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Does the Universe have to make sense?

As an atheist who is a critical thinker but not per se a "skeptic" I am continually baffled when more skeptical friends say "That can't be right because we don't know how it works."
My problem is there is no all knowing God and we sure as hell aren't one, so why do we have to understand something before it can be true.
So my question is "Does the universe have to make sense?"

  • 6 votes
  • 45 votes
Kimba 7 Jan 12
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26 comments

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2

I think atheists are more often people who accept that we cannot know everything and don’t have to have all the answers. People invented gods to explain things that they couldn’t understand. I’m Ok with not having all the answers.

Love that!

0

What you are asking is actually unanswerable with yes or no. We don't know enough about the universe to make a judgment. And make sense to whom? My grandmother (and I am a grandmother)? My young grandson? My friend who is not very scientific? Who is wise and educated and all-knowing enough to even begin to make a logical statement about this? The universe and possibly more - universes - as far as we know (which is, not really) is infinite - was here in the beginning, and will be here till the end, if there is one. There is no such thing or person ever who could answer this question.

PEGUS Level 5 Jan 12, 2018

But the question is does it have to not whether it does. It arises because of more day to day things than cosmology things like "To stop a wound bleeding you can use the herb Yarrow." It's an old folkloric thing that many skeptics I know dismiss out of hand because nobody has done a clinical trial, well nobody is going to spend half a mil to prove something you can grow in your garden works, the economics aren't in favour.
So it's not only about the big questions but also about how much traditional knowledge gets dismissed out of hand because either we can't figure out how it works or we can't be bothered looking. Of course a lot of the old traditional stuff is bollocks but not all of it.

4

let's look down instead of up and sort this mess of an amazing planet we now have.

1

Totally chaotic.

1

Totally chaotic.

5

Only to those who want to make sense of it.

3

he universe is so complex that we humans will never completely understand it. That is just the way it is.

0

There is a human condition called curiosity. For some when a question is asked they search for methods that will help lead to an answer. Often an answer will lead to more questions and you have the makings of scientific research.

So to answer your question, for some "yes" for some "no". 🙂

Betty Level 8 Jan 12, 2018
1

I think the universe makes more sense as we discover more things, but sometimes what seems to "make sense" turns out to not be true as we learn more about how things work.

1

No because it is an inherent human desire to make sense/find regular or recognisable patterns, etc, in everything around them.
Take clouds for example, How many of us, even as adults, often stare at clouds and think we see familiar or fantastically mythical shapes/forms in the cloud shapes, the shapes that are not there in reality but only because our minds simply expect them to be there?
The vast majority of us have a need to adhere to a regular schedule/pattern within our daily lives and to ever so many, even the slightest deviation from the regularity can often be a cause for great concern/upset to them.
Nature, which makes up everything around and within us, knows no such thing as sense/regularity in my opinion, nature simply does what Nature has always done and always will do regardless of what we humans think/deem/decide should be its 'rules/laws' of behaviour.

1

One word: Anthropomorphism

0

Why? Math and logic assume that reality works according to their rules. That’s an assumption built into the human psyche. But we finding more and more that assumption is wrong.

1

Only to the laws of physics

0

How would we know?

0

It makes perfect sense in that in chaos comes order. looking thru telescopes have given us views of other galaxies such as ours, possibly very similar to ours.

0

It is a mystery waiting to be solved.

2

The universe is under no obligation to make sense to you. -Neil Degrasse Tyson

Gohan Level 7 Jan 12, 2018
0

Beyond it’s conforming to observable rules and atomic physics, I doubt we’ve the capacity to discern the ‘sense’ behind them. I don’t have to fully understand the atomic makeup of a chair to realize it’s there and understand it’s function.

Varn Level 8 Jan 12, 2018
5

One of my best moments of acceptance, was deciding I don't have to have the answers to everything to be content.

1

It is my understanding that the universe is in a constant flux of chaos. It will never make sense nor was it meant to.

0

Yes, Just because we can't figure it all out just means science is not mature enough, but that doesn't mean that it doesn't make sense . I personally think it's a master plan by Zeus. lol

0

I think the cosmologists and theoretical physicists like Krause and Degrass Tyson are right when they say the universe may or may have purpose, we just don't know. It's foolishly human to assume that it does, or that it should conform to our expectations. Religions make this mistake.

0

The universe makes sense (except for quantum mechanics) but people don't.

0

The universe is controlled by the laws of physics, whatever they may be, when we know them and understand the universe, it will make sense. How is that for "common" sense?

0

We as humans can't comprehend the universe or space! If it did make sense to us we wouldn't be stuck on this rock with so many other species! When we do understand it or enough anyway we will be leaving "earth"! If we already haven't already and the government is LIEing to all of us!! There is so much more than the common human knows and maybe ever will!!

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