Can a limitless power do the impossible?

leo July 10, 2023 at 11:25 2750 views 9 comments
The way I see it, what we call “possible” is what we see possible, or what we imagine to be possible.

And what we call impossible is what we don’t see or imagine how it could be possible.

There are things we believe are impossible, and later on we realize that actually they are possible, it’s just we couldn’t see how at the time.

(for instance mathematics have shown there are infinities greater than other infinities)

So, since a limitless power (let’s say that also includes limitless imagination) isn’t limited as we are, couldn’t we say that it can also do everything we call impossible?

What do you think? :smile:

Comments (9)

Vera Mont July 10, 2023 at 11:41 #821414
Sure. Since limitless power is impossible, so are its capabilities.
Now, all you have to do is prove the proposition.
chiknsld July 10, 2023 at 13:47 #821443
Yea, but if there is a limitless power then we are already part of it.
Vera Mont July 10, 2023 at 17:55 #821528
Does that mean we're part of the Impossible, too?
Could they be one continuous entity, possibilitypower, like spacetime?
Josh Alfred July 10, 2023 at 20:06 #821557
The things that are immediately impossible you can conceive of through your own intellect and will-power and your present perceptions of the world thereof. In the abstract sense anything is possible.

If you were to have a vast knowledge of all possible simulations you would know that limitations don't have to exist in there, and the abstract and creative mind can have a limitless reality. However, this human world, this planet, your governing society, even this universe enforces and runs by law.

Try: Kaku, "Physics of the Impossible."
T Clark July 10, 2023 at 20:44 #821563
Quoting leo
Can a limitless power do the impossible?


To me, this question belongs in the same category as "Can Santa Claus beat up the Easter Bunny." They are meaningless.

Tom Storm July 10, 2023 at 21:21 #821575
Quoting leo
So, since a limitless power (let’s say that also includes limitless imagination) isn’t limited as we are, couldn’t we say that it can also do everything we call impossible?

What do you think? :smile:


I think it seems incoherent.

Maybe you could start by defining power. What does power look like as the limits are removed?
Vera Mont July 11, 2023 at 00:14 #821623
Then, too, there is the question of what "limitless imagination" - what intelligence - is wielding all that power.
god must be atheist July 12, 2023 at 23:22 #822107
Leo, there are three types of answers to your question.

The believers in god will say the question is absurd, and it does not make sense. This is because of the conundrum of "can an almighty god create a stone he himself can't lift?" If he can, he is not almighty, because he is not mighty enough to lift it, and if he can't create such a stone, then he is not almighty in his task of creating things. The religious who have faith in an almighty god hate this question and their standard reply is "this is absurd", in so many different words. Your question begs this scenario, so by rank and file they MUST answer that the question is absurd.

Then there is the logical answer, that no, a limitless power can't do the impossible. Because the impossible also includes self-contradictions, similar to the god-stone-creation-lift example above. They may concur that there are SOME impossibilities that are possible to perform when you have limitless power, but some impossibilities are impossible to perform when it leads to self-contradiction or paradoxes.

Then there is the Quantum Mechanics camp, which will give you a resounding YES, even if the task leads to self-contradiction: The cat is alive and dead in the box. The smaller a volume of space, the more energy it contains, regardless its contents. Other examples abound in QM. to prove that self-contradictory or paradoxical events are everyday happenings in the quantum world.
Metaphysician Undercover July 13, 2023 at 00:32 #822141
Quoting leo
What do you think?


:"Limitless power" implies nothing is impossible. Don't you think? So the question is an exercise in recognizing incompatible concepts, kind of like asking can a circle be square.