There is a mathematical equation that proves the existence of God

With this simple equation―and an analogy―the evidence for God is strong enough to present in a court of law

The concept of faith has been somewhat at odds with the concept of science since dawn immemorial, or at the very least, since the Enlightenment.

When you add the rigors of the Scientific Method, and in particular the burden of finding transparent reproducibility, it seems that the concept of belief―particularly belief in a higher power―doesn’t hold a shot.

Ask a believer for a shred of evidence behind a supposed entity powerful enough to bring this universe into being, and the believer might not have a single shred to offer.

Until now.

This article will prove the existence of God, and will do so with a straightforward equation and an analogy.

The evidence will be observable, repeatable, and strong enough to present in a court of law.

All, right, let’s begin.

Preamble — let’s first define what we mean by ‘God’

By the term God, we don’t (necessarily) mean any omnipotent being from any of the Abrahamic religions.

Nor do we (necessarily) mean any polytheistic deity, animistic spirit, or anything else along those lines.

For this argument, we are going to mean:

God = Some entity that brought this universe into being.

It could be a sentient being, or a group of sentient beings. It could be an omnipotent deity who controls everything about this universe, or a semi-potent deity who made this universe, and then let everything play out by itself.

It could be a computer program, or even just a force.

But whatever this entity is, it made the universe, existence, humans and everything else.

And we are going to prove it.

The parts of this proof

There will be three parts to this proof.

1. Part 1 — The equation
2. Part 2 — The analogy
3. Part 3 — Setting the equation against the context of the analogy to bring proof that God exists

All right, let’s begin.

Part 1 — The equation

The equation is fairly straightforward.

First, take 9 1s, and put them all together.

111111111

To make it a bit easier to read as a number, let’s add some commas.

111,111,111

One hundred and eleven million, one hundred and eleven thousand, one hundred and eleven.

9 1s, all together, making a number.

Let’s take that number, and multiply it by itself.

111,111,111 x 111,111,111

What does that equal? I’ll save you a trip to the calculator, because the answer is quite memorable, and quite elegant.

111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321

Let’s remove the commas, so that we might stay within the realm of pure mathematics.

111111111 x 111111111 = 12345678987654321

Wait — how does that prove God exists?

It’s hard to see this without the understanding of an analogy.

For now, just realize that with:

111111111 x 111111111 = 12345678987654321

There is a beauty, and a symmetry.

Now on to the analogy.

Part 2 — The analogy

Put all thought of numbers and equations aside for now.

We’ll get to 111,111,111² later, but until Part 3―put it aside.

Think not of numbers, but of yourself, in the backyard on a clear evening, with a new type of telescope.

Photo by Simon Delalande on Unsplash

This telescope is really good, and you are one of the first to have used it.

You point it at the sky and see Mars.

Mars — Image courtesy of NASA

You then focus a bit, and see something.

Mars — image from NASA, photoshopped for illustration purposes

You look closer, and come to one conclusion:

It’s a spire.

You bring this to the authorities, and yes―it is a spire

Better telescopes from around the world point themselves toward Mars, and see the spire in greater detail.

Then they send a probe to Mars to take photographs.

The probe views the spire up close. The spire is ornate, and though there are no human markings, it is covered with strange symbols. And its architecture, albeit unseen on any earth-born structure, is indeed architecture.

This spire was built to be a spire, one that could at least support its own Martian weight.

This is an image mashup for illustration purposes— Mars images courtesy of NASA and spire Photo by Elina Emurlaeva on Unsplash

More probes are sent from disparate countries, all coming to the same conclusion: the spire is real.

Multiple countries even send real human astronauts to Mars, who each touch the spire, and then report back that yes, the spire is real.

What is the meaning of this spire?

This spire, of course, is more than just a spire.

One could argue that the spire was evidence of extraterrestrial life―and sentient life at that.

And this argument would be very effective.

Either some sentient life had arisen on Mars and had made the spire, or some sentient life had visited Mars, and had left a spire that they had made before leaving.

This would be proof of extraterrestrial life at the very least.

One could make a counterargument that perhaps through sheer chance, materials on Mars just happened to make that formation, but that counterargument would not stand.

This spire would not be the Face on Mars.

Instead, it would be something substantial, with incredible implications.

The spire would be The Spire, and would be evidence of extraterrestrial life.

Why?

Because The Spire itself is evidence that The Spire was made.

At the very least the evidence of The Spire―repeatable evidence from multiple sources―is proof that at the very least―something made that object.

The evidence would be so strong that this could be presented in a court of law, or anywhere else.

The Spire would be proof that something made that object.

Part 3 — Setting the equation against the context of the analogy to bring proof that God exists

OK, let’s bring what we have together.

And we have:

An equation

111111111 x 1111111111 = 12345678987654321

And an analogy of a spire on Mars

A beautiful, ornate spire, observable by anyone, which is at the very least proof that some entity made it

Here is how we can put them together.

Think of the equation as a spire.

111111111² as a spire

111111111² is a beautiful, elegant spire, and it’s not just sticking out of one place on Mars.

111111111² is visible from every corner of the universe.

Go anywhere on earth, and:

111111111 x 1111111111 = 12345678987654321

Travel beyond earth, and all the way to a different solar system and:

111111111 x 1111111111 = 12345678987654321

Find a way to interact with an extraterrestrial species, and provided they are sentient and have a grasp of Math, and both of you will find that:

111111111 x 1111111111 = 12345678987654321

Even if you encounter a 6-finger species that counts in BASE 12, if you ask them to count in BASE 10 for a bit, you both will find that:

111111111 x 1111111111 = 12345678987654321

In short, the beauty of 111111111² is observable, reproducible, and it is absolutely everywhere.

Exploring the analogy further to show the 111111111² spire is proof of Good

Our spire on Mars was―at the very least―proof that it was made.

The Martian Spire was made by something―some entity.

And our beautiful mathematical spire of 111111111² is proof that it was made.

What exactly made it―be it an omnipotent or semi-potent deity, a sentient group of beings, a computer program or even just a force―is another question, and perhaps the ultimate question.

But before we ask that, we can deduce that something, or rather some entity made it.

And exploring this further―

A Martian Spire would be proof that the entity that had made it had most likely been on Mars at some point.

Thus, since the spire of 111111111² is observable from every point in the universe, whatever made that spire is either everywhere, or at the very least has delivered a spire that is now everywhere.

And whatever that entity is, we can call it God.

Facing the first counterargument to this, through thinkers like Isaac Newton and Max Tegmark

The most apparent counterargument to this line of reasoning is seeing mathematical equations not as made spires, but things that just ‘are.’

In short, there is a belief that Math was not made, but just is.

3 + 3 = 6 because it does, and 111,111,111² = 12,345,678,987,654,321 because it just happened to end up that way.

To counteract this type of thinking, let’s harken back to Isaac Newton, who shed a similar it just is mentality of his time.

Isaac Newton — Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Before Newton’s time―and quite understandably so―the prevailing notion was that objects fell to earth, not because of a force, but because nothing was beneath them.

If nothing is beneath an apple (to employ a possibly apocryphal, but still demonstrative object), and nothing is holding the apple to the tree, the fruit will fall until the ground disallows it falling any further.

Newton had the insight that there is something more here than just nothing being beneath the apple. Newton realized a force named gravity was pulling the apple down to earth.

And we can observe this quite readily today―bring an apple into a space shuttle in orbit around earth, and it will float.

An apple floating, or rather experiencing orbital momentum, in the ISS space station — image courtesy of NASA

The apple is still experiencing the earth’s gravity while in orbit, but it refrains from falling due to its orbital movement―

You get the point.

Newton had the counterintuitive-at-the-time notion that a force pulled the apple down, and now we understand it.

Let’s apply that outside-the-box thinking to an equation, not 111111111², but rather something a bit closer to the fundamentals of arithmetic:

3 + 3 = 6

Why does 3 + 3 = 6?

One could argue that it equals this because it does, and from a human perspective―that seems correct.

Three sticks and three sticks equals six sticks, because―

Because it does.

By that line of thinking, Math―including the spire of 111111111²―was not made.

It just is.

But Newton said apples with nothing beneath them fall not just because they do, and certain thinkers believe that Math is not as persistent as it appears to us.

Among these thinkers, is a cosmologist named Max Tegmark.

Max Tegmark and a multiverse of different Mathematics

The cosmologist Max Tegmark — image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

The cosmologist Max Tegmark has posited the theory that different universes might have different Maths.

To put it in quite oversimplified terms, which―full disclosure―this article writer does not completely understand himself―

There are multiple other universes besides the one in which we currently reside. These different universes are indeed different, and different universes might have different Mathematics.

So in short, in this universe and many others, 3 + 3 = 6.

But in another universe, 3 + 3 ≠ 6.

How could any universe have 3 + 3 ≠ 6 ?

That is certainly a good question, one that might not be possible to explain―within this universe at least.

In this universe it is possible to explain gravity (up to a point), and so many other things (up to a point).

But it is hard to imagine being in another universe where 3 sticks and 3 sticks do not equal 6 sticks.

And perhaps the 3 + 3 ≠ 6 equation is not quite the right way to think about it.

But the evidence we do have is that:

1. Max Tegmark has posited quite a few supported theories that there are different universes with different Mathematics. Some universes―due to their different Math―may be devoid of life. Some may have different Math, but are filled with life forms that just have―different Math.
2. When our current scientists examine this universe’s history and travel backward to the Big Bang, everything is fairly straightforward until one gets really, really close to the moment of explosion, when our Math doesn’t quite work anymore.

Think about the implications of number 2.

Even in this universe, Math is consistent until it isn’t.

And perhaps the best way to understand the concept of different Math is to go backwards until Math disappears altogether.

Math before and after the Big Bang

The Big Bang, image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Granted, when it comes to talking about the Big Bang, the term before doesn’t quite hold an understandable meaning, if any meaning at all.

But still:

Math did not exist before the Big Bang, nor did the speed of light and many other things.

After the Big Bang, Math began to exist and quickly became consistent, and the speed of light was set at 299,702.458 kilometers / second.

Think about the speed of light.

Could you imagine a universe where the speed of light was twice as fast? Or just a bit slower?

That would certainly change everything, but―one can imagine a universe with a different speed of light.

The speed of light was―for lack of a better term―a rule that was set after the universe began.

In a different universe, different rules were set at the beginning.

Perhaps in that different universe, the speed of light is a little slower, gravity is a little stronger, parallel lines eventually meet, and 3 + 3 ≠ 6.

It’s hard to imagine an existence like this when you think about the specifics, but when you think about it existing in general, it is not as difficult.

But before we delve too deeply into the specifics of other universes, let’s think about this universe, where 3 + 3 does = 6, the speed of light is 299,702.458 km / s, and 111111111² does = 12345678987654321.

In this universe there is an elegant spire of Mathematics, observable by anyone in this universe, at any time.

And most everyone, from a child to a PhD candidate in Math, can look at this:

111111111 x 1111111111 = 12345678987654321

And understand the beauty of it, and the symmetry.

And by understanding that this universe’s Math was made at the time of the Big Bang, we can look at what was made, and understand that like the hypothetical Martian spire, some entity made this.

And though we can’t understand what that entity is, we can call it God.

Are there other spires?

Absolutely.

Though 111111111² is a good example, there are a lot of good examples, and some great ones.

Take the equation below, for example:

x² + y² = 1

When you solve for all possible answers, you get a perfect circle.

If you show all the possible answers for x² + y² = 1, you get a perfect circle

There is beauty in that spire, a symmetry, and perhaps a logic behind it.

Perhaps a deliberate logic.

Sometimes spires are found unexpectedly.

The Mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan — Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

The British Mathematician GH Hardy was visiting the Indian Mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan, and Hardy took a cab there with the number 1729.

Hardy told Ramanujan that 1729 was not a particularly interesting number, and Ramanujan said ‘No, it is a very interesting number,’ and then proceeded to explain why 1729 is interesting. You can find the uniqueness of 1729 here, and in fact―that unexpected event brought about a new categorization of similar numbers, called taxicab numbers.

Sometimes we can’t see the end of a spire.

For example, π. We can see the base of Pi’s spire, and look outward―you can see Pi’s first million digits here.

Though the end of stretches π beyond our sight, we can see the spire, and it is beautiful.

Sometimes we can understand a spire quite well.

For example, we have proved the Pythagorean Theorem in 370 different ways.

And even if we don’t understand a spire, we can see it, and that has value.

We don’t quite understand the logic behind prime numbers, and when they will occur in a number series.

But―we can observe them, and our observations would be the same as any other extraterrestrial species with a sufficient understanding of Mathematics.

Prime numbers are prime numbers, anywhere in this universe.

We don’t fully understand the spire of prime numbers, but we can see its beauty and consistency.

In fact, any sufficiently intelligent species in the universe will be able to see the same spire, with the same beauty and consistency.

If this were an encounter with an alien, the alien would most likely understand the meaning of prime numbers. Photo by Kace Lott on Unsplash

Conclusion

There are countless mysteries in this universe, from the origins of the Big Bang to the very nature of consciousness.

But though Math has its own set of mysteries, what sets Math apart is that these mysteries can be explored.

The nuances of Math can be observed, tested, and if there is an answer, it is quite often reproducible.

And when one does explore Math, one finds incredible beauty in many, many places.

We can call those beautiful findings spires.

And we can call the entity that made these spires―

We can call that entity God.

Jonathan Maas has made one independent movie — Spanners, which is available on YouTube — and has a few books on Amazon. You can contact him through Medium, or through Goodreads.com/JMaas.