# The Best of all Possible Worlds

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-of-all-possible-worlds/553190>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [September 9, 2010, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-of-all-possible-worlds/553190 "2010-09-09T15:46:04Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 7

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**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\
**Post date:** [September 9, 2010, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-of-all-possible-worlds/553190/7 "2010-09-09T16:09:32Z")

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Ah, you’ve already found the thread (directed to **Chakra Nadmara** ), I was just going to reply to your last post in the other one. So let’s tackle this together:

> [@What is the scientific perspective on the omnimax god?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-scientific-perspective-on-the-omnimax-god/552630/94):
>
> If I can imagine a better world within the realm of possibility, this is not the best possible world. I can imagine such a world. This is not the best possible world.

First, I’d challenge your assertion that you can imagine a world – a world in all its completeness, from the microscopic level to the movement of the galaxy clusters, from its beginning (should it have one) to its end (again, should it have one), or otherwise, for all of infinity. (If you can, I’m impressed!) Similarly, I don’t think anybody has a handle on which worlds are possible and which aren’t.

As for point 12, it’s a simple consequence of our inability to survey the totality of all possible worlds: take two worlds that at some point in time differ by some evil action, say, a murder. Now, you might well argue that obviously, world A, in which the murder didn’t happen, was the better one of the two! However, you’d neglect that you don’t have the whole picture: in world A, the murder might be the one that leads to the killer, a notorious serial murderer, being captured; in world B, through neglecting to kill this one person, the killer avoids capture, and is free to kill another 27 persons before eventually dying happy and content of old age. Bottom line being, you can’t point to any single evil deed as being responsible for a world to be, in the end, better or worse.

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