I believe that I have a 'last chapter' conclusion for my new book, something with which almost everyone can agree ... Buddhists of all flavors, people of the Abrahamic and other religions, humanistic atheists and skeptical agnostics too ... almost everyone I know ... (even people who do not agree with my central argument in the rest of the book!) 
What is it?
First, a brief recap ...
As many of you know by now, the central thesis of my book lays out a brief summary ("brief" when compared to the actual 13.8 billion year story) of every "happy happenstance," evanescent event, friendly phenomenon, mutual meeting-&-mating, surprise survival, convolute evolution and marvelous mutation, falling leaf and light breeze that somehow changed everything, ancestral accident, timely escape and historical "had to have happened since you happened" happening at every twist and turn of events in physics, chemistry, solar and planetary development, biology and 'natural selection,' human history and your (the reader's) most personal genetic line and family history, from the Big Bang right up to the moment of your conception and subsequent birth. The argument is that, basically, anyone can win one or a series of lucky card hands, chance things happen every day, but when someone wins every hand of poker for 13.8 billion years without a single miss, one should suspect that there may be some cheating, guiding, that maybe a "fix is in"
(And if you think there is no need to suspect so, please come over to my house tonight with cash for a friendly game of poker, I will bring the cards.)
Yes, any event, thing or being that happens was once incredibly unlikely if we imagine all the events which led to it, but when the unlikely being is the imaginer themself ... and further, when that imaginer turns out to be not just "any old actual or potential being/imaginer" but YOU, yourself, the reader, at the current end of chance's chain which left you subjectively able to do the imagining about yourself right now ... I believe that it is a special event demanding special explanation, a bit like finding a diamond in one's hand with no memory about how it got there (yet suspecting that there must be some back story to how it got there and it is not just chance that does not require special explanation.) I suspect that something is afoot, there is a mechanism at work that may challenge our current faith in the Copernican Principle and cast doubt on whether historical events, including the evolution of life, are as random and wild as we believe, and whether reality is quite what meets the eye.
The book suggests several possibly explanations for the "fix," most proposed by respected scientists, theologians, Zen masters and philosophers of long ago or in recent times (so don't blame me, these are other peoples' notions.) These include idealist (including Buddhist) "it is all a dream" scenarios, some strange personal quantum wave function collapse (e.g., each observer selects their own causal universe from a multi-verse of possibilities by the observation), various simulation hypotheses, Boltzmann Brain scenarios, "intelligent design" by the Judeo-Christian Almighty, an "itself evolved yet imperfect designer" scenario which created the universe to be able to live and experience things (I lean toward this one), some evolved natural principle to the universe that seeks life, sentience and growth by guiding the direction of events much as a flower naturally pushes through the soil reaching for the sun (I also lean toward this one) etc. etc.
Who might agree with the propositions of the book?
+ Buddhists (Hindus too) may find resonance with the book because the outlined sequence of generations of "causes leading to effects" tailored to each individual's own personal causal stream leading to their birth closely resembles traditional notions of Karma leading to one's current birth, and then on to future effects which arise from our choices and behavior.
+ Judeo-Christians, Hindus, believers in "Simulation" arguments, some Panpsychists, some Idealists (as well as anyone who might believe that there is some yet-to-be understood mysterious natural process at work) may be attracted to my notions because some (not all) of the possible explanations involve some higher or inherent intelligence or "natural principle" behind or inherent to the universe which is somehow engineering events.
Of course, there will always be skeptics who will reject my arguments, insisting that we "just got incredibly lucky" with no need to look for some as yet unknown special explanation, that "stuff happens" and we are just some of those bits of stuff. They are most likely wrong (as likely wrong as our births were unlikely), but they are entitled to their opinions.
BUT WHAT IS THE CONCLUSION THAT ALL OF THE ABOVE FOLKS ARE LIKELY TO AGREE WITH (including anyone who disagrees with the rest of the book)?
Namely that, whether or not we find ourselves born and alive due to "loaded dice," we now each individually (and together as a species) stand at an inflection point in which the future is up to us. Whether we survive or perish as a human race (including any successors and advances on the human race), whether our present actions will bring "heavens or hells on Earth" to future generations ... whether we survive or not, give rise to future generations or not is up to whether our species can ethically mature, morally leave our jungle natures behind (i.e., forsaking our ancient tendencies toward violence, warfare, selfishness and excess consumption decimating our world). **
** (See my "Building the Future Buddha" book for the steps we may need to take to do that.)
I think that people of most religions and philosophies (even all but the most cynical "it is all pointless, human beings are a blight on the planet" nihilists) might agree with that.
If not, looking at the structure of the universe we are finding, with trillions of galaxies filled with (I assume) countless life-hospitable planets scattered like seeds here and there (interestingly, with vast distances between each so that we are unlikely to contact and conflict with each other) ... I suspect that some other species somewhere will "make it" and make the wise choices, even if we destroy ourselves. It is something like a farmer's field in which, if some of the tomatoes are eaten by worms or birds or otherwise rot, no real loss ... for plenty of tomatoes will survive in the vast field.
ANY OPINIONS, CRITICISMS OR HELPFUL COMMENTS ON THE ABOVE PROPOSITIONS WELCOME!
Gassho, J
stlah
What is it?
First, a brief recap ...
As many of you know by now, the central thesis of my book lays out a brief summary ("brief" when compared to the actual 13.8 billion year story) of every "happy happenstance," evanescent event, friendly phenomenon, mutual meeting-&-mating, surprise survival, convolute evolution and marvelous mutation, falling leaf and light breeze that somehow changed everything, ancestral accident, timely escape and historical "had to have happened since you happened" happening at every twist and turn of events in physics, chemistry, solar and planetary development, biology and 'natural selection,' human history and your (the reader's) most personal genetic line and family history, from the Big Bang right up to the moment of your conception and subsequent birth. The argument is that, basically, anyone can win one or a series of lucky card hands, chance things happen every day, but when someone wins every hand of poker for 13.8 billion years without a single miss, one should suspect that there may be some cheating, guiding, that maybe a "fix is in"
(And if you think there is no need to suspect so, please come over to my house tonight with cash for a friendly game of poker, I will bring the cards.)
Yes, any event, thing or being that happens was once incredibly unlikely if we imagine all the events which led to it, but when the unlikely being is the imaginer themself ... and further, when that imaginer turns out to be not just "any old actual or potential being/imaginer" but YOU, yourself, the reader, at the current end of chance's chain which left you subjectively able to do the imagining about yourself right now ... I believe that it is a special event demanding special explanation, a bit like finding a diamond in one's hand with no memory about how it got there (yet suspecting that there must be some back story to how it got there and it is not just chance that does not require special explanation.) I suspect that something is afoot, there is a mechanism at work that may challenge our current faith in the Copernican Principle and cast doubt on whether historical events, including the evolution of life, are as random and wild as we believe, and whether reality is quite what meets the eye.
The book suggests several possibly explanations for the "fix," most proposed by respected scientists, theologians, Zen masters and philosophers of long ago or in recent times (so don't blame me, these are other peoples' notions.) These include idealist (including Buddhist) "it is all a dream" scenarios, some strange personal quantum wave function collapse (e.g., each observer selects their own causal universe from a multi-verse of possibilities by the observation), various simulation hypotheses, Boltzmann Brain scenarios, "intelligent design" by the Judeo-Christian Almighty, an "itself evolved yet imperfect designer" scenario which created the universe to be able to live and experience things (I lean toward this one), some evolved natural principle to the universe that seeks life, sentience and growth by guiding the direction of events much as a flower naturally pushes through the soil reaching for the sun (I also lean toward this one) etc. etc.
Who might agree with the propositions of the book?
+ Buddhists (Hindus too) may find resonance with the book because the outlined sequence of generations of "causes leading to effects" tailored to each individual's own personal causal stream leading to their birth closely resembles traditional notions of Karma leading to one's current birth, and then on to future effects which arise from our choices and behavior.
+ Judeo-Christians, Hindus, believers in "Simulation" arguments, some Panpsychists, some Idealists (as well as anyone who might believe that there is some yet-to-be understood mysterious natural process at work) may be attracted to my notions because some (not all) of the possible explanations involve some higher or inherent intelligence or "natural principle" behind or inherent to the universe which is somehow engineering events.
Of course, there will always be skeptics who will reject my arguments, insisting that we "just got incredibly lucky" with no need to look for some as yet unknown special explanation, that "stuff happens" and we are just some of those bits of stuff. They are most likely wrong (as likely wrong as our births were unlikely), but they are entitled to their opinions.
BUT WHAT IS THE CONCLUSION THAT ALL OF THE ABOVE FOLKS ARE LIKELY TO AGREE WITH (including anyone who disagrees with the rest of the book)?
Namely that, whether or not we find ourselves born and alive due to "loaded dice," we now each individually (and together as a species) stand at an inflection point in which the future is up to us. Whether we survive or perish as a human race (including any successors and advances on the human race), whether our present actions will bring "heavens or hells on Earth" to future generations ... whether we survive or not, give rise to future generations or not is up to whether our species can ethically mature, morally leave our jungle natures behind (i.e., forsaking our ancient tendencies toward violence, warfare, selfishness and excess consumption decimating our world). **
** (See my "Building the Future Buddha" book for the steps we may need to take to do that.)
I think that people of most religions and philosophies (even all but the most cynical "it is all pointless, human beings are a blight on the planet" nihilists) might agree with that.
If not, looking at the structure of the universe we are finding, with trillions of galaxies filled with (I assume) countless life-hospitable planets scattered like seeds here and there (interestingly, with vast distances between each so that we are unlikely to contact and conflict with each other) ... I suspect that some other species somewhere will "make it" and make the wise choices, even if we destroy ourselves. It is something like a farmer's field in which, if some of the tomatoes are eaten by worms or birds or otherwise rot, no real loss ... for plenty of tomatoes will survive in the vast field.
ANY OPINIONS, CRITICISMS OR HELPFUL COMMENTS ON THE ABOVE PROPOSITIONS WELCOME!
Gassho, J
stlah