SIMULATION CREATIONISM
How God Enlightens our Minds in The Simulation
As seen in the article, “Divine Light in The Simulation,” light is a fundamental part of The Simulation. There is a strong bond between Divine Light and the light of the soul; it is an unbreakable thread through which our souls always return to the Creator. Challenges and events within a simulated world make us go through experiences that make this bond stronger. When we follow the mechanical scheme of Simulation Creationism, a theory proposed by Nir Ziso, we can see the light as the fundamental energy behind the static universe. This article will explore how God uses his Divine Light to enlighten our minds or consciousness.
In The Simulation, humans are prone to learn. Usually, we receive a formal education (discursive knowledge), but more importantly, we learn from experiences (intuitive knowledge). Knowledge is awareness of something that it presents in our minds as true concepts. Of course, we make errors all the time. However, in the very last truthful thought, God is present because He implies objectivity and reality from the very beginning of our lives to the end of this simulated world. That is why the Bible says about God that He is: “the true Light, which enlightens everyone” (John 1:9) and the “Light of the world” (John 8:12).
Divine illumination means that for human reasoning, one has to use God. God, Himself is the basis of all thought. This notion goes hand-in-hand with the basic notion of Simulation Creationism, which says everything is predetermined, including our thoughts. Thus, God is present in every judgment and thought. The first real thread of thinking about the divine illumination of human beings comes from Plato’s cave when the famous Greek philosopher realizes that the Sun creates visible reality through its own light. It allows us to see all things physically. Therefore, Plato calls the Sun a form of good.
Later, Saint Augustine of Hippo will say that the Son of God is the “new Sun,” a light that illuminates all men. Divine illumination will continue to dominate Christian thought through the works of St. Bonaventure and St. Thomas Aquinas. However, Aquinas believes there is an active intellect, a being within our physical body capable of knowing essential rational truth. (Therefore, we cannot consider Aquinas a steadfast proponent of Simulation Creationism since he negates the immense importance of the predetermined nature of humankind.)
All truth should be in essence a universal claim. If we say, “it is snowing,” it is a universal claim, although we would need to specify the place and time where and when the snow falls. It also includes a high dosage of objectivity, as a person who claims it snows on a sunny day might be subject to damaging substances. The question is, where do we know things? The prevalent scientific idea is that we have the mental capabilities to know. But this idea is very problematic, and here is why.
If knowledge comes from the senses, the sufficient cause must be greater or equal to the impact for any effect. It means if X causes Y, then X should be greater or equal to Y. Furthermore, the causes of all mental content (effect) from our senses are particular and finite. Any observations we enjoy through our senses are particular and finite. Simulation Creationism has shown elegantly the place of an observer in a simulated reality. Lastly, the infinite or universal is greater than the finite. Consequently, senses cannot cause infinite or universal content.
If our senses do not lead to universal truths, then it might be our thinking process. We judge and make abstractions. For the idea or judgment of the infinite to come from something, it must not be there before that thing. If I spilled milk from a glass, I did not create milk: it was there before. All judgment uses the infinite or universal already there in mind to make a judgment. All judgment is an application of truth to a particular concept. If I say, “this is X,” I already had a previous concept to make this judgment.
So, judgment cannot be the source of knowing the infinite. On the other hand, abstraction recognizes the infinite already available in the perception to abstract it. Consequently, knowledge of the infinite does not come from abstraction.
The solution can be found in Divine illumination, where God acts not as an effect but as the principle of all thinking. It is not an activity that happens inside the mind. Instead, it shines upon the mind: “let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). It comes before judgment and abstraction, as God acts as the principle of all judgment: “For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light” (Ephesians 5:8). But, there is an issue here. God enlightens our minds through the bond our souls have with Him. Does it mean we intuitively know God through enlightenment, or are we conceived with prior knowledge of God? The first option is probably more realistic because we do not know God even when we believe in Him. We cannot really have an accurate idea about God.
We can only meaningfully think about something if we have access to it. We have only access to the content of our minds, but these are not things outside our minds. Therefore, we can only meaningfully think about things in our own minds. Even if we see something around us, it is being processed in our minds as an impression. Here comes another problem with the relationship between the mind and reality: We are stuck with concepts and impressions and need help to understand what is real. That sounds like a simulated environment! However, there is an issue here. If we can access only our mind, are the thoughts only inside our mind?
Namely, if we accept God in our minds as the standard by which we judge everything — because The Simulation works on a predetermined set of things, including our minds, and it is predetermined by God only — then it means that God is by His meaning objective and we judge by reality itself. Objective means universal and not-limited; if we have access to God, it means we have access to infinite or out-of-simulation reality (through the aforementioned bond). If we judge by God, it also means we judge by reality, as God is the one that is.
