The scientific and rational conclusion that intelligence and not chaos is the driving force behind the universe.
The author''s treatment of the paradoxical nature of Vedic cosmology is thought provoking. Also, his treatment of theodicy, the problem of evil in this world, which for many people poses the biggest obstacle to accepting the existence of God, is excellent. In Intelligence or Chaos, the author deals with foundational issues in science, philosophy and theology in a lucid manner that is relevant not only to those following his particular Vedic path but to anyone on any theistic path. I could imagine that agnostics or even some atheists might find it of interest. Michael A. Cremo (Drutakarma Dasa) International Best-selling author of "Forbidden Archaeology
We had the rich intellectual pleasure of reading Intelligence or Chaos in our Science andReligion seminar at Rutgers this semester. The book makes three welcome andimportant contributions to the Intelligent Design/Fine Tuning arguments of theisticscientists and philosophers. The first is less of a new contribution than an organizedexposition of existing material: Keilman does an excellent job laying out the essentialparameters of the fine-tuning position. Despite the dominance of philosophicalnaturalism (physicalism/materialism) in American academic institutions over the last fewdecades, the alternative position - that the statistical probability of the universe comingabout by random, non-teleological forces and principles is unrealistically implausible - isgaining traction in both the fields of science, and philosophy. The data for this discussion, ofcourse, comes from all the various fields of science, but Keilman carefully, coherently andaccessibly organizes the source material, traces out the histories and positions of the mainvoices in the discussion, and presents clearly the statistical probabilities, or ratherimprobabilities bordering on absurdities, of unguided creation.While there are books by theistic scientists dealing withaspects of the data, Intelligence or Chaos marshals all the primary evidence in an extremely user-friendly, butintellectually responsible and thorough way.Where the book makes new conceptual contributions is in introducing two metaphysicallenses fundamental to Vedanta. Most Vedanta traditions espouse a bheda-abheda, ''differencein non-difference,'' philosophy, which Keilman applies to the nature of reality as construedby physics. The unified binaries of space-time; particle-wave; energy-mass, etc. reflect nothingother than bheda-abheda principles. This observation creates a discrete metaphysical(rather than religious) linkage to Vedanta ways of thinking. The other significant bridgeKeilman makes to Vedantic thought is in the Vedanta/Samkhya satkaryavada, ''cause-effect''model of ontology. This position holds that all effects must originate from their causes and thusmust originally be latent within them. Thus, if we are to reject magical thinking - that things canmanifest from nothing - all complexity in the universe must spring from latent complexityin the cause. This alone undermines any simplisc talk that the ulmate cause of reality - theoriginal singularity of a pre-Big Bang point moment - must be simple (as heralded repeatedly bye.g. Dawkins as the defining basis of his atheism).Edwin BryantProfessor of Hindu Religion and Philosophy,Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey.
Can the existence of God by proven by science? The answer will still surprise you. Since the advent of science in the 16th century, it has navigated mankind in the direction of mechanistic materialism, and as a consequence to atheism. Since the beginning of the 20th century this direction has changed. Relativity and quantum physics, in conjunction with Big Bang cosmology, laid the foundation for a revolution in physics, in what became labelled as the New Physics . Subsequently during the 1970''s it was discovered that the universe, at every level and from its first billionth of a second at the time of its creation, was mysteriously fine-tuned. This fine-tuning comprises the inexplicable and delicate balance of the four fundamental forces that rule the universe: gravity, electromagnetism, and the strong and the weak nuclear forces. This discovery implies that even the most basic building blocks of matter, such as atoms and its sub-atomic particles, can only exist by the grace of an inexplicable, complex and delicate balance between these forces. The chance that this fine-tuning could have emerged spontaneously and fortuitously, is not only improbable, but utterly impossible. Intelligence or Chaos elucidates that the complexity and fine-tuning of the universe can only be explained by the presence of an all-pervasive intelligence, the source and reservoir of the Information that actually guides and controls the universe. For the first time in history such a conclusion is confirmed by indubitable scientific evidence. The existence of an all-pervading intelligence, as expressed in the principle of fine-tuning, is also at the core of the ancient Vedanta philosophy of India. The author explores how Vedanta disentangles some of the paradoxes encountered in quantum physics and major cosmological questions such as the Big Bang and its origin. Using the latest empirical and scientific evidence Intelligence or Chaos clearly shows that the universe is ruled by intelligence and information, and not by chance and chaos. CHAPTER 1 The mystery of existence- CHAPTER 2 Intelligence or chaos the teleological argument- CHAPTER 3 Materialism matter is the only reality- CHAPTER 4 Darwin''s theory of evolution- CHAPTER 5 The defects of materialism- CHAPTER 6 The origin of existence has to be simple - CHAPTER 7 The imperfect universe- CHAPTER 8 Why is there something rather than nothing?- CHAPTER 9 Why does reality exist in this particular manner?- CHAPTER 10 The ultimate complexity consciousness- CHAPTER 11 God and reason- CHAPTER 12 The paradox; the foundation of reality- CHAPTER 13 The Nature of God- CHAPTER 14 Our destination: Vaikuntha.
- | Author: Henk J. Keilman
- | Publisher: Ahimsa Publications
- | Publication Date: May 20, 2022
- | Number of Pages:
- | Language:
- | Binding: Hardback
- | ISBN-13: 9780952749288
- | ISBN-10: 0952749289
