Infinite Regress

Infinite Regress

1st draft 

Today, I will be explaining the nature and error of the infinite regress and the special pleading fallacy. To begin, letâs start with a thought experiment; think back; where did you come from? Your parents, naturally. But where did they come from? Your grandparents, obviously. But letâs go all the way back; before your greatest grandparents, before the first fish to walk on land, before the formation of the earth, even. Where did it all come from?

The quick answer is âI donât knowâ¦â. But, I expect that answer will not suffice for most readers, so allow me to expound on it. Modern science, at this time of October 10, 2014, has no explanation for the origins of the universe; as such, no intellectually honest scientist will claim knowledge of how the universe began. Unfortunately, many people attempt to solve this problem by presupposing a âgodâ entity; ludicrously claiming that it created the universe and all of existence. Do you think thatâs inaccurate? Thatâs because youâre being an idiot. As many fallacies as there are, for the purpose of being succinct, I will explain only the relevant one. But first, itâs time I explain what an infinite regress even is.

Letâs take a look at what we know about how we got here. Life began on earth thanks to a long and arduous evolutionary journey; before then, the earth formed due to gravitational forces pulling large clumps of matter together; before then, the entirety of the universe was hurled in all directions with a big bang. What happened before then? Catholicism (and all denominations) state that the universe could not have created itself or that it must have had a creator then presuppose that there exists a god that was there before the universe that created the universe. But where did god come from? Super god? Well, where did super god come from? Mega god? Where did mega god come from?

Do you see the problem yet? If not, I present to you the special pleading fallacy. Catholicism has applied the rule that nothing can come from nothing/ everything has a cause to everything except their god. This is nonsensical. If weâre to be logically consistent, we would have to apply that rule to god as well. This would create an infinite regress of presuppositions that ultimately reduce the god-creating-everything speculation to absurdity.

In the case of the origins of the universe, the only way to avoid fallacies until we have definitive information about how it all began is to simply say âI donât knowâ¦Iâm still looking for the RIGHT answerâ. And that, dear reader, is no presupposition.