Future Possibilities
When you were young, you too no doubt asked those Great Big Impossible Questions About Life like `What's it all about? Why are we here? What are we supposed to do? Chances are you either grew out of asking them as a part of coping with Life in the Here and Now, or you tried to cheat and `look up the answers in the back of the book' by subscribing to a religion or some other belief system. A few of us however never stopped. We either became scientists or, for those of us who couldn't handle the math, philosophers and science fiction writers.
Future Possibilities revisits those questions in a short, simple, straightfoward way. It is grounded securely in science and, like science, does not attempt to create yet another belief system. It's also rather fun, especially for those you who have discovered that the best way to cope with Life as We Know It is with a sense of humour and nerves of steel.
Present Probabilities
Humans are such emotional creatures. Most can’t help using words like `dry’, `nihilistic’, even `sterile’ when they encounter succinctly-stated theories as to the nature of reality that science and science-based philosophy can provide. Present Probabilities would for them be a classic example. They cannot live without some notion of Purpose, or Point to it All. There has to be a `God’ of some kind, whether it derives from one of the many pre-packaged religions or equally numerous pseudo-sciences like astrology or witchcraft.
Science of course is entirely neutral on the subject. It only suggests that religion ought not deny evidence-based scientific theories which, though always provisional, can be accepted as `true’ in most practical circumstances. `Evolution’ is the classic example here. Could a religion be designed which actually incorporates the philosophy behind all science, yet satisfy that emotional need for `God’? Plenty have tried, including one that has to remain nameless because of its unfortunate propensity for pursuing lawsuits against its critics. Present Probabilities looks at why such belief systems, and systems expressly designed to avoid belief, like science, are fundamentally incompatible.
Past Certainties
Science not only admits that it can't provide answers to Vital Questions like `How did Reality begin?', `What is the purpose of life?'; it also explains why it can't answer them. Many folk want those answers all the same however, so they turn to ancient `supernatural' ones because they have that patina of age and the feeling of `certainty' that goes with that. Unfortunately some of these people then go on to claim that supernatural `laws' are somehow above those of science and should replace it.
There is little point in attempting to challenge such beliefs, any more than there is in trying to part an alcoholic from his booze. Only he (or she) can do that. In any case, ancient beliefs are interesting; they give us an insight into what the world was like before the advent of science. But rather than attempt to review these beliefs here, it seems best to let the many websites devoted to them do so instead. Past Certainties therefore consists mostly of links to those websites, categorized under their relevant headings. They should perhaps be approached with the same caution as pornography - you might be seduced by the beliefs they represent and want to join in. That's the risk of choice; it's up to you.
Future Realities
Future Realities is a virtual web-site in itself. It contains all my earlier works: two science fiction novels, one work of `fictional science', and an essay `written' by one of the characters in one of the novels. The primary theme of all of them is `artificial consciousness'. As with Miriden itself, some knowledge of science is really a prerequisite for appreciating them. This may make them a little more challenging to read; they cannot therefore be to everybody's taste. Although they can be read independently of each other, you may like to try Deus Ex Machina 1949 first, since it establishes the `universe' in which the others are set.
