Contingency and Rational Evidence for God | The Evidence Course | Session 2 / Part 2 (2021-07-14) #

0:00:15 rational thinking requires us to sense
0:00:17 the reality as a starting point
0:00:19 the verses of the quran also direct us
0:00:22 to study the reality around us
0:00:24 as a means to understand the existence
0:00:25 of the creator
0:00:28 this leads us to the idea of contingency
0:00:33 in essence identifying something as
0:00:35 contingent
0:00:36 results in us asking the question
0:00:40 why does it exist or primarily what is
0:00:43 the cause
0:00:44 behind its existence
0:00:47 i think it's important that we get into
0:00:49 the discussion and explain what this
0:00:50 term contingent really means
0:00:53 but before i go in and explain directly
0:00:55 what contingent means
0:00:56 i want to give you some examples and
0:00:58 it's through these examples that will
0:01:00 better understand what this term is
0:01:03 so imagine while you're watching this
0:01:05 video
0:01:06 you see a tennis ball flash across the
0:01:09 screen
0:01:11 yours and my natural reaction is to ask
0:01:15 who and what caused that to occur what
0:01:18 caused this tennis ball
0:01:19 to move from one part of the screen to
0:01:21 another
0:01:23 similarly if i hear a knocking on the
0:01:26 door
0:01:28 i'm going to ask the question who's
0:01:30 caused the knocking on the door
0:01:33 what is the cause behind that knocking
0:01:34 on the door
0:01:36 and so with these two examples
0:01:40 we're noticing certain things the first
0:01:43 thing that we notice
0:01:44 is the idea of change when something
0:01:48 changes from one form to another
0:01:51 we ask the question what brought that
0:01:54 change about
0:01:55 the second thing is that these things
0:01:58 don't have to be the way they are
0:02:02 so when a ball moves it doesn't have to
0:02:05 move
0:02:06 but it does move and it might have moved
0:02:09 from a position of
0:02:10 uh stationary position to
0:02:14 motion so there is change and there's
0:02:17 not
0:02:17 just change but it changes in a way they
0:02:20 didn't have to
0:02:22 so when we've identified these two
0:02:25 characteristics
0:02:26 that there is change and that it didn't
0:02:28 have to be that way
0:02:31 when we identify these two things we
0:02:33 inevitably ask
0:02:35 what is the reason for it to do that why
0:02:38 did it change
0:02:40 or in essence what is the cause
0:02:44 that has caused this particular state so
0:02:46 a door
0:02:47 the door is not knocking there is no
0:02:50 sound coming from the door
0:02:51 and suddenly i hear tap tap tap
0:02:55 and there is a knocking and i think to
0:02:57 myself
0:02:58 that's a change in state and so as a
0:03:01 result
0:03:02 and it's not necessary for the door just
0:03:05 make this sound
0:03:07 so i'm going to ask what's caused that
0:03:09 what's the explanation behind it
0:03:11 who caused it therefore we say that it's
0:03:15 in a possible state
0:03:17 knocking is a possibility of the door
0:03:20 the ball moving is a possibility of the
0:03:22 ball
0:03:23 yeah the fact that the ball is
0:03:25 stationary is a possibility
0:03:27 of the the ball as well
0:03:30 let's look at another example let's look
0:03:33 at the example of a table made out of
0:03:35 wood
0:03:36 the wooden table's existence existence
0:03:40 is dependent upon the existence of wood
0:03:42 what it's made out of
0:03:43 i have a wooden table it's made out of
0:03:46 wood
0:03:47 if i had no wood i would have no table
0:03:51 but let's ask the other question
0:03:54 if i had wood does it mean i have a
0:03:57 table
0:03:59 the answer is no why why why can we say
0:04:02 that if i had wood
0:04:03 does not necessarily mean i have a table
0:04:05 that's because
0:04:07 the wood that makes up the table it
0:04:09 could be
0:04:10 in a number of possible states
0:04:13 one of which is a table so that you out
0:04:16 of the wood you could make a chair
0:04:17 out of the wood you could make a make a
0:04:19 wooden bed
0:04:21 out of the wood maybe spoons so simply
0:04:24 having its material components
0:04:26 doesn't necessitate the existence of the
0:04:28 particular form
0:04:30 in this case the table so just because i
0:04:32 have
0:04:33 the word does not necessarily mean i
0:04:36 have the table
0:04:37 because the word could exist in a number
0:04:39 of different
0:04:40 possible states so it and also the other
0:04:44 thing about the
0:04:45 the table is that it's could be bigger
0:04:48 and smaller than it actually maybe is
0:04:51 so it could be four feet wide or it
0:04:54 could be two feet wide
0:04:56 so the table is therefore limited
0:05:00 has a particular set of dimensions
0:05:03 has a specific or set of limits
0:05:10 so by identifying the specific set of
0:05:13 limits
0:05:13 out of a number of possible limits could
0:05:15 be bigger could be smaller
0:05:17 we would validly ask the question why is
0:05:20 it
0:05:20 that size why is the wood
0:05:24 into a table and not a chair
0:05:28 whose does its material components
0:05:30 determine
0:05:31 obviously a particular size or
0:05:32 limitations no it doesn't not
0:05:34 necessarily
0:05:35 if i had loads of wood i could still
0:05:37 make a small table and leave the rest of
0:05:39 the wood away
0:05:41 or does it be in a table mean it has to
0:05:43 be a particular size no it doesn't
0:05:46 so we can have numerous potential sizes
0:05:50 so what we're identifying is that a
0:05:52 particular wooden table
0:05:54 with a particular set of attributes or
0:05:56 limits
0:05:57 could not have been determined by itself
0:06:00 not by it being table
0:06:02 defining its size and it's its trait and
0:06:04 not
0:06:05 by having wood does it define that it
0:06:06 has to be of a certain size and certain
0:06:09 attributes and traits it requires
0:06:13 something other than that the existence
0:06:16 of a table
0:06:17 and something other than the existence
0:06:19 of the wood
0:06:20 in order to determine the existence of a
0:06:23 wooden table
0:06:28 furthermore another point the table
0:06:31 didn't always
0:06:32 have to exist it had a beginning to its
0:06:35 existence
0:06:36 and wasn't eternally existent
0:06:39 so it's possible so it's a possible
0:06:42 existence
0:06:43 i could have been non-existent that's
0:06:46 one of its possible
0:06:47 states of a thing that begins to exist
0:06:51 or it could exist i could
0:06:55 come into existence so contingency this
0:06:58 word
0:06:59 when we come back to it is identifying
0:07:01 that certain things that exist
0:07:04 have a possible existence that's why
0:07:06 they use another word for contingency
0:07:08 like the pos
0:07:09 a possible being here just as a side
0:07:11 point when we say
0:07:12 being we're not saying being like human
0:07:15 being
0:07:16 or you know living being being is that
0:07:19 which exists
0:07:20 yeah and we're saying therefore that
0:07:22 that which exists
0:07:24 is which is contingent is a possible
0:07:26 being it's a possibility
0:07:28 it has a number of possible possibility
0:07:31 because it has a number of possibilities
0:07:34 i
0:07:34 a contingent uh possible being
0:07:38 then there needs to be then we ask the
0:07:40 question
0:07:42 that the possibility pushes us to ask
0:07:43 the question
0:07:45 why is it that possibility as opposed to
0:07:48 any other possibility
0:07:49 let me give you another example because
0:07:52 sometimes these terms
0:07:53 and these ideas can be a little bit
0:07:55 confusing
0:07:57 a red triangle
0:08:00 so three sides are necessary for a
0:08:02 triangle
0:08:03 we have to have three sides in order to
0:08:06 have a triangle you can't have a four
0:08:07 sided triangle
0:08:08 or you can't have a round triangle so
0:08:12 three sides is necessary for the
0:08:14 existence of a triangle
0:08:17 but the fact that it's a red triangle
0:08:20 red is not a necessity
0:08:23 for the existence of a triangle in fact
0:08:26 the triangle could be any colour
0:08:27 could be red yellow blue pink purple
0:08:30 whatever
0:08:31 yeah the rainbow colours it could be any
0:08:33 of these colours
0:08:35 so the fact that the tread triangle or
0:08:37 the triangle is a particular possibility
0:08:40 particular color and makes us identify
0:08:43 that
0:08:44 there is something that has given the
0:08:46 possibility
0:08:47 or actualized its possibility in that
0:08:50 sense
0:08:51 and that thing that actualizes it causes
0:08:53 it to be red as opposed to blue or green
0:08:55 or pink
0:08:56 that thing that causes it can't be a
0:08:58 triangle because it's not in the
0:09:00 definition of a triangle to be red
0:09:02 and it can't be being red because red is
0:09:04 a attribute
0:09:06 of the actual particular triangle so
0:09:08 it's outside of that
0:09:09 shape so what we sense when we talk
0:09:13 about contingent
0:09:14 or possible things beings
0:09:17 is we're we're sensing its dependency
0:09:21 upon something else for its existence so
0:09:24 a red triangle
0:09:25 for it to be red requires somebody to
0:09:28 draw a red triangle yeah as opposed to a
0:09:31 green one
0:09:32 so something has to have caused it yeah
0:09:34 this is what we're we're saying
0:09:36 what we're understanding what we're
0:09:38 sensing and we're sensing from the
0:09:39 possible being
0:09:41 a dependency
0:09:44 so in other words so what we're sensing
0:09:46 is something dependent
0:09:47 in other words contingent
0:09:51 and this is when we identify that things
0:09:53 didn't always have to exist
0:09:55 so if we had we we can say something is
0:09:56 contingent or dependent
0:09:58 if things did not always have to exist
0:10:01 yeah like the movement of the ball
0:10:03 didn't always
0:10:05 exist and it's necessary and it's not
0:10:07 necessary
0:10:08 for the ball to move that the attributes
0:10:11 of a thing
0:10:12 of a being could be something else it
0:10:15 doesn't have to be that way
0:10:16 so the table could have been bigger or
0:10:18 smaller it's not necessary for the table
0:10:21 to be this particular size as opposed to
0:10:23 another size
0:10:24 we can say something's contingent i
0:10:26 dependent
0:10:27 if the thing could be potentially
0:10:29 arranged in another way
0:10:32 if we identify one or all three of these
0:10:35 aspects
0:10:36 of a thing we necessarily ask the
0:10:38 question
0:10:39 what caused it or who determined it
0:10:43 to be that way i what is it dependent
0:10:46 upon
0:10:48 so how does this answer the question
0:10:50 does a creator exist
0:10:51 or not if we identify that things we
0:10:55 sense within the universe and in fact
0:10:57 the universe as a whole is contingent
0:11:02 so that means we're sensing that the
0:11:04 universe or things within the universe
0:11:06 began to exist that they have
0:11:09 attributes that these attributes
0:11:13 are could be other than what they are
0:11:16 yeah that they could be that the things
0:11:18 within the universe and the universe as
0:11:20 well could be arranged in another way
0:11:22 as opposed to the way that we have come
0:11:24 to see it
0:11:25 then we understand that the universe
0:11:27 itself is dependent
0:11:30 i it requires something else to have
0:11:32 determined the existence
0:11:34 of the universe and so
0:11:37 this can be used this argument this
0:11:39 point about contingency can be used in a
0:11:41 number of ways
0:11:43 so i'll give one of the ways and maybe a
0:11:45 couple of other ways as well
0:11:47 firstly let's look at the issue of the
0:11:49 wooden table yeah
0:11:50 so we say the wooden table is a
0:11:53 contingent being it's not
0:11:54 always existed it required something
0:11:57 else for its existence
0:11:59 if we look at it just from a material
0:12:00 course we can say that the
0:12:03 the wooden table for it to exist
0:12:05 required
0:12:06 would to exist we can say that wood does
0:12:09 not
0:12:10 exist unless it had again it's a
0:12:12 contingent being it requires something
0:12:14 else
0:12:15 it hasn't always existed it's limited
0:12:17 it's finite it's dependent on specific
0:12:19 attributes
0:12:20 and it requires trees to exist that's
0:12:22 why we get wood obviously
0:12:24 trees themselves they are limited finite
0:12:26 dependent
0:12:27 they have specific attributes they
0:12:29 require oxygen they require
0:12:31 soil they require require water they
0:12:33 also require sunlight
0:12:35 so they're dependent upon the sun the
0:12:38 sun itself is also a limited being
0:12:41 it has a certain size as a certain shape
0:12:44 as a certain amount of energy has
0:12:45 certain attributes
0:12:47 and also the sun itself is limited or
0:12:50 it's dependent
0:12:52 and it's dependent upon you know what
0:12:54 they say is the the for the sun to exist
0:12:56 you have to have
0:12:56 gas hydrogen gas and the hydrogen gas
0:13:00 comes together in the force of gravity
0:13:01 and there's a fusion
0:13:03 of two atoms now some of this maybe
0:13:05 sounds a lot of scientific
0:13:07 but the point here is not about the
0:13:10 science per se
0:13:11 the point here is about understanding
0:13:13 that limited
0:13:15 things exist with specific attributes
0:13:17 that could be other way
0:13:19 and they began to exist and therefore
0:13:21 and not only did they begin to exist but
0:13:23 they depended upon
0:13:24 something else for its own existence so
0:13:26 we can go back so we can talk about the
0:13:28 fusion of hydrogen atoms
0:13:30 that creates heavier elements this
0:13:32 causes the release of energy
0:13:34 and heat and light which causes us to
0:13:36 have the sun which causes us to have
0:13:38 sunlight and this sunlight gives us
0:13:40 trees that
0:13:41 gives us wood that gives us a wooden
0:13:43 table and we can go back further we can
0:13:44 regress
0:13:45 further and we can say okay where did
0:13:48 this hydrogen where this gas exists and
0:13:49 we can talk about
0:13:51 nebulas that they exist nebulas are
0:13:53 regions in the universe where you have
0:13:55 gas and dust
0:13:56 and they come together in the force of
0:13:58 gravity and we can even ask the question
0:14:00 where did nebulas come from we can talk
0:14:02 about supernovas these are stars that
0:14:03 exploded and therefore
0:14:05 release this gas and dust into the
0:14:06 universe which then comes back together
0:14:08 to form other stars
0:14:10 and we can ask the question about these
0:14:12 supernovas where did they come to
0:14:14 come from what are they dependent upon
0:14:15 they are limited they are finite they're
0:14:17 dependent they have specific attributes
0:14:19 what they depend we can start talking
0:14:20 about maybe the big bang
0:14:22 and again we can look at the big bang we
0:14:24 can say these are
0:14:25 this is a contingent possible reality
0:14:29 that exists
0:14:30 that could exist in another way didn't
0:14:31 have to exist it's not necessary
0:14:33 for us to have a big bank and therefore
0:14:35 a universe and we can ask therefore what
0:14:37 is it dependent upon and we can talk
0:14:39 about
0:14:40 you know quantum singularities and we
0:14:42 can say what does a quantum singularity
0:14:44 depend upon
0:14:45 and we can talk about the you know um
0:14:48 according to one physicist the collision
0:14:51 of membrane structures
0:14:52 and we can say what's the membrane
0:14:54 structures dependent upon they depend
0:14:56 upon the super
0:14:57 string theory and you say what's the
0:14:59 super string theory dependent upon
0:15:01 and we can say super custard theory okay
0:15:03 i'm making it up now
0:15:05 but the point i'm trying to show is that
0:15:07 the the wooden table
0:15:09 there was a series of interdependent
0:15:13 limited contingent beings
0:15:17 each one was dependent upon another
0:15:18 thing that was depend upon another thing
0:15:20 that would depend upon another thing
0:15:22 and so on the question we have
0:15:26 with this is that there are or not the
0:15:28 question but the possibilities that we
0:15:30 have
0:15:30 regards to this is that there are four
0:15:33 potential possibilities
0:15:35 first one there is something that is
0:15:38 limited
0:15:40 but came from absolute nothing
0:15:43 yeah so something started everything off
0:15:46 the second possibility is that there is
0:15:49 an infinite regression
0:15:51 so one thing depends upon another thing
0:15:53 depends upon another thing depends upon
0:15:55 nothing
0:15:56 forever yeah
0:16:00 the third possibility is what we call a
0:16:02 cycle
0:16:03 so maybe something depends upon
0:16:04 something depends upon something
0:16:06 in this cycle so you know some theory
0:16:10 some physicists theorize about this idea
0:16:13 of
0:16:13 the universe explodes out expands gets
0:16:16 to a certain size and then starts to
0:16:18 contract
0:16:19 and comes together into what they call a
0:16:22 big crunch goes to that quantum singular
0:16:24 quantum level singularity and then
0:16:26 explodes back out again
0:16:28 and therefore the universe is in
0:16:30 constant cycle
0:16:32 the fourth possibility is that there
0:16:34 must be
0:16:36 something that's independent to have
0:16:39 initiated this chain
0:16:40 an independent cause or creator
0:16:45 so when we look at these four
0:16:47 possibilities
0:16:48 and we question the first one could
0:16:51 something come from nothing
0:16:53 well we've already said that if
0:16:56 something is limited
0:16:57 is finite is dependent then we are
0:17:00 saying that these things are contingent
0:17:02 beings we are
0:17:03 valid not just valid it becomes you know
0:17:06 necessary for us to ask the question
0:17:08 what caused its existence
0:17:10 so how can a limited finite dependent
0:17:12 thing have no cause for its existence
0:17:14 just
0:17:15 exist you know that's the worst form of
0:17:18 magic that you can have you know when
0:17:19 people claim
0:17:21 you know we don't believe in magic and
0:17:22 we don't believe in superstitions but
0:17:24 the biggest superstition
0:17:25 that would exist is that limited finite
0:17:28 dependent
0:17:29 things could come from absolute nothing
0:17:33 by nothing and for no app reason
0:17:36 whatsoever
0:17:37 it just is not something that's
0:17:38 intuitive it breaks the principles of
0:17:40 causality
0:17:42 both the axioms of science and the
0:17:44 components within rational thinking
0:17:46 so i think it's important that we
0:17:47 discount that and in
0:17:50 the third session we'll discuss some of
0:17:52 these
0:17:53 contentions to these arguments in more
0:17:55 detail
0:17:56 the second possibility is an
0:18:00 infinite regression so a chain of
0:18:02 interdependent things
0:18:05 so the wooden table depends upon wood
0:18:08 trees sun you know nebulas
0:18:12 uh supernovas big bang quantum
0:18:15 singularity
0:18:17 uh membrane structures quantum string
0:18:19 theory
0:18:20 or super string theory etc etc goes back
0:18:23 forever
0:18:25 could that be a possibility we'd say no
0:18:27 and the reason why we'd say no
0:18:29 is by giving a few simple analogies
0:18:33 but one analogy that comes to mind is to
0:18:37 have a row of dominos
0:18:39 and for the last domino to fall over
0:18:42 it has to be hit by the previous domino
0:18:45 that's obvious point you have the last
0:18:47 dominoes so the second to last domino
0:18:49 has to hit it and for that domino to
0:18:51 fall over it has to be hit by
0:18:53 the domino before that and for that
0:18:55 domino to fall over has to be hit by the
0:18:57 domino before that
0:18:59 now imagine if you had an infinite
0:19:01 regression of dominoes i an
0:19:03 infinite chain of dominoes meaning
0:19:05 there's no beginning domino
0:19:08 would the last domino fall over in fact
0:19:11 would any of the dominoes fall over
0:19:14 answers no if you think about it if you
0:19:17 have
0:19:18 to wait an infinite amount of time for
0:19:20 the last domino to be hit
0:19:22 none of the dominoes will fall over and
0:19:24 in fact at every moment there is an
0:19:26 infinite
0:19:26 number of dominoes before it i there's
0:19:28 no beginning domino
0:19:30 so an infinite regression is impossible
0:19:32 what does that mean it means that
0:19:34 for us to have a wooden table we needed
0:19:36 to have
0:19:37 wood first for us to have wood first we
0:19:40 needed to have trees
0:19:41 for us to have trees we needed to have
0:19:44 sun so if there's no sun there's no
0:19:46 trees there's no wood there's no wooden
0:19:48 table
0:19:49 if that goes back forever everything
0:19:51 that doesn't exist is waiting for the
0:19:53 prior form to exist
0:19:54 and that doesn't exist until the prior
0:19:56 form to exist
0:19:58 and that goes on forever nothing exists
0:20:02 nothing in nothing can exist in that way
0:20:04 but the fact that we know things exist
0:20:06 which are limited finite
0:20:08 and dependent indicates there must be
0:20:11 an initiation start to that uh
0:20:14 that dependent chain or the the the
0:20:17 cause of the dependent limited things
0:20:20 now somebody might turn around and say
0:20:21 what about cycle
0:20:23 for example we have a water cycle so
0:20:27 as an example in the water cycle the
0:20:29 clouds produce rain
0:20:31 the rain produces water the water
0:20:33 evaporates to produce more clouds
0:20:35 and the clouds produce rain and there's
0:20:37 this cycle of events
0:20:39 so couldn't that be an explanation
0:20:40 limited things depend upon other limited
0:20:42 things depend upon other limited things
0:20:44 in a cycle of uh in a cyclical
0:20:47 cycle or cyclical dependency well
0:20:51 if you think about it and you think
0:20:53 about going
0:20:54 backwards in the cycle so you say okay
0:20:57 before there's rain what do we need we
0:21:00 need
0:21:00 clouds so if there's no clouds there's
0:21:03 no rain
0:21:04 okay so before clouds what do we need we
0:21:06 need water that evaporates
0:21:08 if there's no water there's no clouds
0:21:10 there's no rain
0:21:12 but before water what did we need we
0:21:15 need rain
0:21:16 so we need rain but there's no rain
0:21:18 because there's no clouds there's no
0:21:20 clouds because no waters no water
0:21:21 there's no rain
0:21:22 so when we go backwards in the cycle we
0:21:24 find that nothing exists
0:21:27 so even if they talk about the big bang
0:21:29 was dependent upon the big crunch and
0:21:31 the big crunch was dependent upon the
0:21:32 big bang
0:21:33 there's a popular analogy that springs
0:21:36 to mind
0:21:37 what comes first the chicken or the egg
0:21:41 and you think about this well the
0:21:43 chicken requires an egg and the egg
0:21:45 requires a chicken
0:21:46 or it comes into a chicken and
0:21:49 so you and require the chicken so you
0:21:51 realize actually nothing
0:21:52 occurs so this mutual or cyclical
0:21:56 dependency where limited things depend
0:21:58 upon other limited things
0:21:59 does not explain why that cycle exists
0:22:02 in the first place you still see
0:22:03 need something outside of that cycle and
0:22:06 so
0:22:07 something coming from nothing is an
0:22:09 irrational approach
0:22:11 an infinite regression is impossible a
0:22:13 cyclical dependency cannot explain the
0:22:15 existence of dependent things
0:22:18 as in nothing would exist they'd all be
0:22:19 waiting for the previous form to exist
0:22:22 in a cycle so the only possible way to
0:22:25 explain
0:22:26 the existence of limited dependent
0:22:30 contingent things
0:22:31 is to refer to an independent necessary
0:22:35 eternal being the creator
0:22:40 so this gives us an understanding
0:22:43 that you need to have a necessary
0:22:45 eternal being
0:22:46 so what's the difference why are we
0:22:49 giving an exceptionalism here
0:22:51 saying oh the creator you know we're
0:22:53 just saying that he's eternal
0:22:55 no because we said why do we ask the
0:22:58 question
0:22:59 what caused something we said there's
0:23:02 change
0:23:03 it doesn't have to be like that so
0:23:06 if we're saying something does not
0:23:08 change and it has to be like that
0:23:11 then we wouldn't ask the question what
0:23:13 caused it we would say
0:23:15 it exists by its own nature
0:23:18 so we talk about how limited finite
0:23:20 dependent things
0:23:21 cannot depend upon other limited finite
0:23:23 dependent things
0:23:25 whether in a cycle or a chain then it
0:23:27 exists
0:23:28 only because an infinite unlimited
0:23:32 independent necessary being exists
0:23:35 this is whom we call allah
0:23:38 and in the next video we'll also show
0:23:41 other implications
0:23:42 on the discussion about identifying
0:23:44 contingent
0:23:45 realities or contingent beings thank you