Assuming that the Big Bang Theory is correct (I need to start somewhere) would the Intelligence that is our Universe have grown and matured through experience or did it spring into being fully formed?
If it is the former what effect would the growth of an intelligence have on the Universe as a whole? Could humanity, and life in general, be seen as consequence of this "maturation"?
If, as many scientists believe, the Big Bang is actually one of several Big Bangs that have occured does this Intelligence start anew each time or is it something that is outside of our understanding of reality?
An interesting fiction that engages these questions in a thoughtful and entertaining fashion is Robert Sawyer's
Calculating God
The more I spin this around in my head, the more questions and possibilities it raises. To be honsest, I can't say my materialist self is all that comfortable with it.
And just to touch on relgion ever so briefly, it would seem to suggest something more akin to the Bhuddist philosophy than anything else... at least the way it is currently coalescing in my mind.