History: "Probatio Dei"

 

Probatio Dei

The video went viral on social media in just a few hours. The interviewer, shrouded in shadow, had a calm voice. He sat in front of what many said was an animation created by some video-generating Artificial Intelligence.

The creature closely resembled what we all know as a classic alien: about 1.6 meters tall, with a small body and disproportionately large arms and legs. A large, grayish head crowned the body, with slanted eyes and a small mouth with no visible lips.

"You claim to be a descendant of humans?" the interviewer insisted.

—"I don't claim it. I am. I come from a future evolutionary branch of Homo sapiens. I descend from you."—

—"And in your society... has the existence of God been discovered or ruled out?"—

The silence was long, barely broken by the soft whir of the machinery that was out of sight of the cameras filming the interview.

—"My civilization has not been able to prove its existence. Nor its nonexistence. For my fellow human beings, God remains an inaccessible concept, impossible to demonstrate with science."—

Julian paused the video with a smile.

—"There you go. Says a being from the future. God is not a matter of science. It's something tangible only through faith."—

Ramiro, who was drinking his green tea, snorted as a grimace appeared on his face.

—"I admit it's an inaccessible concept... 'for now' . But I'm sure that if it exists, there must be a scientific way to prove it. Something, however small, that leaves a tangible trace of an intelligence that somehow guides the evolution of things."—

—"You speak as if you were a 19th-century empiricist. Saint Thomas Aquinas already explained it: you don't need a direct trace to prove something. If something changes, it's because there must be a cause. If there is movement where there was none before, there must be a driving force. If there is a possibility of something, there was a necessary being that generated that possibility. Because non-being is the complete inability to produce any effect."—

Ramiro raised an eyebrow.

—"Shall we return to the cosmological argument? I thought you'd moved past that medieval stage."—

Julian smiled as he carefully placed his coffee cup on the saucer.

—"You think you're very evolved and modern in your science, right? But the truth is that reason and facts don't change with the calendar. The knowable truth is always one. Just like in science. Want a bet?"

Ramiro straightened up.

—"Okay. All this goes to show you that the scientific method may be slow, but it eventually gets to the truth."—

—"I'm fairly betting that you can't, in your lifetime, create a scientific test that will prove the existence or nonexistence of God."—

—"Fair enough. But I bet I can prove that the existence of God is unnecessary for the evolution of the universe."—

After a few months of work, using much of his free time, Ramiro's lab had slowly become a jumble of wires, screens, and caffeine bottles. It was a true center of metaphysical experimentation, as he liked to call it.

The experiment that resulted from his exhausting research was called - as a joke - Teo-Test , and had several phases:

1. Quantum simulation of possible universes.

2. Analysis of improbable patterns in physical constants.

3. Modeling artificial consciousnesses to track theistic intuitions.

It sounded highly scientific and complex, but in reality, the basic principle was simple: if a supposed Creator intervened, the universe he created should show the " fingerprints " of its Creator's design. These fingerprints would appear as extreme statistical improbabilities, asymmetries directed toward achieving a specific end, or laws extremely fine-tuned to achieve a particular result.

If no such evidence was found, it was because the existence of any kind of action directed toward a specific goal could be ruled out. Science didn't aim for a specific goal, but rather opted for the highest statistical probability, not the most extreme probability that led to a particular goal.

After months of work, research, consultations with fellow astrophysicists, theologians, and experts in Artificial Intelligence, he launched his prepublished paper: " The Universe as a Closed System: Absence of External Ontological Necessity ."

He read it aloud to Julián at an informal barbecue, as a joke, amid laughter and applause from his colleagues.

—"No trace could be found that cannot be explained by known physics, quantum randomness, or multiversal natural selection."—

—"Congratulations!"— said Julian, patting him on the shoulder— "You proved that creation doesn't need it. Not that God isn't there."—

—"Does that seem like a significant difference to you?"—

Julian raised his glass of wine.

—"In the eyes of faith, that makes all the difference in the world. Science is capable of explaining the ' how '. But it cannot explain the 'why ' of creation. Much less the 'why ' it was created."—

A few years passed. The Teo-Test , which was born from a humorous bet among friends, was published in scientific journals, replicated, criticized, and even defended.

But little by little, like a slightly aggressive and virulent seed, the world changed. Society became more critical, more cynical, and definitely less spiritual.

The cults, which over time became obscure and financially dubious, disappeared one after another. Others became radicalized. And some people lost their faith, while others found reasons to cling to it more.

Somehow, Ramiro wasn't satisfied with his job. He frequently dreamed of the creature in the video, who in the shadows of his sleep kept repeating:

—"You've eliminated God. Now you're alone. Are you ready for what that means?"—

One day, while walking in the park, she found Julian reading under a tree. He had an old edition of the Commentaries on the Summa Theologica.

—"Seriously, don't you get tired of reading that?"

Julian smiled back as he closed the book.

—"The truth is, I'm not looking for proof, Ramiro. What I'm really looking for is meaning. Meaning in everything that comes from living."

Ramiro sat next to him. Their views on theology and God had always clashed. But for the first time, he didn't want to argue. He simply closed his mouth to listen to the birds. After a few moments, he asked his friend:

—"Tell me something. If the universe were only matter, why do humans sometimes feel so... hollow?"— He lowered his head —"If the universe wasn't created by anyone, we shouldn't feel empty."—

Julian smiled.

"Because not finding evidence of something doesn't prove that it doesn't exist. That's also a principle of science." He paused, as if to allow Ramiro to understand the implications. Then he continued:

—"Because humans were created with a hunger for infinity, a thirst for transcendence. You can deny it if you wish, but the hunger and the need will still be there, because they are an integral part of being."—

Ramiro looked at him. For the first time, without arrogance.

And the wind blew through the leaves, without any science to fully explain it.

END

 

 

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