without Evil?

are permanently set as they are. We know for a fact these “laws” have changed before, so there is no reason they cannot again. That fact, most physicists agree with as well. They only cannot fathom a reason another fundamental change will occur. By contrast, Potentialism has a ready reason: It will occur when it is necessary for more complexity to happen.

Or could the universe have been 'brought into being' without Evil?

This is a related question that often comes up which is, strictly speaking, a 'theodicy' question. Theodicy is a philosophical and religious defense of divine goodness in view of the existence of evil in the world.

This is a bit out of scope as we are trying to avoid religion in this book. But it does bear a brief answer for the sake of thoroughness as it is nonetheless a very common question regarding the eternal origins of the universe.

In answer, Potentialism does address the possible existence of God. More importantly, it addresses the nature of God. For Potentialism, God and the SuperFormula are one and the same. As such, the universe is as it is out of necessity.

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Why evil is a necessary part of the most perfect universe for complexity to grow is not something with a ready answer. All Potentialism tells us is that this is the universe we need to continue properly on our path towards E+.

E+ can be called divine perfection in a religious context. In these terms, it becomes self-evident why a perfect divinity would strive to bring the whole of creation on an inexorable path towards perfection as well. Like potholes in a road, evil is just one necessary part of the larger grand project of the cosmos which must exist.

This is a great simplification of Birnbaum’s stance. But again, it is out of scope here. I recommend Mr. Birnbaum’s book God and Evil: Religious Man (Summa Metaphysica II) (Ktav, 1989). This thoughtful and thought-provoking opus studies the matter in great detail.

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