'Hey Bill Nye, If There Is a God, Should We Obey It?' #TuesdaysWithBill | Big Think

'Hey Bill Nye, If There Is a God, Should We Obey It?'

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While Pastafarians picture their deity as a benevolent wobbling lump of spaghetti, most people think of God – whoever or whatever he/she/it may be – as a super-intelligent being, omniscient in all things. That is, if they do think of God at all, which is crucial to the question of serving a higher deity. Even Charles Darwin speculated about the existence of a super-being. These large questions have always been there. And increasingly those who dare to examine faith end up wondering why, if there is an omniscient overlord of Earth, are there tornadoes, and earthquakes? If there is something looking after the whole of mankind, why are there mass deaths? So before we can even ask if we should unquestioningly serve an intelligent super-being, Bill Nye suggests we look for proof of that being. Nye can hardly play ball with the hypothetical because, for him, there is no evidence of a super entity. He suggestions caution when faced with people who are sure that there is an entity who has told them how they should not only live their life, but how you should live yours. As the saying goes, follow those who seek the truth; flee from those who claim to have found it.

It is perfectly normal to question religion and be open to its many incarnations. Even Thomas Jefferson, a deist, had his own personal copy of the Quran that he used to teach himself Arabic, widening his own perspective of the universe. A questioning of the established religion is what pushed the Pilgrims to set off for America in the first place. We all do it our own way. And some don’t do it at all. Even with multiple vantage points of higher beings, from Christianity to Islam, Hinduism to Judaism, so many questions are left unanswered or shrouded by statements about the mystery of faith, and whether that mystery is God’s intention or plan. There’s no moving forward in a circular argument like that.

The Hubble Telescope has shown us a great many things up in outer space, but no evidence of a heaven, nor guiding light of an omniscient being. So one person might say, “There is no evidence of a heaven.” Someone else can reply, “Just because there is no evidence doesn’t mean heaven doesn’t exist.”

Bill Nye is aware that so much in the realm of science also remains unanswered. But there is at least a method to find out. Every day, there are new evidence-based discoveries that step closer to explaining our world and the universe(s) beyond it. That scientific process is what provides meaning for Nye, and just looking at the progress of science in his lifetime is an affirmation that science can move you closer to truth than the pursuit of any deity, the story of which has not changed or revealed anything for millennia. Whether or not a person should serve the super-being is entirely up to them, but Nye urges a person to look for evidence of a super-entity before they consider serving one.

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BILL NYE:

Bill Nye, scientist, engineer, comedian, author, and inventor, is a man with a mission: to help foster a scientifically literate society, to help people everywhere understand and appreciate the science that makes our world work. Making science entertaining and accessible is something Bill has been doing most of his life.

In Seattle Nye began to combine his love of science with his flair for comedy, when he won the Steve Martin look-alike contest and developed dual careers as an engineer by day and a stand-up comic by night. Nye then quit his day engineering day job and made the transition to a night job as a comedy writer and performer on Seattle’s home-grown ensemble comedy show “Almost Live.” This is where “Bill Nye the Science Guy®” was born. The show appeared before Saturday Night Live and later on Comedy Central, originating at KING-TV, Seattle’s NBC affiliate.

While working on the Science Guy show, Nye won seven national Emmy Awards for writing, performing, and producing. The show won 18 Emmys in five years. In between creating the shows, he wrote five children’s books about science, including his latest title, “Bill Nye’s Great Big Book of Tiny Germs.”

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TRANSCRIPT:

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