[Airthumbs (OP)]

Dr J.  I can see where your logic comes from but you are missing a vital point.  In your Universe god created there apparently was nothing until god decided it will exist.  In my Universe the conditions arose from the evolution of the Universe to provide the structure for consciousness to exist as it did on Earth and all the other billions of planets out there.  If you want to call the totally hypothetical consciousness I propose god, then so be it, but in the context of religious beliefs this "god" as you call it is absolutely not the creation of a deluded population seeking answers for things they do not understand but rather an almost accidental by product of the nature of our Universe.

Furthermore, as there is absolutely no scientific evidence to suggest that this consciousness even exists, I would not waste any of my time worshiping it or trying to convince other people that they should either.

Still having said all that I do feel that we are slightly narrow minded to think that intelligence in our vast Universe can only exist in the form of carbon based lifeforms such as ourselves.  But I must stress that in a religious context this intelligence would absolutely not be representative of the creation mankind has sought in his/her ignorance.

Phew! Did I just write all that!!

[Dr. Junix]

LOL.. Peace airthumbs.. You are right in saying that some of us are slightly narrow minded to think intelligence can only exist in carbon based lifeforms. I do not think that. That presumption can only be applied to earth. Who knows if there are other life forms beyond our world which are not as you say carbon based. Maybe it is the reason why we are not able to find evidence of life in the universe is because we think all life are carbon based,..

[Airthumbs (OP)]

I reckon the Universe is full of life, saturated in it in fact, there are valid arguments for Carbon based life forms to be the most abundant forms of life within our Universe but there must be others that may not even fall under the category of life as we know it. (Jim)! []

[Dr. Junix]

you are referring to "Gods" again Airthumbs..LOL

[Airthumbs (OP)]

 []

[Airthumbs (OP)]

I would like to raise this topic from the grave as quite recently in the news there seems to be a lot of people who think that this might actually be true.

Apparently the Universe is behaving like a giant quantum computer.

[Minerva]

I do like the Gaia hypothesis and if nothing else it provides a framework with which to look at environmental issues.  I think it is becoming glaringly obvious that all organisms influence all other organisms at some level or another in some respect and that all organisms play a part....I'm thinking specifically of the current dawning realisation that we shouldnt be killing all bacteria dead.......
So yes I find it very appealing to think of the Universe as an organism and intuitively satisfying. 

[Ethos_]

I would like to raise this topic from the grave as quite recently in the news there seems to be a lot of people who think that this might actually be true.

Apparently the Universe is behaving like a giant quantum computer.

Absolutely, and consider this; Humanity, a product of the universe is evidence for this consciousness. And the likelihood that we are not the only conscious being inhabiting the universe just increases this prospect. The universe is the vessel which contains the conscious awareness present within us all. Quantum entanglement proves the connection between our consciousness  and the cosmos. Because we are connected consciously to it, we are aware of it and it is aware of us.

[bizerl]

I would like to raise this topic from the grave as quite recently in the news there seems to be a lot of people who think that this might actually be true.

Apparently the Universe is behaving like a giant quantum computer.

Absolutely, and consider this; Humanity, a product of the universe is evidence for this consciousness. And the likelihood that we are not the only conscious being inhabiting the universe just increases this prospect. The universe is the vessel which contains the conscious awareness present within us all. Quantum entanglement proves the connection between our consciousness  and the cosmos. Because we are connected consciously to it, we are aware of it and it is aware of us.

I think we run into trouble when we treat "consciousness" as its own entity, and not the product of a range of complex chemical reactions between various complex collections of atoms that have arranged themselves together through a long process of reproduction and mutation that we call "evolution".

There is no reason that the universe couldn't be an "organism" but it would depend on how you define "organism".

I personally don't believe that it is the case. There is no evolutionary drive if there is no competition, nothing to consume, nothing required to maintain itself. Unless through chance the incredibly large (yet incredibly sparse) amounts of matter have managed to arrange themselves in a way that can be thought of as living, I can't see how it can happen.

Now if our universe is just part of a greater multiverse (I hate that word!) then yes, it is possible that the collection of matter we define as "universe" could, in fact, be an organism. But then there's the issue of defining universe as "everything there is", and if you start to talk about it in multiples you just end up with turtles all the way down.

[Pincho]

I think it could be. I mean you emphasise on the word 'COULD'.