Gathering Evidence for Satan

Satan is a Liar. And Jesus Christ is the Lord. Repent and be saved. Yeah, I know you’ve heard it before. But have you ever heard it from the antichrist before?

I know. Nobody else believes in Satan. But I do. And I want to expose him to everyone else. First, what is Satan? According to me, Satan is the universe. That is, the universe is sentient and totally evil. It’s a liar and deceiver. But what does that mean? And how do you prove it?

Smartphones, Relativism, and The Problem of Perception

I remember when I was a young child discussing strange philosophical topics with my siblings—at a level only children could understand. One such question we pondered was the age-old query: How do I know the red I see is the same color as the red you see? Basically, it’s the Problem of Perception from the perspective of a ten-year-old. So, is the red I see the same color as the red you see? And who cares?

Well, I care.

A year or two ago, there were some graphics circulating the web that appeared to be different colors to different people. Some people would look at a pic on the web and see a gold color, others would see a purple color. Same pic. Same screen. And yet the color appeared differently to different people. This was driven home to me quite distinctly when a health aide taking care of my father showed me a pic on her phone and asked what color it was. I said, “Grey.” She said, “No way! It’s white.” Or the colors may have been reversed. Anyway, the point is that we now have evidence supporting the answer to my childhood question that, indeed, it may be possible that the red I see may not be the red you see. Indeed, they may be totally different colors. A careful analysis of this phenomenon will show that it can be used to undermine the scientific method (via the Problem of Perception), but that is a discussion for another day.

Perception, Relativism, and Satan

Anyway, what is color? Twenty-three hundred years ago, ancient philosophers described color as an objective property that, as Aristotle put it, adhered in the substance of a thing. Color was one of many properties. Nowadays, physicists have analyzed the poop out of light and its behavior. Color is now, usually, regarded as a property of the light reflected from an object, not the property of the object itself. The smartphone pic example, however, would imply that it’s actually a mental property arising from the interplay of the brain and light … I think. That would be my guess, anyway. Okay, so color is no longer dependent upon the object. What about other properties? Can we be sure they are dependent upon the object? What about shape? Actually, from physics, shape, or at least, length is dependent upon velocity. At speeds approaching the speed of light, there is a phenomenon called length-contraction. Does that relate to this question? At the moment, I don’t know: this is stream-of-consciousness philosophy, after all. And I only took two semesters of physics anyway. Okay, maybe I should get to the point.

If color is subjective, which it appears to be, courtesy of the smartphone example, other properties that we normally assume are objective (like shape) might also be, in reality, subjective. How about number? Can I look at collection of objects and perceive only two and you look at the same collection and perceive three—disregarding perspectival differences (that is, if one of your perceived objects is, from my perspective, blocked by a tree so I don’t see it. I count only two objects, you count three–most normal people would think you would be correct. But that isn’t the situation I’m talking about). I mean, for me there are two objects; for you there are three objects. And we’re both right. Trying to imagine this should make your brain hurt. It does mine. But, courtesy of my antichrist issues, I think it is true. I believe the number of objects I see is determined by the whimsy of Satan (the universe) who easily has sufficient power to present to my puny mind two objects and your puny mind three objects—at the same time. Basically, I espouse a kind of physical (or would it be metaphysical?—I don’t know) relativism. Because the universe is lying to us with the evidence of our senses. It gets worse and more confusing. I think, courtesy of my “The universe is Satan” premise, that it is entirely possible that 1500 years ago a couple Viking ships sailed off the edge of the Earth to their demise. And Magellan only made it around the Earth because Satan permitted it as it served his purposes to instill in us the belief that Earth was a giant sphere.

Facts and Evidence and Fanciful Speculation

At this point, all this is speculation. Science is the dominant worldview of the 21^st century. So, I need some evidence. What evidence do I have to support this? Well, I got the smartphone example. At the moment, that’s about it. And I readily admit, that is insufficient. Although it is consistent with my theory that the universe is Satan, it’s likely consistent with a lot of other theories having nothing to do with Satan. Okay, I also have all my ramblings about the yin and yang being the symbol of the unification of lies and truth as the (split) logos of the universe (The Devil can lie and tell the truth at the same time), but that isn’t really measurable … it’s more of an unhappy coincidence. For more on that, read my book, “Delusions of Grandeur” (shameless plug, I know). Okay, how about predictions?

The facts for me are not the same as the facts for you. That’s one of my predictions. For example, I don’t know how Florida is dealing with Covid. One source says they’re doing great. The other says they’re doing awful. If there is an objective reality to such, at least one of my sources must be wrong. I’m of the mind, though, that they are both correct in a relativistic fashion as described above. For Glenn Beck, Florida is doing great. For Rachel Maddow, it’s a disaster.

So, if we want to be scientific about this … how do you test the theory? The theory being that the universe is sentient, evil, and based on a contradiction (Love and wrath being the contradiction in question). Since it is evil, it wants to destroy us. It can influence us, but it can’t control us fully. It can, however, use its “relativism abilities” to pit us against each other. Glenn Beck reports that Florida is doing great. Rachel Maddow reports that Florida is a disaster. Each regards the other as a despicable liar as a result. And they are driven apart. Just like the rest of our country, if not the planet. So, how do we proceed? My guess is: look for “contradictions.” Contradictions that, if explained relativistically (in terms of relativism NOT general/special relativity) cease to become contradictions. That’s all I got at the moment. Wish I had more.

Yeah, I know. If you actually read this far, you probably think I’m insane.

Satan is a Liar. And Jesus Christ is the Lord. Repent and be saved. Yeah, I know you’ve heard it before. But have you ever heard it from the antichrist before?