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46 of 47 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Omniscience Isn't Simple, But It's Fun, March 9, 2002
In the famous game of chicken, two drivers hurtle their cars toward each other, and the one who turns away at the last minute loses. Or they collide, and both lose even bigger, or they both swerve and have reciprocal embarrassment. Before you play this game, you might make a matrix of your actions (stay the course vs. swerve) against the opponent's actions (same two choices), and see what happens with the four different possible outcomes. But then imagine that your opponent is omniscient. He knows just what you are going to do. Surprisingly, this restricts the results of the game in unexpected ways so that you cannot lose. If your opponent is omniscient, all you have to do is to stay the course. He will know that you are not going to swerve, and (assuming that he does not want a collision), he will have to be the one to do the swerving himself. You win whenever you play chicken with an omniscient being! You may not be encouraged by this bit of practical knowledge, but people have thought about omniscient beings for as long as they have been people. Most religions have gods which are omniscient, and the capacity of omniscience produces some very strange consequences indeed. A delightful book, _The Paradox of God and the Science of Omniscience_ (Palgrave / St. Martin's), by Clifford A. Pickover, collects a bundle of religious and logical oddities and presents them in a playful and entertaining way. There are seventeen chapters within the book, all having to do with paradoxes of different types, not necessarily having to do strictly with omniscience. Each has a whimsical tale to begin it, with "Musings and Speculations" afterward. Say you wake up and find yourself in hell. The devil says you can win his game and get to heaven, otherwise you have to stay in hell. You can only play once. "If you play on the first day, you have a one half chance of winning. If you play on the second day, you have a two-thirds chance of winning. If you play on the third day, you have a three-quarters chance of winning." And so on. So, if the reward of heaven is infinite bliss, what is mathematically the best day to play? The answer is, keep waiting - infinite rewards make infinite waiting in hell the logical move. Or, if you have heard the question of whether an omnipotent god can make a rock so big he can't move it, can an omniscient and omnipotent god make a person who knows something the god doesn't? If an omniscient god knows what is going to happen in the future, did he know that Led Zeppelin would be releasing "Stairway to Heaven" thirty years ago? Did he know the first line? The lyrics? The tune? If so, what role did the musicians have in bringing the tune into the Classic Rock playlist? Might it be possible that there are degrees of omniscience, and the god who has omniscience only has it for certain periods of time, or certain subjects, thus allowing us unimpeded free will? Can an omniscient god be surprised, or be regretful? Pickover knows that most of his readers are going to be familiar with the God of the Bible, and draws a good deal from its lessons. He also draws upon other religious traditions, as well as inventing different types of gods to illustrate particular points. The downright peculiar things that the Old Testament God has done, such as aiding mass killing and child sacrifice, get a look, as do the sixteen crucified saviors other than Jesus and the mythological heroes and gods who share many of his traits. He examines why humans might have a fascination for omniscience and all the paradoxes it brings with it. After all, we are curious specimens who want to know more and more; the ruler of the universe must already know everything. And knowing everything, a god would know what each person was thinking and doing, which capacity would give him the ultimate ability to inspire fear in his believers (and fear of the Old Testament God is something that God thought worthy). Incidentally, belief in his omniscience would coax people to follow the priests more. This is a puzzling and enlightening book about reasoning that for all it's good humor will repay serious thought. Those who already have a firm belief in the God of their choice will find puzzles in this book that will heighten the mysteries of their faith, and those who lack such faith will find reason to continue to steer away from the paradoxes of belief.
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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Changes the way we think about God, December 26, 2001
What is God? In the West, we often think of God as "all powerful, all knowing, and all good." He created the universe out of nothing, is uncreated and eternal, and an can grant eternal life. Is it rational to believe in this God's existence? I have several of Pickover's recent books, and this book marks a wonderful addition to his collection. Through a large series of mind-numbing experiments, Pickover helps us understand the kinds of relationships we ordinary humans can have with an ominscient God. Pickover raises many interesting issues. In the Koran, God has no cause or temporal dimension, and there is little we can say about Him. Our brains are not up to task. But ordinary folk shouldn't deny God's existence in the same way that a deaf person shouldn't deny the existence of music. Is God real, or are we only worshipping a projection of ourselves? Can an omniscient being know the delight of learning new knowledge? Could God create a person whose actions He cannot know? Was the universe created by a being who tuned all the physical constants to permit carbon-based life? Pickover discusses all these subjects and more. The Zorastrianis, Hindus, Islam, Bahais, and Jews believe in an omniscient God. Buddhists believe that the Buddha was omniscient. On the other hand, Jewish mystics, such as those who follow the Lurianic Kabbalah, believe that God has given himself limitations. In order to make room for the physical universe and our existence, En Sof vacated a region within Himself. With each act of contraction, nature gains additional freedom. If there is a single book you will buy that will change the way you think about God and the universe -- and let you dream the infinite -- this book is for you. Topics covered include: the Bible, Kabbalah, the brain, "Does God Makes Mistakes and Learn?" Was Jesus omniscient? Do we have free will?, Hans Jonas, Auschwitz, Does God sanction genocide? The Bible as a telescope to a larger reality. Paradoxes, Garden of Eden, Buddhism, Led Zeppelin, the nature of time, Baha'i faith, Biblical errors, crucified saviors, Alan Dershowitz, Devil's Offer, ekpyrotic model (of the universe), hive minds, Freeman Dyson, Robert Heinelin, Bible mysteries, stellar evolution, Satan, Nephilim, Bridegroom of Blood, Gospel of Thomas, Urantia... Need I say more?
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Stairway to Your Own Mind, January 12, 2002
"Augustine's works ... planted a seed in early childhood from which my interest in paradox and God grew. Maybe this book will contain seeds for you." -- Clifford Pickover Kurt Godel may have logically proved that God exists, but Clifford Pickover pursues the paradoxes that result from following a belief in a God that is omniscient and omnipotent. As an example of such a paradox consider the question - Can God make a rock so massive that He can't move it? Certainly many readers will find the chapter entitled "The Paradox of Led Zeppelin" to be their favorite. So, put on your "Stairway to Heaven" CD and shatter your mind with some superb reading.
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