The heck with it.

I've decided to skip the in-depth section on morals and carry on to where I left off.

So here's the next part:

I think it all boils down to one question:

Can one really create Something out of Nothing (without God)?

Haha, I'm starting with the conclusion and backtracking now. Sorry ya, bear with it.

So anyway, what do I mean by that?

I think the ultimate question to answer is just that:

If it's Yes, you can create something out of nothing withput God, science wins. If No, religion wins.

Simple as that. But, I know some are clamouring, it's so obvious you can't create something out of nothing! What are you, some kind of psychobabble-spouting quack?

Actually, it's not obvious at all. Read on to find out.

So, how do I explain this? First of all, when I stated that question I'm not just talking about the really obvious example , the Beginning of Creation/The Big Bang. There are other instances of a something being fashioned out of nothing including the existence of a conscience, human creativity, evolution(but of course) , intelligence, the list goes on.

If you think about it, intelligence could be a by-product of a system that continually makes random variations in order to chance upon some genetic mutation that'll enable the organism thrive better in its surroundings. In this case, because nature has been favourable to smarter monkeys, our forefathers' brains have evolved to such an extent that we begin to be self-aware.

Imagine some billion years ago in Africa, a chimp(we'll call him Bob) is born to his proud parents (can animals be proud?). He grows up, learns to climb trees 'cos it's in his instinct, and eats nuts and berries. One hot and dry day though, Bob looks at the sky and wonders where do the puffy white things which give rain come from? He goes through a series of similar questions based on the external stimuli around him, then finally he turns his focus inward and asks:

Who am I?

Or maybe more importantly,

WHAT am I?

This is the point which I'd like to call the Point Of Self-Realization. I dunno what philosophers call it, or if I'm dead wrong about where it is, or if it even exists.

All I know is that it all goes spiralling downward from there.

So back to the point:

Morals follow the same principle: Imagine a school of fish. Just swimming around, minding their own business, but moving as a whole. Why do they do that? To make predators think it's one massive fish. And that's the primieval instinct behind the need for social interaction: United we stand, divided we fall. Why do you think we have herds and prides and flocks?

Humans, of course, are one of the most social animals on the planet. Also one of the most socially complicated. There are rules and regulations over who presides over what and why this is so, caste systems, various '-archy's and '-cracy's. Culture plays a role in this too. And then there are the unspoken rules; the ones everyone knows and no one needs to clarify. These are what we call moral values.

Why the need for all this stuff?

Like I said earlier, people don't need morals (rather, they eschew them) when they're on a personal quest for success. And as everyone knows successful people are the most well-primed for survival.

That's where the something from nothing view comes in:

Can evolution, in its bid for genetic diversity, come up with something so intangible and so convoluted as a conscience?

If that's true, then for all intents and purposes, Nature has evolved us a soul.