherent safeguards that would prevent anything with my same omni-powers from ever forming again too.

[RexT]

If I were god I would find a way to not be god. Being god would be too lonely. Of course god could not do such a thing in actuality but could do it such in a way that the result would be indistinguishable from the actuality. The effect would likely be temporary, but such is the case with vacations. So if I were god I'd take a vacation from being god - at least one vacation between the creation of each new universe.