Friday 20 December 2019

The 'Mind Of God' Through Systemic Functional Linguistics

Hawking (1988: 175):
However, if we do discover a complete theory, it should in time be understandable in broad principle by everyone, not just a few scientists. Then we shall all, philosophers, scientists, and just ordinary people, be able to take part in the discussion of the question of why it is that we and the universe exist. If we find the answer to that, it would be the ultimate triumph of human reason — for then we would know the mind of God.

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To be clear, 'the mind of God' here is a reference to Einstein's 'God' — who he famously said 'does not play dice' — which can be understood as the universe itself. (Einstein believed in the pantheistic God of Spinoza, defined as a singular self-subsistent Substance, with both matter and thought being attributes of such.)

From the perspective of Systemic Functional Linguistic Theory, the God of Spinoza and Einstein can be understood as the content of consciousness: the construal of experience as meaning.  The mind of God is thus the conscious process that construes experience as meaning. Knowing the mind of God is thus consciousness knowing itself.

The identification of God with (the medium of) conscious processes, rather than the contents of consciousness, can be seen in Hindu mythology, where the Universe is reconstrued as a mental projection (dream) of the God Vishnu, and in Abrahamic mythology, where Creation is reconstrued as a verbal projection of the Creator (God said "Let there be light. …").

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