Changing the World

Whatever you do, you change the world. The greater your potential to do so, the more you must change it. The more you can change it, the better it is that you change it for the better. And so it goes.

I don't know exactly when it became a Marvel Comics catchphrase (i.e. 'with great power comes great responsibility'), but it's convenient shorthand to put it that way. The principle, however, is somewhat well-established in law: if you have greater resources, privileges, and powers, you also have a greater duty of care in many cases.

In this case, it must be a greater duty of care with regard to the world around us. But here is where it gets interesting. If the universe was created by a God of unbounded powers, the responsibility must also be unbounded. He can't just delegate authority to humans, because He would still be responsible by virtue of being a higher authority with perfect foresight.

The question is then, to what extent is His responsibility voided by humans deciding to do things that they ought not do? Are we considered competent or incompetent? Does God's responsibility extend to maintaining the universe in a state acceptable to its tenants?

Ah well. It seems that power might be an expensive burden. But torque is cheap.