The Knowledge of God and the Knowledge of Self

The existence of God would imply, amongst other things, that it is possible for every human being to experience the divine for himself or herself.

Sacred Scriptures state that

He who hath known himself hath known God. [Islam]

and also

Turn thy sight unto thyself, that thou mayest find Me standing within thee, mighty, powerful and self-subsisting. [Bahá'í Faith]

So it seems the knowledge of God comes as the fruit of the process of self-discovery. The self that is to be investigated is the self described in all the Holy Texts of the world. For example:

We made man in Our own image and after our likeness. [Christianity]

and again

I created thee, have engraved on thee Mine image and revealed to thee My beauty. [Bahá'í Faith]

Skill is ...

paint brush
Originally uploaded by .tintin.

The artist's craft lies in knowing precisely how the slightest angle and pressure affect each stroke of the brush, what mix of pigments produces exactly which colour, how the canvas absorbs and molds the paint.
Her vision is in imagining the finished work before ever picking up a brush or choosing a canvas.

Skill is in seamlessly combining vision and craft to create a masterpiece: a work of art so perfect in its composition and execution.

Living is a skill.
Life, the greatest masterpiece.

How to do Science

Thoughts on reading Julio Savi's "The Eternal Quest for God", a book I gladly recommend.

1. Approach research in the spirit of consultation (truth-finding).

2. Rely on sense perception (observation), intellect (reason), insight (imagination or intuition),
and tradition (previous research and literature).
When these four are in harmony, then a degree of certainty and truth is attained.

3. "The realities of material phenomena are impenetrable and unknowable and are only apprehended through their properties and qualities." —Abdu'l-Baha

4. "Reality is one and does not admit of multiplicity." —Abdu'l-Baha
Thus there exists AN answer to any question posed about reality.

5. Science, the outcome of man's intellectual endowment, is his most noble virtue and highest attainment. —Abdu'l-Baha

Creation as a Sign of God

Everything that exists has a use to which it can be put. All things may be transformed in such a way as to serve man: cotton into fabric, trees into homes and their furnishings, minerals into tall buildings and computers, dead organic matter into plastics and fuels. Numerous plants serve as foodstuffs or pharmaceutical remedies while even poisons can be harnessed for some beneficial use (Botox anyone?). Is not this a token of the bounty and grace of an All-Mighty Creator?

We shall show them Our signs in the world and in themselves.

Qur'an 41:53

Having created the world and all that liveth and moveth therein, He, through the direct operation of His unconstrained and sovereign Will, chose to confer upon man the unique distinction and capacity to know Him and to love Him — a capacity that must needs be regarded as the generating impulse and primary purpose underlying the whole of creation... Upon the inmost reality of each and every created thing He hath shed the light of one of His names, and made it a recipient of the glory of one of His attributes. Upon the reality of man, however, He hath focused the radiance of all of His names and attributes and made it a mirror of His own Self. Alone of all created things, man hath been singled out for so great a favor, so enduring a bounty.

Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p.65

Thoughts on Artificial Consciousness

The mark of consciousness is the ability to come up with a novel, singular idea that defies the imagination and comprehension of others. Thus, so long as a computer produces results that are wholly intelligible* to man, it has not achieved consciousness.

*Wholly intelligible means that method and interpretation are fully comprehensible. Of course, the number of computations a computer can perform are far beyond the reach of mortal man but their complexity lies nevertheless within the bounds of his imagination. Put simply, a computer will not produce a new statement that challenges your imagination.