In Carl Sagan's The Varieties of Scientific Experience, he talks much on the philosophy of God. It is beyond customary, almost mandatory to assume that God is an all-knowing, all-powerful, all-everything type of entity. Well, if truth is stranger than fiction then maybe thats not the case. Mr. Sagan writes this on pages 148-149;
"...Suppose somehow that it were demonstrated that there was a being that originated the universe but is indifferent to prayer... Or worse, a god who was oblivious to the existence of humans. That's very much like Aristotle's god. Would that be God or not? Suppose it were someone who was omnipotent but not omniscient, or vice versa. Suppose this god understood all the consequences of his actions but there were many things he was unable to do, so he was condemned to a universe in which his desired ends could not be accomplished. These alternative kinds of gods are hardly ever thought about or discussed. A priori there is no reason they should not be as likely as the more conventional sorts of gods."
Maybe his next line could have been... "Suppose this God himself didn't know if he believed in God, and was in search much like we are."Can you imagine that? God not sure if he believes in God? What a great concept for a book.
Mr. Sagan's description above very much embodies the role of Webster Adams. I wish we could have had a conversation about this, about my ideas for the book. I have a feeling Mr. Sagan would have made some amazing suggestions to make it even better.
Thanks for helping me think about the infinte, Carl. Your book, Contact, really got my mind working on new ideas.
To learn more about Carl Sagan - http://www.carlsagan.com
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