Many religious groups believe that miracles do happen. Miracles can heal the sick, make the blind see, the lame walk, and even raise the dead. And usually, miracles manifest through prayers - a secret personal communication with a divine being. But do prayers really work? Let us look at why prayers could not get answered by discussing how humans acquire information, how information transforms into ideas, and why abstract ideas need physical objects.
Common sense tells us that every newly born baby or the very first primitive man could not possess or even carry a single piece of information in mind. Both beings need to interact with their external world in order to gain information. And information can be acquired in two and only two ways. One, information can be acquired by choice; and two, it can be acquired through discovery or by chance.
Information by Choice means information can be learned from teachers, from parents, from books, lessons from animals, from the surroundings, from nature; while Information by Chance means information can be acquired through discovering new things, fortunate accidents, unknown events, or unexpected experiences from the surroundings. Whatever the case may be, the acquisitions of information are all definitely provided by the external environment. Mother Nature provides all information known to man. The single acquisition of information is called The Intelligence Konstant or the Think Factor.
Aside from acquiring information, humans have the ability to transform information into ideas. Ideas are created by humans. They are the source, maker, conceiver, inventor of ideas. The notion of god, the concept of philosophy, the principles of science, the laws of government, and the ideals of civilization all are invented by humans. The school of thought that deals with the study of the origin of a notion or idea is called Originemology. This study traces backward in time how ideas evolve, why it was conceptualized, who conceived it, when, and where it began.
However, ideas are not real. They are abstract, immaterial, and only stay in our minds. An idea of a pink unicorn is just an idea sitting in the brain. It might seem real inside the mind, but it is not real in the external world. It might be drawn on a paper or mentioned in a book, but its physical reality doesn't mean it is true. Ideas only become real when they are associated with something physical that can be sensed. An idea of an apple becomes real when you are holding one, personally seeing it sitting on a grocery shelf, smelling its aroma, or tasting its flavor. So how do we transform ideas into a reality without an external physical world?
The answer: it can't be done! There is no way abstract ideas can be translated to physical realities without the outside world. This is called The Codexation Dilemma. The other part of the dilemma is that no one can ever think of something without associating it with something physical to claim it true or real.
So, how do prayers get answered? Can prayers be answered by faith or science? If you have a headache, can god relieve the pain or medicine can relieve the pain? If you have an ulcer, can you put faith in God by just praying and be cured; or you will go to a doctor by asking a surgical operation and be cured?
"Miracles only happen when people help people." ~ Joey Lawsin
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