•  106
    Developments that suggest the universe is full of life make the Fermi paradox increasingly pressing, but our search for an extraterrestrial technological civilization (“ETC”) is handicapped by our ignorance of its probable nature and behavior. This paper offers a way around this problem by drawing on information theoretical concepts, including game theory and Bayesian probability. It argues that, whatever its ultimate goals, an ETC would have the same instrumental goals as other intelligent agen…Read more
  •  753
    Living God Pandeism: Evidential Support
    Zygon 56 (3): 566-590. 2021.
    Pandeism is the belief that God chose to wholly become our Universe, imposing principles at this Becoming that have fostered the lawful evolution of multifarious structures, including life and consciousness. This article describes and defends a particular form of pandeism: living God pandeism (LGP). On LGP, our Universe inherits all of God's unsurpassable attributes—reality, unity, consciousness, knowledge, intelligence, and effectiveness—and includes as much reality, conscious and unconscious, …Read more
  •  19
    Pandeism claims that God became the Universe at a moment called the Becoming. For it to be possible, the Universe and God cannot be so irreconcilably different that the Becoming would require a miraculous transformation. In four ways especially they must be similar. First, since God is One the Universe must be One; it must be a unified reality. Second, God and the Universe cannot be irreconcilably different in substance as would be the case if God were spirit and the Universe were matter (as …Read more
  •  859
    The Best of Possible Worlds: A Testable Claim of Choice
    Theology and Science 4 (3): 261-278. 2006.
    Leibniz said that the universe, if God-created, would exist at a unique, conjoint, physical maximum: Of all possible worlds, it would be richest in phenomena, but its richness would arise from the simplest physical laws and initial conditions. Using concepts of ‘‘variety’’ and algorithmic informational complexity, Leibniz’ claim can be reframed as a testable theory. This theory predicts that the laws and conditions of the actual universe should be simpler, and the universe richer in phenomena, t…Read more
  •  686
    Leibniz's Best World Claim Restructured
    American Philosophical Quarterly 47 (1): 57-84. 2010.
    Leibniz claimed that the universe, if God-created, would be physically and morally optimal in this conjoint sense: Of all possible worlds, it would be richest in phenomena, but its richness would arise from the simplest physical laws and conditions. This claim raises two difficult questions. First, why would this “richest/simplest” world be morally optimal? Second, what is the optimal balance between these competing criteria? The latter question is especially hard to answer in the context o…Read more