As an atheist there is one kind of "god" I could actually believe it. But would it be a "god"?

[Binkie The Clown]

I think back to Star Trek and the idea of a disembodied consciousness, perhaps existing as an emergent property of an electromagnetic network of physical nodes such as stars or galaxies. Given that consciousness emerged in a biological network, is it possible that consciousness could emerge in a non-biological electromagnetic network? I don't see why not. So there could be an emergent conscious "being" that is, essentially, made up of everything.

Would it be all knowing? No.
Would it be conscious of our existence? Are you conscious of the electrons in your brain's neurons? No, it would not be capable of knowing that we exist.
Would it matter to us in any way that it existed? No, not really, except as a philosophical oddity.
Did it create the universe? No, it is an emergent property of matter and energy.
Should we call it "god". I guess not. But it's as close to a non-corporeal intelligence that I'm willing to admit is remotely possible.

[defacto7]

1. And what about "Q"?

[John1956PA]

4. Good comparison. STNG's Q and his "kin" emerged from the science of the universe.

The humanoid appearance of Q, portrayed devilishly by John Delancey, was utilized by the character so as not to shock the Enterprise crew whom he routinely taunted.

[trotsky]

5. Right, the Q seemed to be a hyper-advanced alien race...

who had mastered the physical laws of the universe. "Of" the universe, but able to fully control it. Gods? Close enough from humanity's place on the spectrum!

[Mr.Bill]

2. I'm happy just believing

in myself. Don't let them goad you in to wasting anymore time on it than that. You will just be spinning your wheels.

[Cartoonist]

3. Is that pantheism?

I flirted with that, but it came down to if everything is god, then nothing is god. So why waste your time?

[defacto7]

6. How about circular...

If nothing is god, then everything is god, everything is sacred.

[Binkie The Clown]

8. "sacred" implies "special" but if EVERYTHING is special then

what the hell does "special" mean?

[defacto7]

9. Then it would mean...

Super-special!
with an exclamation point.

[AtheistCrusader]

7. How about sub-atomic?

I'm reading Three Body Problem, halfway through book 2. In it, the aliens (trisolarans) stretch a proton out into planet-sized dimensions so they could etch circuitry on it.

Before they get the process right, they accidentally unfold it into the wrong dimensionality, and realize... it's LOOKING at their planet. And then it gets pissed off and forms itself into a giant parabolic mirror and starts burning parts of the planet because essentially the trisolarans were destroying their entire universe, by tearing the proton apart. it was a pretty hilarious error on their part. And thought provoking possibilities.

I'm not against the possibilities of intelligence existing at different scales and different dimensionalities. But I would question any attempts to label it as a 'god', despite that it might be massively more advanced, or have very unfamiliar abilitites/technology

[Lachrymologist]

10. Technically Speaking...

Technically speaking you are literally a bit of sentient star stuff.

Bits of the universe are actually conscious and aware that they are bits of the universe. So at the end of the day the following is a true statement.

The Universe is self-aware.

[Freelancer]

11. In my favorite construct, life represents an invasion...

of a vast non-corporeal awareness into the material universe -- learning to construct crude probes out of strings of molecules initially, and then more and more complex vehicles to gather information over the course of time -- like self replicating Mars rovers made of protoplasm. I can imagine a scenario where the probes, never knowing they are probes, might continue to differentiate and specialize and become more complex. Throughout their duration they would be enriching the bits of awareness invested in them simply by having experiences, relinquishing the enhanced awareness that they've collected at the moment of their destruction. In this scenario, simply by living we are fulfilling the intent of our design. There are no good probes or bad probes from the standpoint of the source of awareness. It gets back its investment -- principle and interest -- no matter what we do.

[Binkie The Clown]

12. Ineresting idea! I like it. nt

[Iggo]

13. If it's not a god (and it's not one), then you still wouldn't believe in one.