Lecture: Does God Exist?

Overview

• Atheists think there's no reason to believe in God because science explains everything.
• Science explains the natural world but cannot address the supernatural.
• God is often described as an all-knowing, omnipresent, omnipotent supernatural mind.

The Relationship Between Math and God

What is Math?

• Math: Numbers, information, and connections between numbers.
• Invisible and intangible; exists only in the mind.
• Math explains both simple and complex phenomena (e.g., counting, planetary motion, atomic behavior).

Origin of Mathematics

• Two possibilities:

  1. Math is a human invention to explain the natural world (natural origin).
  2. Math pre-exists because it governs the universe (supernatural origin).

• Argument for supernatural origin:

  • Math contains infinite information and cannot be purely human-made.
  • An infinite number of numbers with unique properties.
  • Pi: Infinite digits that are continuously discovered.
  • Infinite information cannot exist in a finite universe.
  • Math encoded with every possible combination of numbers, letters, books, and particles.
  • Exact copy of the universe encoded in math.

Evidence of a Designer in Math

The Example of the Mandelbrot Set

• Simple equation resulting in infinitely complex and detailed shapes.
• Infinite zoom reveals endless new patterns (elephants, seahorses, spirals).
• Discovered by accident, not invented.
• Infinite complexity implies a designer.

Conclusion on the Mind Behind Math

• Common sense suggests a designer for infinite, complex patterns.
• Math's origin must be a mind: all-knowing, omnipotent, and supernatural.
• Math in the mind of God fits the description of God.
  • Infinite information and complexity = all-knowing.
  • Mathematical governance of the universe = all-powerful.
  • Beyond the natural world = supernatural.
• Moral and other truths also seen as existing in the mind of God.

Summary

• Existence of math and its infinite nature suggest it exists in the mind of God.
• Galileo: Math as the language with which God wrote the universe.