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Explaining the Universe in Rational Terms

words, it has remained the same for millions of years.
But, in the human world, there are constant challenges,
and it is this kind of challenging environment that leads
to progress and development. Without experiencing
challenges, there can be no creative thinking or
intellectual development. When we observe the
material world we find order in it, while in the human
world there is seeming disorder. But, this ‘disorder’ is
not a negative but rather a positive phenomenon. The
positive explanation for this disorder in the human
world is response to challenge.
Due to this difference, we have to apply two separate
criteria to make a proper assessment of these arenas. The
cosmos has to be judged by the yardstick of determinism,
while the human world has to be judged by the yardstick
of freedom of choice. Thanks to its deterministic nature,
the material world offered the possibility of creating
technology. Without its predictability, we would not
have been able to utilize the resources of the material
world for industrial development. It follows that in the
human world, because of the total freedom enjoyed
by humankind, there are inevitably many problems or
challenges, and it is in meeting these challenges that we
develop and advance. At the same time, regrettably, this
total freedom also gives rise to evil.

The problem of evil is not a feature of the material
world. It is a phenomenon peculiar to the human world.
This ineluctable evil is the price that we of necessity pay
for all those developments which have culminated in
what we proudly refer to as civilization.

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