that something cannot arise from nothing, and therefore something must
have been here first, that something being God. It sounds convincing,
but it simply doesn’t hold up. One current cosmological theory postulates
the existence of an eternal multiverse. Our universe arose from the big
bang some 13 billion years or so ago, but these events may have occurred
infinitely often previously in a multiverse that has existed forever. At
present, there is simply no way to know.
Both sides have been so busy trying to construct proofs supporting their
case that it seems to me they have overlooked the obvious. Once the at-
tributes of a deity are precisely defined, there may be a proof that it is
impossible to prove the existence or nonexistence of such a deity. Alterna-
tively, the deity hypothesis may possibly be shown to be independent of
a set of philosophical axioms, adjoining either the deity hypothesis or its
negation to those axioms leads to a consistent axiom set.
I must admit to a bias in favor of such a resolution. An awful lot of intel-
lectual firepower has been brought to bear on this issue, but as yet no di-
rect hits have been scored. I think society would be better served if
individuals with the ability to make headway on such a problem devoted
themselves to finding cures for AIDS or bird f lu. This is probably a pipe
dream on my part, a delusion somewhat substantiated by the fact that
even though it has been known for centuries that it is impossible to tri-
sect the angle using compass and straightedge, probably thousands of
individuals are even now struggling to achieve the impossible. I shudder
to think how many people might devote themselves to attempting to dis-
prove a result such as the independence of the deity hypothesis.
I Know What I Like
We decorate our residences and offices with pictures, and we surround
ourselves with music. Despite the obvious and nearly universal appeal of
the visual and auditory arts, I stand (or sit) with Rex Stout’s corpulent
detective Nero Wolfe, who once stated that cooking is the subtlest and
kindliest of the arts. For me, the ethereal beauty of Monet’s water lilies, or
the transcendent majesty of a Beethoven symphony, pales in comparison
to a steaming bowl of hot and sour soup, followed shortly thereafter by a
succulent dish of kung pao chicken (extra spicy).
Much though I love Monet, Beethoven, Nero Wolfe, and Chinese cui-
sine, these passions are not universally shared. In fact, Arrow’s theorem
sheds some light on artistic (and culinary) preferences of a group; there is
no way to translate individual preferences in these areas into a societal
ranking consistent with the five conditions set down in Arrow’s theorem.Through a Glass Darkly 245