Frank J. Tipler
FRANK J. TIPLER  Macroknow Library
   

    
The Physics of Immortality.

" . . . [A] human being is a finite state machine, and nothing but a finite state machine."1a* CRICK

"I claim that a 'living being' is any entity which codes information . . . with the information coded being preserved by natural selection. Thus 'life' is a form of information processing, and the human mind -- and the human soul -- is a very complex computer program."1b [See Edward Ayoub's critique below]

"How do we know we ourselves are not merely a simulation inside a gigantic computer?"1c

"God alone bears responsibility for these evils [natural evils], in contrast to moral evils, such as the Holocaust (in which the Nazis murdered six million Jews), for which human beings share moral responsibility with God. Notice that even in the case of moral evil God bears ultimate responsibility, because He sustains evil humans in existence."1d*

"The idea of God as a collection of words -- or, in my terminology, an abstract computer program -- which lives and guides the universe can be found in a traditional Pigmy hymn . . . "1e

" . . . [T]he claim that morality is the central concern of religion is nonsense. Throughout human history, the central concern of religion has been human self-interest. In the Judeo-Christian-Islamic tradition, all morality has been obtained from declarative sentences of the form 'Thou shalt not kill -- because you'll go to Hell if you do!'"1f* GNOSTICS CRICK

"All disputed issues are disputes over matters of fact. . . THOU SHALT NOT IMPOSE YOUR THEORIES ON OTHERS BY FORCE."1g*


EDWARD AYOUB'S BRIEF CRITIQUE OF TIPLER'S PHILOSOPHY

  • Tipler's ideas -- human beings are "machines," the soul is a "computer program," God is an Omega Point -- are the product of phantasmal cybernetic wizardry masquerading as science.
  • Man is not a machine or information preserved by "natural selection." Rather, man survives despite the Darwinistic fitness of falsity, ignorance, and stupidity. Truth is not Darwinistic bits of information. Truth is being beyond space and time -- beyond physics, evolution, and cybernetics.
  • The fact that electrons, nucleons, molecules, genetic matter, etc., obey the laws of quantum mechanics does not imply that the human soul does. The soul is neither matter nor a 4-letter genetic code.
  • The central concern of religions is not "human self-interest" -- or eternal life based on "cheap altruism."a Religions are concerned with man's freedom to choose what is good and right -- over evil and falsity. The Decalog would not be necessary where it not for the existence of transgressors -- deceivers, thieves, killers, etc. Moses understood that without the Ten Commandments the Darwinistic fitness of transgressors would endanger the very survival of the Jewish people. Jesus (whose body, according to Tipler, "rotted in some grave"b) overthrew the tables of the moneychangers in the temple in Jerusalem, not because of His concern for the self-interest of thieves, but as a divine rebellion against the evils of usury.
     

       
   

* Italics in the original.

1 Frank J. Tipler (b. 1947). The Physics of Immortality: Modern Cosmology, God and the Resurrection of the Dead. Frank J. Tipler, 1994. New York, NY: Doubleday, a division of Bentam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group., 1995.
a The Ultimate Limits of Space Travel, at 31.
b Physics Near the Final State: The Classical Omega Point Theory, at 124.
c The Omega Point and the Physical Universe Necessarily Exist, at 207.
d What Happens After the Resurrection: Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory, at 260.
e Comparison of the Heaven Predicted by Modern Physics With the Afterlife Hoped For by the Great World Religions, at 279.
f Conclusion: Theology as a Branch of Physics, at 330.
g Conclusion: Theology as a Branch of Physics, at 331.
a What Happens After the Resurrection: Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory, "Once resurrected, cheap altruism will probably keep [the individuals of the far future] alive forever," at 246.
b The Omega Point Theory and Christianity, "I do not think Jesus really rose from the dead. I think his body rotted in some grave," at 310.

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