The Search for God Page 2.1.2.1.4
You may have heard it said, “You can never step in the same river twice.” We witness everything around us and everything within us in a state of flux; things change.
What Heraclitus, an ancient philosopher, actually said was
“No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it is not the same river and he’s not the same man.” (emphasis added)
Law of identity
We just spoke about how the law of identity is a fundamental law of logic. However, many people struggle with this concept of identity, most commonly because of the characteristic of change.
How can something be identified when that object is always changing? I have included a video called Identity and Batman and my eventual reaction video in the reference section at the end.
Characteristics
When we think of the characteristics of an object, let’s look at two examples, iron and a human. We witness certain characteristics in each of them.
Iron has a certain chemical structure, there is a refined state and a natural state. Even after being refined, iron can oxidize or rust. The iron, even if it lasts decades, changes.
For humans, there are even more complex characteristics from “simple” DNA and cell structure to complex emotional makeup, all of which change.
Some things about a human, like the love of chocolate might never change, but our blood pressure can change second by second. Nothing is the same as it was 20 years ago, even stars and planets have a lifespan; granted the timeframe might be millions of years but even they are changing.
So how do we reconcile this change with identity?
A ship might be called the Agatha but if the engine gets changed or the deck is replaced which one is the real Agatha?
For this, let’s review the law of identity:
- whatever is, is;
- or A is A.
The characteristic of change is really just one aspect of identity. Therefore, rightly stated, whatever is, is changing or whatever is, is dying. Even though change is a subset of identity, this characteristic of identity applies to 100% of our universe.
What am I saying?
If I could take a snapshot and stop time, then examine that object, whether lead, human, or the boat Agatha, at that precise moment and could completely analyze that object with all knowledge and inquiry then I could say exactly what that object is.
However, since a characteristic of that object is change, then in the next moment, a second, a minute, or a year, some characteristic about the object will have changed.
Maybe in the case of an iron bar, 5 molecules are lost and 5 underwent oxidation.
To a human cursory inspection, nothing appears to change but to a complete thorough examination, we find those 10 changes. Time waits for no man. We are creatures swept along the river of time.
Whatever is, is
This river is a rushing torrent we are unable to extricate ourselves from, we splash and thrash, moan and cry, knowing that we are changing from one moment to the next.
Many times, we don’t know what will come, we prognosticate the future and try to will or “attract” our desired future into existence, but we ultimately do not know anything except that we will die.
- Whatever is, is becoming
- Whatever is, is changing.
- Whatever is, is dying.
We speak of 100% laws like the law of identity or the law of non-contradiction, but the law of identity itself has a 100% characteristic or law we have learned from experience, the law of change.
100% of the material universe that exists is changing and those changes will lead to 100% death. The law of change is not a logical law but an experiential law, which is a characteristic of identity.
- If you ask, “Are there things that don’t change?”
- I would ask, “What characteristics would be required to not change?”
To not change, the object would have to be eternal because if you are a created or dependent being, you change.
- So the first thing would be eternality.
- Second, a being would have to have all knowledge. If you gained knowledge, you would change.
- Third, an object would have to be immutable in any physical or spiritual sense, whatever substance the object was made of could not change.
This idea of the law of change has huge implications in regard to the discussion about the eternality of matter or being as the prime substance of the universe. Is God created?
These ideas will be explored further in additional articles. For now, let’s reflect upon identity and change, or the Law of change. Whatever is, is AND Whatever is, is changing AND Whatever is, is becoming AND Whatever is, is dying.
Interaction
This law of change is how the Law of causality interacts with the law of identity.
You see, we often want to take these characteristics or these laws and examine them independently, then affirm or deny them based upon some perceived flaw or weakness.
Instead, we should attempt to understand them and their interaction in a complex universe of time.
Let me leave you with this final nugget to contemplate. We understand in a closed universe like ours there is a concept of the conservation of matter and energy.
When we burn something, explode something, when the physical dies or changes, it changes into something else.
- Does that conservation also apply to the non-material?
- Does mankind have a soul?
- How do we know or how could we know?
- How much does our identity resides in non-material characteristics?
- Do those non-material elements convert energy into some other form or state?
If God wants us to come looking for Him, might He leave us a mystery and a problem we cannot solve without Him providing the answer? It is the ultimate mystery book.
You are the Point of View character, of your own novel, on a journey of discovery. If you don’t find the answer before the time runs out, someone’s going to die, true life or death stakes.
What Next?
- What is the crucial concept?
- The law of change is a characteristic of the law of identity, interacting with the law of causality.
- Why is that significant?
- Change once again forces us to acknowledge death and search for a constant, steady ship that can shepherd us to a safe harbor on the river of time.
- If you agree, the next steps.
- If you disagree, please consider reading.
References and Links
Batman & Identity