Have you heard of the omnipotent dilemma? Can God create a stone so big that he can't move it?
I may have stumbled upon an equivalent dilemma in the context of omniscience.
At times, when I'm asleep, I know that I'm sleeping, and I have tried to get myself to wake up; But I'm so sleepy that I can't; there is a struggle and I'm confused about what has happened. Have I woken up or am I still in my bed, dreaming that I'm brushing my teeth?
So, how do I assure myself that I have woken up? I do so by observing the level detail that I'm perceiving. Reality has a lot more detail, almost infinitely more detail. In real life, every task has a dozen intermediate steps, often unforeseen intermediate steps; Whereas in a dream, the moment the thought of doing something occurs and the task is done.
Say, I decide to step outside my apartment and go to the common area and have a look at the snow capped peaks around Seattle. The task would take about 30 seconds, and while doing so, I get to perceive so many things that my mind didn't remember.. the plants big and small, the houses and the shadows that they cast, the clouds, the dust on the floor, the people, their faces, their clothes and finally, the hill tops themselves don't exactly look as my mind remembered them to be. But, in my dream, I think of doing it and the next moment I have done it; but only to the extent my mind remembers.. My mind is finite, and it cannot hold the humungous amount of information that this much larger world pours at it..
But what if my mind is of infinite capacity? If it can hold every little piece of knowledge about the world? And in that situation if I fall asleep and start dreaming.. Would I be able to tell the difference between a dream and a perception of reality?
So, how do I assure myself that I have woken up? I do so by observing the level detail that I'm perceiving. Reality has a lot more detail, almost infinitely more detail. In real life, every task has a dozen intermediate steps, often unforeseen intermediate steps; Whereas in a dream, the moment the thought of doing something occurs and the task is done.
Say, I decide to step outside my apartment and go to the common area and have a look at the snow capped peaks around Seattle. The task would take about 30 seconds, and while doing so, I get to perceive so many things that my mind didn't remember.. the plants big and small, the houses and the shadows that they cast, the clouds, the dust on the floor, the people, their faces, their clothes and finally, the hill tops themselves don't exactly look as my mind remembered them to be. But, in my dream, I think of doing it and the next moment I have done it; but only to the extent my mind remembers.. My mind is finite, and it cannot hold the humungous amount of information that this much larger world pours at it..
But what if my mind is of infinite capacity? If it can hold every little piece of knowledge about the world? And in that situation if I fall asleep and start dreaming.. Would I be able to tell the difference between a dream and a perception of reality?
So, can God, an omniscient being, be absolutely sure that he is awake and isn't dreaming? :)
