Expert: Austin Cline - 5/31/2006

Question
Hello, I have several questions which hopefully youll be able to
answer. First of all, do you think that the "creation" of God within
the human mind was just a result of the need of humans to have
hope/something to depend on and have faith in? Also, I have a
question regarding eternity. To me, eternity it the most mind-
blowing concept. Has this world (not really the world, or the
universe,because those have been dated to the point of creation,
but  the overall grand scheme of things-the creators) been
around for eternity? Finally, do you believe that humans are any
better off than the rest of the animals in the universe-do you
believe we are a higher being or do you simply believe that we
are just one step higher than the others on the evolutionary
staircase. Thank you so much for your time and I look foward to
hearing from you!      -Tyler Kern

Answer
"First of all, do you think that the "creation" of God withinthe human mind was just a result of the need of humans to have hope/something to depend on and have faith in?"

I doubt that there is any single explanation for theism, though that's a likely factor. Another likely factor is the human tendency towards anthropomorphization: seeing faces and intelligence behind random patters, like clouds.

"Has this world (not really the world, or the
universe,because those have been dated to the point of creation, but  the overall grand scheme of things-the creators) been around for eternity?"

It has been around for all of time - i.e., there has been no point in time at which the universe has not existed. That's because time is an aspect of the universe - no universe, no time. Whether that qualifies as "eternity" depends upon how you define the concept.

"Finally, do you believe that humans are any better off than the rest of the animals in the universe - do you believe we are a higher being or do you simply believe that we are just one step higher than the others on the evolutionary
staircase."

John Stuart Mill wrote: "It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied."

We are not "higher," but we may be better off in a lot of ways.