Question about y'alls theologies!
Does the existence of gods predate or postdate humans as we currently exist as a species?
(atheists need not reply)
@starkatt Do concepts pre-exist the beings that concieve of them?
(Disclaimer: I'm not saying gods are entirely mental constructs, dangit Coyote /stop glaring at me/)
@starkatt @indi Well, as a parallel question, does math exist? Is math discovered or is it decided? Did negative numbers exist before we described them? Square roots? Imaginary numbers? Octonions?
At what point does a concept cease to be a creation or a conceit and become a property of the world awaiting discovery? Depends on your question and your perspective.
@indi @starkatt But... does it?
It really comes down to "what math is." If I've already shared the IdeaChannel "Math May Not Exist" video, I won't do it again, but there's currently an argument in the philosophy departments of some universities as to whether math is a property of the universe or an "unusually effective symbolic language for describing physics." There is an argument to be made we have, at least at some level, "made math up."
@orrery Yes that's what I was trying to say too. :)
@indi Okay, right, I did misread your statement. Vehement agreement! Apologies!
@indi @starkatt Oh! No, nonono. An absence of evidence is no substitute for evidence of an absence. I'm only saying there is room for both interpretations and that they're both potentially valid.
I may be tangling myself in sophist's knots. It wouldn't be the first time I've done that. xvx