How "God's Debris" bridges the gap between theists and atheists

"God's Debris" is a thought experiment written by Scott Adams in 2001. Using speculative fiction, Adams explores the idea of how a omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent deity would behave. The story is that of dialogue between an elderly man and a delivery guy. The philosophical analysis begins with the question, "if you flip a coin 100 times, how often will it come up heads", to which the young man replies, of course, "about 50 times". The old man then asks "why", which leads into a discussion of the notion of probability as a transcendent force. Hopefully that's a good cliff hanger for those interested in reading the piece.

When I originally read "God's Debris" in spring of 2011, I considered myself an atheist. The examples and metaphors used by Adams to describe his philosophy were well-explained and intelligently-written, making them dear to me. The work basically served as a call to action and prompted me to do more in depth research about the philosophy of religion.

Sure, many theists are going to disagree with the idea that God isn't an active part of their life, but some will recognize the need for more advanced definition of God.

Sure, many atheists are going to cringe at the idea that there is something that cannot be fully understood by humans, but some will realize that the universe's energy must have an origin.

The point is that Adam's ability to recognize and appeal to leading arguments on both sides of the issue, makes "God's Debris" a perfect read for those wishing to understand and relate to their opponents.

What is deism?

Most people identify as theists, specifically monotheists. These are Christians, Muslims, and others who recognize a single god. Monotheistic gods are viewed as a being of-sorts who are active in the business of the universe.

Deism is a worldview that recognizes reason and observation as part of the natural world, asserting that suspension of intellect is not required in order to determine the presence of "god". That being said, deists reject supernatural claims made by religious texts, citing that they were written by uneducated men. While I do enjoy explaining the premise of deism, I feel that quoting the deism website is appropriate.

Deism is the recognition of a universal creative force greater than that demonstrated by mankind, supported by personal observation of laws and designs in nature and the universe, perpetuated and validated by the innate ability of human reason coupled with the rejection of claims made by individuals and organized religions of having received special divine revelation.

 I encourage everyone to go research deism and the role that it has played in human history. The graphic below is interactive and may be a good place to start.