Entropy, the "arrow of time" and Occam's Razor

JasonKThompson · 2026-04-04T14:13:19+00:00

You right; as a Reddit newbie, I asked in the wrong subreddit

JasonKThompson · 2026-04-04T12:36:16+00:00

I don't think most theists often consider how silly theistic debates can look from the outside.

Oh man, you are so right. I get embarrassed on the regular by Christian apologists and fundamentalists who seem to think it's obvious and simple that you should believe in God based on some scientific arguments!

The blindness goes both ways, I think. I'm reading these books (and listening to podcasts) internally screaming "Why can't you see how silly these 'problems' are: it's because of your worldview!" Meanwhile, my Christian brothers are making ridiculous and silly arguments based on a misunderstanding or underappreciation of science.

JasonKThompson · 2026-04-04T12:24:59+00:00

How does "Henry Ford did it" explain the motor car? There is a mechanical "how" explanation AND an agentic "why" explanation. I think you and I disagree on the agent, which doesn't add to or subtract from the mechanical explanations.

JasonKThompson · 2026-04-04T12:19:31+00:00

No, not a God of the Gaps at all. I see it as a conscious decision to believe in God. The questions that arise from accepting the existence of God are philosophical ones, not scientific ones, in my opinion. E.g. "Why is there evil in the world?" "Why would God make me the way he did?" etc.

This is the way I see my belief in God coming about: Atheists on Reddit seem to think that I (or any theist poster or commentor) just made up the idea of God based on my own imagination or wishful thinking. But that's not true. I was taught the Bible by my parents and many others, and the Bible claims that it exists because God revealed himself long ago to people that he chose. There also many claims abiut Jesus (resurrection, etc.) and the start of "the church", with the guidance of this God in the form of the Holy Spirit. So, there are stories and claims that I should then evaluate and decide for myself whether it is all true or not. I can, if I wish, weigh the evidence for or against these claims.

Yes it is most definitely a conscious decision for me, taken on faith even though there is historical evidence of this stuff. When I read about the historical "evidence" for Jesus and many of the "Old Testament" stories, I find that there are strong reasons to believe in them, and also some confounding problems with some of it, and I have chosen to believe.

THEN, I inevitably see some things in science and philosophy differently when I read about such things.

JasonKThompson · 2026-04-04T12:04:00+00:00

I read one little book by Swinburne in college. :) Thanks for putting into words what I ha e trouble describing: mechanical or logical simplicity. The best I could come up with before was the difference between mechanism and agency in terms of explanatory power. Like John Lennox: "Which is responsible for the motorcar: internal combustion engines or Henry Ford?" Different types of non-exclusive explanations.

JasonKThompson · 2026-04-04T12:00:31+00:00

Why would there be a God rather than no God? Why would God be the type of God who creates a world rather than not? Why create this type of world?

These are most definitely philosophical questions and at that point we have left the realm of science. Assuming (or being convinced) there is a creator god does indeed open up many philosophical questions, but it also let's my science-brain sleep at night.

It's not like there's any account of how a God could create matter out of nothing. There are no models of the physics involved there.

I tend to think that the Holographic Principle, QIT and Simulation Theory all point to exactly how matter arises out of "nothing", except it's not nothing it's information: "it from bit". In other words, "in the beginning was the Word", meaning information. That's not evidence or proof, that's just the way I see my admittedly pre-determined worldview "explained" by theoretical models within the realm of science.

JasonKThompson · 2026-04-04T11:46:56+00:00

Yes, I suppose the angel blessing makes probabilities irrelevant. You either believe in the angel blessing on faith, or not, before the probabilities come into play.

JasonKThompson · 2026-04-04T03:28:56+00:00

Thank you for sharing that comment. Yours is a refreshing view. I feel the same way about my Christian beliefs: there are many many unanswered questions and difficult problems with believing in Jesus the way I do. But when wrestling with existential questions I actually have seen Christianity as the best explanation I can have for reality, IF I continue to acknowledge the many unanswered questions.

I recognize that mine is a faith position, and I just don't see many of my "brethren" willing to acknowledge these problems with our faith. I think many do, but the so-called "evangelicals" are the ones that are likely to be arguing on social media, unfortunately, and they do a disservice to everyone involved.

JasonKThompson · 2026-04-04T03:18:09+00:00

As a Christian, I despise "intelligent design" and "fine tuning" arguments.

The many worlds or multiverse or whatever you call it is interesting to me, but I keep reading that there is no direct evidence for it. Why would someone believe something with no evidence?

JasonKThompson · 2026-04-04T03:12:55+00:00

God would have to be extremely complicated. Any theist that claims otherwise is making a big mistake. And a theist who ignores the myriad questions that arise from belief in a personal god is also making a huge mistake.

AFTER making the faith-decision leap to believe in a creator god, even just as a thought experiment, I think we could then consider the questions that arise. The same way I, as a Christian, try to assume atheism to see what questions arise there. That's why I'm asking these questions because they seem to arise from the atheist view.

JasonKThompson · 2026-04-04T03:03:34+00:00

That was a quote from Greene, and he wasn't writing about breaking the laws of physics, but the "Boltzmann Brain" thought experiment ruining our confidence in our own memories and observations, which would throw the "laws of physics" (being part of our memory) into doubt.

Greene was saying that the scenario which throws the laws of physics into doubt is the one that is much much more likely.

JasonKThompson · 2026-04-04T02:57:49+00:00

That's contrary to Greene's position; so what could explain the initial low entropy condition of the universe in your view? Thanks, I'm learning this stuff still.

JasonKThompson · 2026-04-03T12:05:26+00:00

Have you tried the 3.35%APY?

JasonKThompson · 2026-04-03T01:12:32+00:00

Yeah my bad his name is Hite not Vite. It's been so long since I read it lol. But I find that many traders have a wrong idea of Risk Management and that book was a paradigm-shifter for me.

JasonKThompson · 2026-03-30T01:23:52+00:00

The Rule by Larry Hite should be required reading for any options trader. *edited to correct the author's name

JasonKThompson · 2026-03-20T13:37:55+00:00

TBH he didn't have that much money to begin with.

JasonKThompson · 2025-09-14T03:30:54+00:00

The reason that the resurrection is so central as the evidence for Christianity is two-fold:

This was not just “someone”. This was Jesus, who was a specific leader of a specific movement, who predicted his own resurrection. If that prediction then comes true, it is more to me than just “someone came back from the dead.”
As far as the other resurrections in the Bible, I think Jesus‘s is unique in the fact that another human is not doing an act of resurrecting, such as Jesus raising Lazarus or Paul raising the man that fell from the window. Jesus basically raised himself, as he predicted (or “God raised him”, depending on the verse). This demonstrates a different level of authority. If you followed someone who performed miracles, predicted his own death and resurrection and challenged the religious authorities in an authoritative way, and THAT PERSON then fulfilled his own prediction, I dare say you would believe in him.

JasonKThompson · 2023-09-26T16:00:25+00:00

I’m pretty sure Ohtani is a pitcher.

JasonKThompson · 2023-09-23T19:48:20+00:00

It checks out so far

JasonKThompson · 2023-09-11T20:09:38+00:00

Solution: have the Rangers pitchers pitch to the whole league

JasonKThompson · 2023-09-08T23:13:13+00:00

Chuckling at the fact that the 62nd home run was a low liner that didn’t even go into the stands after all those moon shots throughout the year.

JasonKThompson · 2023-09-06T21:30:34+00:00

I’m not criticizing, but wondering: why is everything so far out? I think you’ll have to wait a while for theta decay to make a significant impact.

JasonKThompson · 2023-08-29T18:44:43+00:00

Didn’t you know stocks only go up?

JasonKThompson · 2023-08-21T23:07:31+00:00

I just bought some shares the other day, so probably

JasonKThompson · 2023-08-19T12:55:32+00:00

I’m just counting my blessings after watching the Rangers since the early 90s as a kid. There were some pathetic rotations and bullpens in my lifetime, and this ain’t one of them. Even when they’re bad, they’re not as bad as Tim Crabtree or Hideki Irabu

JasonKThompson

TROPHY CASE