Second Coming the novel: Extending the Entertainment

Does God exist in the balanced
quantum universe of Paul Genet?

In the novel, Paul Genet tells his story to the abbot of a monastery he seeks to join. After Paul finishes, the abbot asks Paul questions to further help decide whether to admit him or not. Here, Paul answers the mother of all religious questions. Background: In the Judeo-Christian-Muslim tradition, God is the most supreme and perfect being in existence. —Editor

Abbot: Does God exist in the quantum universe of Paul Genet?

Paul:  As you know, Reverend Abbot, there are ways to view the universe which explain the so-called mysteries of existence without recourse to a theist God—a balanced quantum universe, for example.

Supreme Being? You must have at least two beings for there to be a supreme being. In a universe where all is One though balance, there are no separate beings. None.

Creator? A balanced universe cancels to nothing, and does not exist when viewed as an undivided whole. Where does the classical-physics universe—“creation”—come from? It appears only when we humans use our capacity for subject-object split to break the symmetry of balance.¹

First Cause? In the local universe of classical physics, cause precedes effect, and the idea of a first cause is plausible. In the non-local universe of quantum physics, where everything is the cause of everything else, first cause is meaningless.²

Divine Judge? “The last shall be first, and the first last,” Matthew 20:16. Balance is divine justice. Joy-sorrow, pleasure-pain, and so on, are balanced in each life.

Intelligent Designer? Balance designs everything. Instantly. Intelligence not required.

All-Powerful, All-Knowing, and Present Everywhere? These personal attributes would seem to apply to balance. However, balance is not a person. Balance is a non-physical principle that exists only in the effects which manifest as a result of human subject-object split.

I have never considered the God idea as anything but a placeholder explanation until a better idea came along. Balance is that better idea for me.

Balance as the operating principle of the novel’s universe

‘Second Coming’ protagonist, Paul Genet, answers questions about his universe:

What is time?

Why is there something rather than nothing?

Does life exist elsewhere in the universe?

Will there ever be a coherent theory of quantum gravity?

Is the universe a computer?

Are superstrings the theory of everything?

Is Schrödinger's cat both alive and dead in a balanced quantum universe?

What is the true nature of existence?

What is the origin of language?

¹ Humans enjoy a capacity to distinguish self from other. But individual objects are only one side of the equation. What is hidden, is that all things are, at the same time, One through balance. (more here) —Editor

² Non-local in quantum physics means instant connections across the universe as if time and space did not exist. Scientific experiments since 1982 have verified non-local connections which Einstein called “spooky action at a distance.” Of course, instant connections are not spooky at all if you view all things as One through balance. —Editor