Half Way There

"A complex system that works is invariably found to have evolved from a simple system that works." (John Gaule)

Reb Shtreimel had to change the format of his wonderful blog due to spamming problems. Since I am not a member of his ‘team’, I am no longer able to post comments there. Therefore, I will address them here. Reb Shtreimel, as always, asks very basic questions, and the best that anyone can do in refuting him is either insult or divert the topic with 'complexity'. Let me come to his defense from a different angle.

Re: Something complex cannot come from something simple, therefore there must be a Boreh Olam.

Complexity is a psychological projection of our HUMAN view of things. It is complex in comparison to what else? Well, since you have nothing to simple to compare it with, then how do you know its complex? We can define anything as 'complex' when it becomes hard to to figure it out. Science has a few ideas about what is considered complexity and what isn't, but bottom line is that the thing functions, and THAT is where it matters.

For argument’s sake, let’s go ahead anyhow and work this through. Now we argue about the Olam itself as being either simple or complex. Lets drop that for a moment and assume that it is rather complex. What about the Boreh Olam? Is He/It simple? Or complex?

If you hold that the Olam is complex and therefore needs another complex thing to create it, then it follows that the Boreh must be complex, perhaps even moreso than the Olam it allegedly created. Now we are left to seek evidence, either from real life or from Tanach/Chazal to PROVE that the Boreh is complex as we imagine It must be in order to have created all of these other complex structures. (Since we are dealing with intangibles here, I want to check my logic before going any further.)

The Hebrew word for complex is ‘murkav’. The closest thing that I can find in Tanach is, of course, the Ma’aseh Merkava. Now the Maras Yechezkeil is rather complex, but all the visions were introduction, they did NOT represent the Boreh. The Kabala says that this is the prerequisite stages of Nevius and Brias HaOlam. (To me it looks more like a talk show host who has a band that opens for him.) In any case, the Merkava, in spite of its complexity does NOT reflect the Boreh, but only his means of communicating with at least one of the Nevi’im.

The evidence from Torah actually suggests quite the opposite; that the Boreh might be a simple thing. In the Aseres HaDibros (Shemos 20:4) it says “Do not make any image or picture of what you think HaShem might look like, because It cannot resemble anything you would know from the world around you.” Now, if the world around us is complex, then it follows that HaBoreh, not reflected in or by this complexity, would be simple!

Ok. I know what you’re thinking. Why can’t 20:4 mean that the world is complex and HaBoreh is even MORE complex? So complex that even we cannot ever imagine His complexity? That would satisfy Shemos 20:4 and the complexity problem in one fell swoop. Ergo, proof of a complex Boreh Olam.

That is fine if we are arguing greater complexity to lesser complexity. There is a Boreh Olam who, within Itself, contains all the requisite abilities and possible functions necessary to create, develop, and maintain the Universe and all the various forms of matter/energy within its limits. If you agree with this logic, then I have bad news for you. You are already ½ way to becoming an Apikores! (Spinoza is thinking along those same lines, but he leads it back to simplicity.)

Truth is, my earlier argument using 20:4 has no bearing on whether or not the Boreh is complex or simple. Shemos 20:4 is telling us what WE should not imagine the Boreh to be, but has no bearing on what the Boreh thinks of Himself, since the Boreh tells even Moshe pretty much not to worry about it. For all we know, HaShem imagines or knows Himself to be pure simplicity! From 20:4, we only know what NOT to think, and that leads us nowhere. So if you are trying to argue complexity from simplicity, greater complexity from lesser complexity, or real complexity from greater ‘potential’ complexity, you end up running around in mental circles chasing a tail you will never catch.

So what is more important, what we think of HaShem or what Hashem thinks of Himself? Huh? This takes us back to the original point of complexity and simplicity being exclusively human projections of how we imagine things should be organized.

Once we drop what we think the world should be, then we can start to see the Universe for what it is.

“Wonder is what sets us apart from other life forms. No other species wonders about the meaning of existence or the complexity of the universe or themselves.” (Herbert W. Boyer, co-founder of Genentech, Inc)

“I know that most men, including those at ease with problems of the greatest complexity, can seldom accept even the simplest and most obvious truth if it be such as would oblige them to admit the falsity of conclusions which they have delighted in explaining to colleagues, which they have proudly taught to others, and which they have woven, thread by thread, into the fabric of their lives.” (Leo Tolstoy, 1828 - 1910)