Quote by Bertrand Russell
When you come to look into this argument from design, it is a most astonishing thing that people can believe that this world, with all the things that are in it, with all its defects, should be the best that omnipotence and omniscience have been able to produce in millions of years. I really cannot believe it. Do you think that, if you were granted omnipotence and omniscience and millions of years in which to perfect your world, you could produce nothing better than the Ku Klux Klan or the Fascists? Moreover, if you accept the ordinary laws of science, you have to suppose that human life and life in general on this planet will die out in due course: it is a stage in the decay of the solar system; at a certain stage of decay you get the sort of conditions of temperature and so forth which are suitable to protoplasm, and there is life for a short time in the life of the whole solar system. You see in the moon the sort of thing to which the earth is tending -- something dead, cold, and lifeless.
Summary
In this quote, Bertrand Russell questions the belief in a perfect world created by an omnipotent and omniscient being. Russell finds it hard to fathom that a world with all its imperfections and flaws is the best that could be achieved in millions of years. He further challenges the notion by highlighting instances of hatred and oppression like the Ku Klux Klan and Fascists, implying that a perfect world should not allow for such atrocities. Additionally, Russell notes that according to the laws of science, life on Earth will eventually cease to exist as part of the natural decay of the solar system, resembling the lifeless state of the moon. Overall, Russell raises doubts about the perfection and longevity of the world as evidence diminishes these claims.
Random Quotations
