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6/23/2025, 4:09:41 PM
>>40586203
Evil exists in the world in order to generate connection-building.
https://benthams.substack.com/p/why-theres-evil
>Perhaps struggling through an indifferent world, not being micromanaged by God, is uniquely valuable for soul-building. Just going through a narrowly tailored set of challenges doesn’t give one the knowledge that they can overcome hardships in the same way that overcoming a random suite of challenges does. The benefits of soul-building, as of the other benefits on this list, last forever.
>Perhaps being in an indifferent world builds our connections with others. An indifferent world might do this in at least three ways, relative to one where God intervenes. First, the fact that our lives have some element of randomness, where everything isn’t set by God makes it so that our relationships may be more valuable. God designing the world specifically to be such that specific people form maximally valuable relationships might rob the relationships of some of their value, in a way akin to arranged marriage. Second, as Robin Collins notes, going through hardships together, helping people out through hardship, and forgiving others through wrongdoing strengthens people’s relationships. An indifferent universe offers the chance for all of this. Finally, were we to be in a relationship with God, it might be infinitely more intense and thus crowd out our other relationships. Thus, just as there might be something valuable about a person making close friends before they get married, because a marriage crowds out their friend-making ability, the same might be true of us and God. This also seems to preclude God specifically intervening to maximize connection building. This is worth all the world’s evils, because the value of relationships lasts forever into the afterlife.
Evil exists in the world in order to generate connection-building.
https://benthams.substack.com/p/why-theres-evil
>Perhaps struggling through an indifferent world, not being micromanaged by God, is uniquely valuable for soul-building. Just going through a narrowly tailored set of challenges doesn’t give one the knowledge that they can overcome hardships in the same way that overcoming a random suite of challenges does. The benefits of soul-building, as of the other benefits on this list, last forever.
>Perhaps being in an indifferent world builds our connections with others. An indifferent world might do this in at least three ways, relative to one where God intervenes. First, the fact that our lives have some element of randomness, where everything isn’t set by God makes it so that our relationships may be more valuable. God designing the world specifically to be such that specific people form maximally valuable relationships might rob the relationships of some of their value, in a way akin to arranged marriage. Second, as Robin Collins notes, going through hardships together, helping people out through hardship, and forgiving others through wrongdoing strengthens people’s relationships. An indifferent universe offers the chance for all of this. Finally, were we to be in a relationship with God, it might be infinitely more intense and thus crowd out our other relationships. Thus, just as there might be something valuable about a person making close friends before they get married, because a marriage crowds out their friend-making ability, the same might be true of us and God. This also seems to preclude God specifically intervening to maximize connection building. This is worth all the world’s evils, because the value of relationships lasts forever into the afterlife.
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