Divinity and Evolution

While it is true that most of your readers (in fact, most likely all of your readers) know of and have read/watched Ah! My Goddess. The story is just too good to be isolated to that small group of people, I am not exactly sure how you would write the prolog (never the less I would find it extremely entertaining) but then people who love the story with the same passion as myself could recommend it to others.

My next work will be a non-fic guidance book, and then the following work will be an original fiction. Both should be done by the end of next year. Meanwhile, I’ll keep writing TBT as a hobby. Thanx for the encouragement…

As for the prologue, I hope to get to it sometime soon. I doubt if it will bring in more readers, but it will at least give some readers unfamiliar with AMS a background so they can read TBT and not get immediately lost. The other concern is that it could be seen as a spoiler for folks who haven’t seen AMS yet, so I have to be careful…

I consider myself to be more spiritually attuned than most people (at least the people I associate with, who couldn't care less if there was a God or not, let alone the mystery that surrounds God) However, my experience has been a strictly Christian background, and while I am not considering abandoning the faith, I was wondering if you could recommend any books that are based on the belif system that is presented in TBT, or anything resembling it. Such as the dimensional laws. If you don't know what I mean please feel free to ask for clarification.

Some saints: Laozi, Nagarjuna, Plotinus, Meister Eckhart, William Law, Chuangzi San Juan de Cruz, Shinran, Black Elk, Ad-Din Awilya, Rumi.

Some canons: Apocrypha Bible, Qu’ran, Popul Vuh, Tibetan Book of the Dead, The Dhammapada, Bhagavit-Gita, the Tripitika, the Analects

Some scientists: Sagan, Godel, Zukov, Einstein, Fermi, Newton, Descartes, Spivac, Derrida, Foucault, Hawking. Freud

Some philosophers: Husserl, Heidegger, Plato, Ibn-Rushd, Al-Gazzali, Ficino, Smart, Santayana, Koestler, Watsuji, Kongzi

Books on Christian apologetics often have some interesting info on other belief systems and how they compare to Christianity.

Out of sheer curiosity, if you really did have a Goddess appear to you to grant you a wish, what would you ask for?

Probably the same thing the avatar wished for in TBT.

I was re-reading through the first chapter today and there was something that struck me as odd. Not to mention it was never explained (to the best of my knowledge). When Urd was sent to grant Cevn's wish, she said that she was instructed to do so by Kami-sama directly. This as far as I could tell, was true. However why he sent her, "for reasons which will later become apparent" was never really explained, or at least I missed it.

Yes, but it started a whole chain of events that led to Kami-sama ‘forgetting’ why He sent Urd instead of a regular Goddess Relief Office Goddess. This isn’t explicitly stated in TBT, but I made it appear to be inferred. Kami-sama sent Urd, but not the Enigma Book…that is one of the clues. TBT thrives on narrative asymmetry, so that certain things that seem to be a ‘direction’ wind up being a ‘mis-direction’. But yet, there is a lot of continuity and integration going on as well.

I know that Cevn re-created the everything and in doing so, sent himself the book which creates a paradox in itself. If he didn't have the book in the first place, Mara would not have resurrected Isilblius and then the everything wouldn't have been destroyed and Cevn wouldn't have sent himself the book. Therefore, that creates an endless loop.

There is an explanation for this in chp 56, if I recall, where Cevn says that he has to send the Enigma Book to him so that he can have the wherewithal to live as the UF when the UF decides to ‘loan it’s powers’ to him so he can fight Isilblius. Which is why Cevn had to detach himself from the second creation of the Everything (the OmniArc), so as to prevent the loop from reoccurring. This is explained in chp 101-2 or so. If the others recreate the Everything, then it’s safe, because he’s no longer active in the creation of a new ‘everything’. On one level, it’s a blatant loop of causation, on another level, it isn’t.

So what caused Cevn to recieve a wish. Was it Cevn's manipulation in the creation of the everything that caused Kami-sama to take special interest in giving him a wish? If that is the case, then it creates a paradox, outlined earlier in the e-mail.

Cevn was given a wish in just the same way as everyone else…he was noticed by the Ygg mainframe and a goddess (Urd) was dispatched. From there, his wish opened up a can of worms, so to speak. In a sense, on one level, Cevn and Isilblius are fighting it out over the disposition of his wish. On another level, his being given a wish is the same as Keiichi’s situation…and Cevn’s wish causes repercussions, just like Keiichi’s did. Keiichi didn’t make the routine “I wanna be a gazillionaire” sorta wish; his wish was quite extraordinary…and he wound up with Belldandy. Likewise, Cevn’s wish invoked the Ultimate Force in ways that he never even expected. The Ygg Mainframe treated Cevn’s wish as any other, at least until he made it. Then it became something that (perhaps) transcended the Ygg Mainframe and the wish network itself. His sending the Enigma Book into the past was to protect himself (and his wish), but Isilblius ‘used’ Mara to interpret the book and ‘create’ him, so it altered the cycle. Also, it’s assumed in TBT that there are no ‘loops’. This is based on the dimensional theory of ‘infinite irreplicability’, which states that “no object/time/substance can be the same as another object/time/substance…hence, no circularity, no loops, no paradoxes). It’s the quantum physic’s spin-off of Derrida’s theory of linguistic ‘infinite recombinability’: where word-constructs will always be different.

Likewise, if it was his wish that caused the tangent, then it still is a paradox, as the book was sent to him, because Cevn had to re-create the everything.

First, I was wondering about the timeline and lifespan that TBT gives God's and Goddesses. It seems that every 10,000 years for Gods and Goddesses is the equal for 1 human year, however this conflicts with the original Ah my goddess series, where K1 and BD met as kids. If Belldandy was approximately 60,000 years old when they met the first time, and 190,000 (i am not sure how old Belldandy is in TBT, but she is in her late teens or early 20's according to human equilvants) when they met again, so what happened to the other 130,000 years? Perhaps it is a question with no answer :)

Good question. Correct me if I’m wrong, but the anime has them meeting as kids, but the manga doesn’t (I have the complete manga up to Vol 26). I also saw Belldandy as meeting Keiichi when he was 8, not 6. Initially, there is the idea that Bell’s meeting with Keiichi was a systemic aberration of the Ygg Mainframe, so in a sense, her presence wasn’t within the perspective of linear, analogous time-frames. I’ve alighted on this issue a couple times in TBT, and was planning to answer it later in this arc, but the short answer is two-fold. Time is very fluid in TBT, so I have to make sure that the rules don’t seem too ‘made up as he goes’ in terms of this. The 1 year = 10K years isn’t within the same context of, say, 1 human year = 7 cat years. Thus, when Belldandy was 60K years old, it was 190K years in the past: which would place her somewhere along the lines of being contemporaneous with the very late Sineanthropus Pekinensis or the proto H-Robustus era of the mid-Pleistocene period. Obviously, there is a paradox at work here, and the original explanation for Belldandy’s presence in Japan back when Keiichi was a kid was some weirdness on the part of the Ygg system (remember the bugs and all that from the original OAV series). So she was kinda caught in a ‘loop’…her 60k yo self coexisting in the same chronological plane at her 240K-something self. The intervening years went as they should, in fact TBT alludes to this in the chaps detailing the “Humanity Prohibition”, where Belldandy talks to Keiichi about seeing ‘mankind grow up” while she was growing up herself. This is the simple explanation….

Second, I don't see how becoming a God (or Demon) could be the pinnacle of the evolutional track. Let me try to phrase this right, I am better at articulating my thoughts orally than I am in writing. First comes the age old question. If God exists, what created God. (or in this case, Kami-sama, Oni-sama and the midlight boy). The answer is either, they created themselves (imposable for a human to comprehend, but of course we are talking about something that goes far beyond all that a human can think of. Or that they just have always existed, but of course this is imposable in TBT as if something always existed, then they cannot be destroyed. Therefore, there may be a level of growth, or evolution beyond that of the Gods and Kami-sama/Oni-sama. Humans see God as the all powerful being, with nothing else greater in existence. However in TBT the Ultimate Gods are not perfect, and not omniponient, and therefore, not at the pinnacle of evolution. Will some sort of higher being ever be brought into TBT?

Yes and no. Actually, the Ultimate Force is intended to fulfill the cosmogonic scenario that you describe. If you think post-structurally, then evolution no longer takes on a per accidens or contiguous course. What this means that that evolution itself can be unbound; in TBT, one of the aspects of evolution is derived from the Buddhist doctrine of pratityasamutpada, or dependant arising. The concise explanation of this concept is that things arise out of an uncreated state without external moderation; by their own aspects/attributes/etc. In order to accept this tenet, one has to negate ‘nullness’; the ‘ex nihilo’ (emptiness) is thus rendered incomprehensible, even to the point where one can’t even comprehend the dynamic of ‘something coming from nothing’.

Another aspect is the heterarchy (hetero, or non-ranked) vs hierarchy (hierarchical, or ranked) vs holarchy (holon, or non-specific, unique, self-reliant) discussion of evolution. TBT sides with holonic organization in regards to evolution, and attempts to provide a somewhat explicit explanation of this at several points. Thus, there is no ‘ranking’ or ‘causality’ that is universally definable; otherwise the Gods or Demons would have a 100% ‘success rate’ in cultivating the mortal species to the Next Level. Each holon is self-reliant, yet it is capable of being instructed by other ‘types’ of evolved beings (Gods, Demons, demi-deities).

One way of looking at it is that the UF is coexistent, co emanating, co-cosmogonic and tautologically interwoven with Kami-sama, Oni-sama, the Reaper Kid, plus the three Realms and their OSs (Yggdrasil, Vanagdrasil, the Multiplexity). It’s not a matter of what came first, or even what comes last. Also, the Gods and Demons are divided into some kind of coherent ranking (one reader refers to Kami-sama as the über-God), viz: the license system. But this is not an evolutionary ranking, it is something else.

Third, it is clear that TBT for the most part avoids any mention of real religions in much detail. After all, what would Belldandy say if Keiichi asked her about the truth behind Jesus and the Christian faith. Due to the truths in the TBT (and Ah! my goddess) world, Jesus was a liar. Of course this a fictional piece of work, so we can't accuse any real religions of being false based on a fictional world, but while trying to avoid this issue Chapter 68 contains this line, and I quote "If we were created in God's image, as the Christians claimed...and the Goddesses confirmed"

Consider the context. Cevn is taking this explanation and playing with it, under the influence of the exasperation he feels once he learns that Bell’s Parents had yanked Keiichi away to parts unknown! There is playful humor at work here, ala “pray for a million dollars and God will give you a million dollars…and you end up suffocating under the weight of it”. But there also a more profound principle.

In one of the earlier chapters (I believe it is the arc where the guys are sent in the past, and the goddesses are sent into the future), Belldandy addresses the issue at what point were we created in God’s image (actually, Buddha-image in that particular segment). The fundamental ‘energy’, (Metanative) if you will, that is found within all things, is part of the creation. Taking this further (by eliminating concerns like image/aesthetic/physiology/evolution/etc)…if you consider God to be a qua monadological being, then it can be argued that it is entirely possible that nothing could ever evolve in any manner other than His image. In other words, all evolution begins, ends, and is synonymous with God at all times and manners. This is the explanation of the Goddesses. It’s an elaboration of Pico de Mirandola’s humanist model, where the ‘ultimate human’ is the Divine that resides in the individual. It’s also based on several well-known theories of Fukuyama, where the ‘last human’ firmly places Man as existing outside of history (Man is transhistorical, thus not invested in the continuity of ‘evolution’, since evolution implies interspecific continuity via competition and other mechanisms over time).

As far as religions, I’ve tried to take a syncretic approach to spiritual truths…seeing the commonalities, as if each faith sees a part or a whole of ‘the picture’. I know that in TBT, I give short shrift to Christianity/Islam/Buddhism/Edda…as far as the ‘religious’ aspects go. But the mystical aspects of those religions are inter-threaded and often reconciled in TBT. Belldandy manifests as the Buddha in one part, as Allah in another part, as Kannon in another part. Christianity is often cited for its truths in TBT, both tacitly and subtly.

The use of this line totally contradicts the use of evolution thought the story (unless Kama-sama is a monkey) so is the evolution factor purely a symbolic evolution based on the society changes, or is it actual evolution. (I am not trying to beat up on TBT, I am just wondering if your intention was different from how I interpreted the line)

It’s way different, as you can see. Another approach would be that evolution and non-evolution are essentially not different (as is “descent of species” or ‘ascent of species’ science of evolution vs. “original sin” or “original blessing” doctrines of spirituality/religion).

Fourth, I know you did respond to this on the forums (and a couple other questions I asked were placed on the forums) but I am still kind of unclear about it.

My apologies. Perhaps I should note somewhere in the forum to email the author if one wishes in-depth discussion of certain aspects of TBT…

In the beginning Cevn told Urd that he would tell her someday how he knew she was a second class Goddess, instead of a first class Goddess. Of course he never did. I think it would take a piece of Genius to explain the manga Ah my goddess to the real characters (perhaps a different timeline in the universe) but never the less that end is left untied, while it doesn't need to be finished, I think it would be nice to see an ending to that question.

It’s a dangle, used to illustrate Urd’s character and how Cevn relates to her. It might be addressed later on in TBT, and was sorta quasi-addressed/hinted at earlier on (just a sentence or two, can’t remember where).

Fifth, I was just wondering if you had a answer to the problem of keiichi's finite lifetime. Of course I'm not asking for that answer, as I will just have to wait and see like everyone else. I have read some fan fics where K1 gets immortatily granted to him, or other ones where he gets to be with BD after he dies, but these seem just too simple for the genius of TBT.

Neither one is acceptable. I’ve already set up how this gets resolved way back, so it should be interesting. I didn’t want to employ ‘idiot solutions’ like the ‘mortality elixir’, ‘instant packaged immortality’, ‘afterlife’ or ‘Bell dies’ type of answers. I hope that the solution is satisfying, or that it prompts someone to say “TBT used an idiot solution to the mortal/immortal issue…I’ll provide a better one!”

Sixth, even thought Goddess and God are surposed to be far more intellegant than their mortal counterparts, it seems that they can be incredabily stupid to. In regards to Cevn's mortatily, they keep calling him a mortal dispite the fact that he has composed to God's music, withstood an unsealed God senior first class hit him with a lighting bold, and just stood up and kept on walking. How can they still call him a mortal, it seems a bit dumb.

The first part of your question, concerning the Gods and their ‘stupidity’. Quirks in the Divine’s characters is demanded by literary convention, for one thing, otherwise the story would be boring because of ossification (everything is known, so why need to invent anything?). This struggle to elaborate on Godhead is akin to the dilemma faced by the Greeks, Hindus, Toltecs and any other culture who had a pantheistic approach to deification. Heck, it even qualifies to monotheist religions. Allah rewards the diligently faithful with an afterlife where they can sport with 47 virgins? Buddha’s Peng-Lai heaven has peach wine that produces no hangovers for those who obtain moksha? God’s Hell is a creation where the only persons punished in the afterlife are Christians…while all the other ‘heathen’ folks get purgation and not sanction? It all can be so silly…

Likewise, in TBT, the Divines have to have their foibles. Bell’s Mom is like the total “social club queen”. Kami-sama ranges from vindictive bully to defiant punk. Oni-sama can be totally malicious and cruel, and yet crack jokes over dinner. That’s just in TBT…in the AMS manga, you’ve got Rind’s “counter-dependence”, Peorth’s “prankishness”, etc. I had to laugh when Fujisama came up with the character for Keiichi’s dad (for a moment, I thought he had stolen it from TBT!). Who knows, maybe he did. That segment came out a year after I brought out the first 40 chaps of TBT, and I have found two Japanese translations of TBT so far on otaku sites.

Your question about the Gods’ inability to determine what Cevn is a important one, which, for the sake of narrative, cannot be readily resolved in TBT. Actually, all joking aside, the deities have a hard time figuring Cevn out. In one sense, he is mortal in every sense of the word…he can die, he can’t do any of the ‘magic’ stuff the Goddesses do. On the other hand, he has divine-type attributes and powers. The simple answer is that he’s a mortal who’s occasionally bestowed with ‘other’ powers. But the significance here is that he usually cannot choose to exercise those powers. In other words, he can’t just say “I wanna be the UF” and then it happens. In one sense, the UF is using him. Yet, in another sense, he is using the UF because of his wish…

It’s the same with Keiichi…the Gods’ can’t figure him out either…a fact alluded to in TBT several times (which again shows up a year or two later in Fujisama’s manga!). Here’s a mortal that has a Goddess attached to him…something’s got to be special about him. Later, he gets an Angel. Later, we learn that he has Divine qualities, which had some influence upon the Ygg Mainframe’s decision to grant his wish (otherwise, Bell staying with him would be the equivalent of you or I having to stay with an ant until it died). Put simply, his wish would have been rejected outright if he didn’t have something to engage Bell’s attention with…and ultimately, engage her heart. Keiichi’s wish has everything to do with Cevn being involved in the story in a sense; if he hadn’t wished for Bell, then Urd wouldn’t have gone to grant his wish and then bring him to Japan.

Anyway if I have more questions I'll e-mail you again sometime, amazing peice of work, I don't want you to think im beating down on it, the story is pure genius.

Oh no, I didn’t think that as all. In fact, I am really grateful that you took the time to email me. I have a section in TBT called “How TBT Works” which provides some in-depth discussions of some topics (if possible, I may want to stick this discussion in there with your permission). TBT isn’t your average 8th-grade level fanfic, I’ve tried really hard to integrate deeper truths and theories into it. Of course, these are somewhat simplified (otherwise TBT would read like a graduate textbook on metaphysics/psychology/Asian studies), so I’m always thrilled to see questions like the ones you posed. At times, readers have pointed out flaws or issues which were the germ for me to discover that certain aspects of TBT demanded rewrites…for which I’m grateful as well. I’ve had these types of discussions with several readers, who have read TBT with the kind of astute perspective that you employ (otherwise you wouldn’t be bringing up these concerns). Several of them have been corresponding with me for a couple years now on TBT, their own fanfics, and life itself.

As for where TBT is going…

The current story arc is very complex, even more so than the other two ‘separated’ story arcs (Isilblius splitting the group up into past and future) (the split between chaps 78-92). Once I start to brew it, I hope to bring back some of the romance that was in the earlier part of TBT. I feel that in some ways TBT’s gotten too ‘sci-fi’, but this has also come at the expense of the involvement of the SI avatar character, who figures only a very minor role in the past 40 chapters. I’ve already mapped out the next 5-10 chaps, so there is some cohesion at work here….