A Few More Commandments

Reprise: at the quantum level, the reasons things happen (the causes behind events) are indeterminate and unknowable. This is where Einstein got stuck. 

Events at the quantum level are the foundation of everything else. Our lack of insight at the quantum level leaves us curious but not impotent, since effects may be observable even if the  causes are not. Effects are also the observable causes of other events in a cause-effect cascade. Hence science and technology.

We have arrived at a late stage in a very old cause-effect cascade. There have already been over thirteen billion years of cause-effect events before the appearance of mammals, hominids and humans. Of course, we are interested in knowing how it all began and where it's headed. When Moses asked about that, God answered, "Don't ask." No, sorry. That's a misattribution. God never said that. Go ahead and ask. That's one thing that came out of the 13.8 billion year cause-effect cascade. People ask questions.

According to the book, God said, "I shall be whatever I shall be." A bit vague. It could mean, "Don't tell God what to be." Or it could mean you can't know future events any more than you can know the first cause. Well, that's another thing God probably never said. I suspect it was folklore for hundreds of years before anyone wrote it down, and if the story actually happened, it got lost in retelling and translation. I don't know. Anyway, you just have to put up with not knowing some things.

By the way, Google reports 13,300 results for the search "things God never said". God is far more popular than Einstein as a target of misattribution.

Professional prophets are never satisfied to leave God as an unknowable unknown. People will only listen if you tell them something they can understand, which means it has to fit with their experience. So Moses, noticing that his people were selfish and willful and would worship idols in preference to an abstract mystery god, made up the ten commandments and attributed them to God as Lawgiver and Judge. I'm guessing they already knew about laws and judges. At least the commandments gave people an idea what they should be doing, which was good.

The story didn't end there. People really took to the idea of God as Law Giver and Judge. It meant they didn't have to worry about getting things right. They just needed somebody to recite the commandments for them. But ten commandments weren't enough. They kept adding commandments until there were 613 regulating every aspect of life. They wrote them on a scroll and kept them in a box that went with them when they moved on. There was even a rule about not touching the box. (I Samuel 6:19 and II Samuel 6: 6,7)  

"Hey, what's in the box?"

"Don't touch."

"Let me see. Ah yes, a list of things to do and things not to do. What if I want to wait until after I know what's going on and then decide what to do?"

"You weren't supposed to peek in the box. You lose. Prepare to die."

"Wait a second. It says here, no killing. We all win. Prepare to live."

We put some good stuff in the box, but God doesn't fit, so when things get complicated you have to figure out what to do by yourself. Prepare to be wrong sometimes and learn from consequences. Then if you write it up and put it in the box, don't pretend it's God. Better put that in the box too.

More Commandments

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Ask questions.

Investigate.

Imagine possibilities.

Choose intentionally.

Have a say in what happens next.

Learn from consequences.
Don't pretend that what you know is God.

Repeat because it ain't over 'til it's over.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

That last one was Yogi Berra and it's true, so it goes in the box.

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P.S.
I could be wrong, but I think the list of commandments may still be incomplete.

All of this writing felt familiar. I went back and found that I was repeating myself. If I haven't convinced you, take a peek at Wrong Again, which emerged from my keyboard two years ago. Here I am wrong again again.