they overlook the idea that it simply could be that the clocks used in the satellites are less effected by electric fields and other external forces here on Earth.
You're wrong about that, but a lot of people have that misconception as it's often skipped over in the explanations.
(Also, being in a gravity well makes things run slower, and so does speed. GPS satellites are faster because of 'less gravity around', if you'll excuse the bad phrasing, but are slowed (less than they are speeded up) by their relative motion to us. Well, that's also bad phrasing.)
Regarding the universe being a complicated beast of simple interwined forces, personally, I analogise understanding the universe to like beings living within a "Conway's Game Of Life' universe trying to understand their own existence. We (as external viewers of the universe concerned) can see that there's a very simple method of operation, but any beings (necessarily vastly complex pixel-constructs upon the 'playing field') will have a very difficult time trying to analyse anything close enough to actually view the innermost workings. (And, in fact, we would have difficulty actually identifying such sentient beings upon a GOL playing-field, because we would
only see the detail, for all intents and purposes, and deliberately altering the world to 'visit a miracle' upon them would be nigh-on impossible to arrange, even if one knew what one wanted to do...) They certainly couldn't derive the physical laws that mean that impure silicon is a semiconductor, or the microcode of the processor being used to determine the next step in their world, and certainly not the composition of the atmosphere of the creatures they have no inkling of that are looking on.
Ditto, I think our universe is a fully deterministic place running on a low-level simple formula, such that even the sought-after Theory Of Everything is a mere abstraction. But I say nothing about any beings looking on upon our field-of play wondering at the every-changing pattern of dots, or even of anyone having created it (I'm more open to it being a natural and spontaneous result of How The Universe Works), especially as you're going to have to explain whether that level is itself a simulation being run at a level further out still, ad infinitum
(edit: also the cheese is getting old... and that's not making it better. 
)
Depends on the cheese.
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Topic: Atheists (Read 391317 times)