idunno
17th March 2008, 08:29 PM
Where did the Universe Come From?
Part 4: "If you can read this sentence,
I can prove to you that God exists"
hi,
See this email I just sent you, that you're reading
right now? This email is proof of the existence of God.
Yeah, I know, that sounds crazy. But I'm not asking you
to believe anything just yet, until you see the evidence for
yourself. All I ask is that you refrain from disbelieving
while I show you my proof. It only takes a minute to convey,
but it speaks to one of the most important questions of all
time.
So how is this email proof of the existence of God?:
This email you're reading contains letters, words and
sentences. It contains a message that means something.
As long as you can read English, you can understand what
I'm saying.
You can do all kinds of things with this email. You
can read it on your computer screen. You can print it out on
your printer. You can read it out loud to a friend who's in
the same room as you are. You can call your friend and read it
to her over the telephone. You can save it as a Microsoft
WORD document. You can forward it to someone via email, or you
can post it on a website.
Regardless of how you copy it or where you send it,
the information remains the same. My email contains a message.
It contains information in the form of language. The message
is independent of the medium it is sent in.
Messages are not matter, even though they can be carried
by matter (like printing this email on a piece of paper).
Messages are not energy even though they can be carried
by energy (like the sound of my voice.)
Messages are immaterial. Information is itself a unique
kind of entity. It can be stored and transmitted and copied
in many forms, but the meaning still stays the same.
Messages can be in English, French or Chinese.
Or Morse Code. Or mating calls of birds. Or the Internet.
Or radio or television. Or computer programs or architect
blueprints or stone carvings. Every cell in your body
contains a message encoded in DNA, representing a complete
plan for you.
OK, so what does this have to do with God?
It's very simple. Messages, languages, and coded
information ONLY come from a mind. A mind that
agrees on an alphabet and a meaning of words and
sentences. A mind that expresses both desire and
intent.
Whether I use the simplest possible explanation,
such as the one I'm giving you here, or if we analyze
language with advanced mathematics and engineering
communication theory, we can say this with total
confidence:
"Messages, languages and coded information never,
ever come from anything else besides a mind.
No one has ever produced a single example of a message
that did not come from a mind."
Nature can create fascinating patterns - snowflakes,
sand dunes, crystals, stalagmites and stalactites. Tornados
and turbulence and cloud formations.
But non-living things cannot create language. They
*cannot* create codes. Rocks cannot think and they
cannot talk. And they cannot create information.
It is believed by some that life on planet earth arose
accidentally from the "primordial soup," the early ocean which
produced enzymes and eventually RNA, DNA, and primitive cells.
But there is still a problem with this theory: It fails to
answer the question, 'Where did the information come from?'
DNA is not merely a molecule. Nor is it simply a "pattern."
Yes, it contains chemicals and proteins, but those chemicals
are arranged to form an intricate language, in the exact same way
that English and Chinese and HTML are languages.
DNA has a four-letter alphabet, and structures very similar
to words, sentences and paragraphs. With very precise
instructions and systems that check for errors and correct them.
To the person who says that life arose naturally,
you need only ask: "Where did the information come from?
Show me just ONE example of a language that didn't come
from a mind."
As simple as this question is, I've personally presented it
in public presentations and Internet discussion forums for
more than two years. I've addressed more than fifty thousand
people, including hostile, skeptical audiences who insist that
life arose without the assistance of God.
But to a person, none of them have ever been able to
explain where the information came from. This riddle is
"So simple any child can understand; so complex, no atheist
can solve."
You can hear or read my full presentation on this topic at
http://www.cosmicfingerprints.com/ifyoucanreadthis.htm (http://www.cosmicfingerprints.com/ifyoucanreadthis.htm)
For a high-school level, layman's version, go here:
http://www.cosmicfingerprints.com/information.htm (http://www.cosmicfingerprints.com/information.htm)
Matter and energy have to come from somewhere. Everyone
can agree on that. But information has to come from somewhere,
too! Information is separate entity, fully on par with matter and
energy. And information can only come from a mind. If books
and poems and TV shows come from human intelligence, then all
living things inevitably came from a superintelligence.
Every word you hear, every sentence you speak, every
dog that barks, every song you sing, every email you read,
every packet of information that zings across the Internet,
is proof of the existence of God. Because information
and language always originate in a mind.
In the beginning were words and language.
In the Beginning was Information.
When we consider the mystery of life - where it came from
and how this miracle is possible - do we not at the same time
ask the question where it is going, and what its purpose is?
Respectfully Submitted,
Perry Marshall
Further reading:
-"If you can read this, I can prove God exists" - listen to
my full presentation or read the Executive Summary here:
http://cosmicfingerprints.com/ifyoucanreadthis.htm (http://cosmicfingerprints.com/ifyoucanreadthis.htm)
-The Atheist's Riddle: Members of Infidels, the world's
largest atheist discussion board attempt to solve it
(for well over a year now!), without success:
-http://cosmicfingerprints.com/iidb.htm
-"OK, so then who made God?" and other questions about
information and origins:
http://cosmicfingerprints.com/infotheoryqa.htm (http://cosmicfingerprints.com/infotheoryqa.htm)
P.S.: Preview of tomorrow: You get to listen in on one of the most
fascinating science lectures I've ever had the privilege of hearing.
A presentation in which hard science and faith fuse together in
a fascinating tour of this magnificently engineered universe
that is our home.
Cosmic Fingerprints, 67 East Algonquin Road, S. Barrington IL 60010 USA
To unsubscribe or change subscriber options visit:
http://www.aweber.com/z/r/?TEycHMystCxMzBysjIyMtGa0TBwcHBw (http://www.aweber.com/z/r/?TEycHMystCxMzBysjIyMtGa0TBwcHBw)=
Part 4: "If you can read this sentence,
I can prove to you that God exists"
hi,
See this email I just sent you, that you're reading
right now? This email is proof of the existence of God.
Yeah, I know, that sounds crazy. But I'm not asking you
to believe anything just yet, until you see the evidence for
yourself. All I ask is that you refrain from disbelieving
while I show you my proof. It only takes a minute to convey,
but it speaks to one of the most important questions of all
time.
So how is this email proof of the existence of God?:
This email you're reading contains letters, words and
sentences. It contains a message that means something.
As long as you can read English, you can understand what
I'm saying.
You can do all kinds of things with this email. You
can read it on your computer screen. You can print it out on
your printer. You can read it out loud to a friend who's in
the same room as you are. You can call your friend and read it
to her over the telephone. You can save it as a Microsoft
WORD document. You can forward it to someone via email, or you
can post it on a website.
Regardless of how you copy it or where you send it,
the information remains the same. My email contains a message.
It contains information in the form of language. The message
is independent of the medium it is sent in.
Messages are not matter, even though they can be carried
by matter (like printing this email on a piece of paper).
Messages are not energy even though they can be carried
by energy (like the sound of my voice.)
Messages are immaterial. Information is itself a unique
kind of entity. It can be stored and transmitted and copied
in many forms, but the meaning still stays the same.
Messages can be in English, French or Chinese.
Or Morse Code. Or mating calls of birds. Or the Internet.
Or radio or television. Or computer programs or architect
blueprints or stone carvings. Every cell in your body
contains a message encoded in DNA, representing a complete
plan for you.
OK, so what does this have to do with God?
It's very simple. Messages, languages, and coded
information ONLY come from a mind. A mind that
agrees on an alphabet and a meaning of words and
sentences. A mind that expresses both desire and
intent.
Whether I use the simplest possible explanation,
such as the one I'm giving you here, or if we analyze
language with advanced mathematics and engineering
communication theory, we can say this with total
confidence:
"Messages, languages and coded information never,
ever come from anything else besides a mind.
No one has ever produced a single example of a message
that did not come from a mind."
Nature can create fascinating patterns - snowflakes,
sand dunes, crystals, stalagmites and stalactites. Tornados
and turbulence and cloud formations.
But non-living things cannot create language. They
*cannot* create codes. Rocks cannot think and they
cannot talk. And they cannot create information.
It is believed by some that life on planet earth arose
accidentally from the "primordial soup," the early ocean which
produced enzymes and eventually RNA, DNA, and primitive cells.
But there is still a problem with this theory: It fails to
answer the question, 'Where did the information come from?'
DNA is not merely a molecule. Nor is it simply a "pattern."
Yes, it contains chemicals and proteins, but those chemicals
are arranged to form an intricate language, in the exact same way
that English and Chinese and HTML are languages.
DNA has a four-letter alphabet, and structures very similar
to words, sentences and paragraphs. With very precise
instructions and systems that check for errors and correct them.
To the person who says that life arose naturally,
you need only ask: "Where did the information come from?
Show me just ONE example of a language that didn't come
from a mind."
As simple as this question is, I've personally presented it
in public presentations and Internet discussion forums for
more than two years. I've addressed more than fifty thousand
people, including hostile, skeptical audiences who insist that
life arose without the assistance of God.
But to a person, none of them have ever been able to
explain where the information came from. This riddle is
"So simple any child can understand; so complex, no atheist
can solve."
You can hear or read my full presentation on this topic at
http://www.cosmicfingerprints.com/ifyoucanreadthis.htm (http://www.cosmicfingerprints.com/ifyoucanreadthis.htm)
For a high-school level, layman's version, go here:
http://www.cosmicfingerprints.com/information.htm (http://www.cosmicfingerprints.com/information.htm)
Matter and energy have to come from somewhere. Everyone
can agree on that. But information has to come from somewhere,
too! Information is separate entity, fully on par with matter and
energy. And information can only come from a mind. If books
and poems and TV shows come from human intelligence, then all
living things inevitably came from a superintelligence.
Every word you hear, every sentence you speak, every
dog that barks, every song you sing, every email you read,
every packet of information that zings across the Internet,
is proof of the existence of God. Because information
and language always originate in a mind.
In the beginning were words and language.
In the Beginning was Information.
When we consider the mystery of life - where it came from
and how this miracle is possible - do we not at the same time
ask the question where it is going, and what its purpose is?
Respectfully Submitted,
Perry Marshall
Further reading:
-"If you can read this, I can prove God exists" - listen to
my full presentation or read the Executive Summary here:
http://cosmicfingerprints.com/ifyoucanreadthis.htm (http://cosmicfingerprints.com/ifyoucanreadthis.htm)
-The Atheist's Riddle: Members of Infidels, the world's
largest atheist discussion board attempt to solve it
(for well over a year now!), without success:
-http://cosmicfingerprints.com/iidb.htm
-"OK, so then who made God?" and other questions about
information and origins:
http://cosmicfingerprints.com/infotheoryqa.htm (http://cosmicfingerprints.com/infotheoryqa.htm)
P.S.: Preview of tomorrow: You get to listen in on one of the most
fascinating science lectures I've ever had the privilege of hearing.
A presentation in which hard science and faith fuse together in
a fascinating tour of this magnificently engineered universe
that is our home.
Cosmic Fingerprints, 67 East Algonquin Road, S. Barrington IL 60010 USA
To unsubscribe or change subscriber options visit:
http://www.aweber.com/z/r/?TEycHMystCxMzBysjIyMtGa0TBwcHBw (http://www.aweber.com/z/r/?TEycHMystCxMzBysjIyMtGa0TBwcHBw)=