Biological Design Argument?

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But the Designer is never separated from His design.
I disagree. The universe started 13.7 billion years ago. 20 billion years there was no universe, so any designer of the universe was separated by from the design by time .

Or are you saying that the designer came into existence at the time of the Big Bang, and not before?

rossum
 
Since there are different numberings of the Psalms would you quote the Psalm itself or link to the one you cite? And please explain how it applies.
It applies to the explanation for the origin of life:

Psalm 42:2 “My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and behold the face of God?” (emphasis added)

Since God is Himself alive, “living God”, then God cannot explain the origin of life. At best, we have the first living thing (God) making the second living thing. Creationism offers no explanation for the actual origin of life, that is the origin of the first living thing.

Creationism assumes the existence of life; it makes no attempt to explain how it originated.

rossum
 
It applies to the explanation for the origin of life:

Psalm 42:2 “My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and behold the face of God?” (emphasis added)

Since God is Himself alive, “living God”, then God cannot explain the origin of life. At best, we have the first living thing (God) making the second living thing. Creationism offers no explanation for the actual origin of life, that is the origin of the first living thing.

Creationism assumes the existence of life; it makes no attempt to explain how it originated.

rossum
Good morning Rossum. Thank you for these three posts. I will resopond later, probably late this evening, this is going to be a busy day for me - lots of yard work to do while the weather is good. Linus2nd
 
My point remains that our internal models are designed, and it is not an error to say that they are designed. The error is to mistake the internal model for the external reality. What is true of one is not always true of the other.

rossum
Another error is to claim that just because the internal model is designed, but limited in accuracy, that for some reason, the external model cannot be designed. Nothing you have said proves or disproves anything about whether or not the external model can be designed.

If the internal model consistently shows the design of the external one, albeit in a mode limited by the constraints of the capacities of the human mind, then we can justifiably claim the external model could be designed, but in a manner incompletely understood by our limited capacity to deconstruct it. We don’t, however, have warrant for claiming it is definitely not designed because we haven’t, to date, fully comprehended the apparent design.
 
See my post # 542 above. I think that answers your question. Absolutely everything that exists is under God’s Providence. There is no chance, coincidence, or randomness. This is true whether or not you consider the universe eternal or as having an absolute beginning in time, whether or not you consider the universe as evolving or not. Linus2nd
How do the tornados in Oklahoma and Missouri fit in with the intelligent design principle?
Was hurricane Sandy part of Intelligent Design?
Randomness is being observed repeatedly by people who study patterns. If no pattern can be detected, then accidental or random processes are concluded to have been in action. If Intelligent Design implies having a desired result in the most direct way, randomness is extremely inefficient in achieving the desired goal.
 
Thinking about nature, delving into the microcosm and allowing my imagination to soar to the wonders of the billions of galaxies that exist, there comes to my mind the image of Carl Sagan (i believe an atheist) all enthused about the grandness and awesomeness of the universe.
That sense of beauty can be understood as residing within the individual as an emotion, as a quality inherent in the nature of creation and as something that speaks to the Person who created such wonders.
He who is beauty and goodness itself, He who is knowledge and Truth is our Creator.
Oops, some of those random thoughts again.
 
How do the tornados in Oklahoma and Missouri fit in with the intelligent design principle?
Was hurricane Sandy part of Intelligent Design?
Randomness is being observed repeatedly by people who study patterns. If no pattern can be detected, then accidental or random processes are concluded to have been in action. If Intelligent Design implies having a desired result in the most direct way, randomness is extremely inefficient in achieving the desired goal.
In an immensely complex universe it is inevitable that there are unfortunate coincidences which have undesirable consequences. Within the framework of Design there is an element of Chance. Sooner or later some one is bound to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
 
In an immensely complex universe it is inevitable that there are unfortunate coincidences which have undesirable consequences. Within the framework of Design there is an element of Chance. Sooner or later some one is bound to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Why not have chance lead to the creation of a huge number of experiments, most of which fail? The ones that succeed incorporate the features that were arrived at by chance, leading to a following generation whose odds of surviving are better than the previous one. This is how evolution is thought to work. No design is necessary. Just random combinations of features, some of which are failures from day one, but others of which are successful.
 
I disagree. The universe started 13.7 billion years ago. 20 billion years there was no universe, so any designer of the universe was separated by from the design by time .

Or are you saying that the designer came into existence at the time of the Big Bang, and not before?

rossum
Time itself is a product of the universe; both space AND time begin with the Big Bang. It is incoherent to speak, in any real sense, of any amount of time that exceeds the age of the universe. It is equally absurd to say that God could be separated from the universe by time, as time has no existence outside of the universe by which to separate anything.
 
I have a new method of detecting cancer. It always works 100% because I say so, and you believe me of course. Have I tested it? No, I don’t have to because I already know it works. And my new method of detecting cancer will only cost you $149.95.

Convinced? If you are, then I have this bridge in New York for sale…

If you are not convinced, then you can see why I want the design detection method to be tested. I wouldn’t accept an untested detection method for cancer; nor would I accept an untested detection method for design.

rossum
I don’t see how ID has any thing to do with finding the most reliable method of treating a cancer or any other disease. However the scientist relies on ID to do his research. If design were not part of the materials he was studying and the tools he applied to them he wouldn’t get off first base.

So if I am sick I go to the Doctor and we discuss the proper treatment ( and I have had several of these discussions ). All we are testing here is the best method. We are, however, relying on the inbuilt design of the medicines. And since they exhibit design, there must be a designer.

Linus2nd
 
I disagree. The universe started 13.7 billion years ago. 20 billion years there was no universe, so any designer of the universe was separated by from the design by time .

Or are you saying that the designer came into existence at the time of the Big Bang, and not before?

rossum
Time is relative only to the physical universe. God exists in an eternal Now, He simply Is, and Is Now. His knowledge is all embracing, infinite, and this includes His Plan for creation and the execution of that Plan. That Plan He executes in His eternal Now. His Plan is to create the time bound beings of the physical universe. The passage of time does not occure for Him but for us. His Design is part and parcel of His Plan. It unfolds for us in time and in the well ordered functioning of all systems of the universe and of all things that ever existed in it or will ever exist in it. Nothing escapes His guiding " hand, " nothing exists without His upholding power. Nothing is fortuitous, there are no chance happenings, no accidents, nothing escapes His Plan, all is designed and planned, even the free choices of man, even the roll of the dice, the draw of the card.

For a discussion of God’s eternity vs creation see my post # 542 above.

Linus2nd
 
It applies to the explanation for the origin of life:

Psalm 42:2 “My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and behold the face of God?” (emphasis added)

Since God is Himself alive, “living God”, then God cannot explain the origin of life. At best, we have the first living thing (God) making the second living thing. Creationism offers no explanation for the actual origin of life, that is the origin of the first living thing.

Creationism assumes the existence of life; it makes no attempt to explain how it originated.

rossum
I hate the word " Creationism " since it has acquired such adverse political overtones. I am not a part of the " party. " We are faced with a time bound, limited, contingent, physical universe. For the sake of argument, it may have existed eternally or it may have had an absolute beginning. Life may have existed eternally in it or it may have appeared at some point in the past.

Which ever the case, it is clear that human intelligence is not responsible for the existence of the physical universe, nor for the laws and systems governing the universe and all that is in it - nor for man’s own life, nor for the lives of other living things. Nor is it responsible for the existence of the universe or the evident order throughout.

All this, living man, living things, the existence of all non-living physicality, the evident of order throughout, screams for a Cause, a Sufficient Reason, and it must be Intelligent.

Yet, this Cause, this Intelligent, Sufficient Reason cannot be lodged in mindless matter or energy, or waves, etc.

We must therefore infer the existence of an Intelligent, Living, Power that is responsible for the existence of the physical universe, a Cause that cannot be a part of the universe itself, because it cannot be limited or contingent itself but simply Be, a Pure Act, Uncaused, and Unchanging.

It is hard to wrap our minds around this inescapable fact, but it is even harder to wrap our minds around a limited, contingent, mindless universe existing or coming into existence on its own.

I refer you to the Five Ways of St. Thomas as discussed in S.T., Part 1, ques 2, ans 3.
newadvent.org/summa/1002.htm#article3

and S.C.G. Book 1, ch 13. newadvent.org/summa/1002.htm#article3

Linus2nd
 
How do the tornados in Oklahoma and Missouri fit in with the intelligent design principle?
Was hurricane Sandy part of Intelligent Design?
Randomness is being observed repeatedly by people who study patterns. If no pattern can be detected, then accidental or random processes are concluded to have been in action. If Intelligent Design implies having a desired result in the most direct way, randomness is extremely inefficient in achieving the desired goal.
See my post # 542, I only included part of the link, you can read all the answers by following the link.

Linus2nd
 
You can see a horse. You can smell a horse. You can build your model of a horse using the (name removed by moderator)ut from your senses. My point is that your senses are approximate. You smell-of-horse is far less accurate than the smell-of-horse a dog will sense. Hence the (name removed by moderator)ut to your model is approximate. Similarly your sight-of-horse is much less detailed than an eagle’s sight-of-horse. What we see is a fuzzy blur compared to an what an eagle sees. Again our senses are approximate so our internal models must be approximate.

Someone who is colour blind will build a different model of a horse to someone who isn’t. Can that colour blind person function in the real world? Of course they can. The fact that their models are a bit less accurate than most people’s is not a major problem for them.

Our models cannot be anything except approximate because our sensory (name removed by moderator)uts are also approximate.

My point remains that our internal models are designed, and it is not an error to say that they are designed. The error is to mistake the internal model for the external reality. What is true of one is not always true of the other.

rossum
Your observations are true but your conclusion is worng. If the human race was not capable of knowing the external world as it is, if his intellect did not form a correct idea of it from the data collected by the senses, it would not have survived more that a few days. Sure some of us are disabled to some extent but the human race isn’t.
See S.T., Part 1, ques 84-87. newadvent.org/summa/1084.htm

Linus2nd
 
First you will have to tell me what a/the " Oduronit " is. You must understand I pay no attention to all this flutter about ID except as an occassioal innocent bystander. I really have no interest in it, not that I think it has no value, because the whole topic seems to have become so esoteric and like so many things in life seem to devolve around so called experts. But tell me what that word means and I’ll try to answer from the perspective of an innocent bystander - just your average Joe.

Linus2nd
Well, what in the world is a " Oduronit ? " Linus2nd
 
Another error is to claim that just because the internal model is designed, but limited in accuracy, that for some reason, the external model cannot be designed. Nothing you have said proves or disproves anything about whether or not the external model can be designed.
Correct. All that I am saying here is that, “It sure looks designed to me,” is not an argument for design in the external world. It is only an argument for design in our internal models, which I am not disputing.

A different argument is needed to establish design in the external world. Dr Dembski’s CSI was one attempt, but that has many problems still remaining. Dr Behe’s Irreducible Complexity was another. However his revised version of IC, after the first version failed, appears to be a restatement of standard evolutionary theory in slightly different terms: “Some things are more difficult to evolve than others”. It does not give us an actual method to determine design.

rossum
 
Time itself is a product of the universe; both space AND time begin with the Big Bang. It is incoherent to speak, in any real sense, of any amount of time that exceeds the age of the universe. It is equally absurd to say that God could be separated from the universe by time, as time has no existence outside of the universe by which to separate anything.
Not all cosmologists agree with you. See “The Myth of the Beginning of Time”.

There are big problems with the physics of the Big Bang, because the assumptions for General Relativity no longer hold. The results we get from the GR equations may, or may not, be correct. We are still waiting for a theory of Quantum Gravity which will extend GR to microscopic scales.

Cosmology and Quantum Mechanics are strange enough on their own. Combined, things get very weird indeed.

rossum
 
Well, what in the world is a " Oduronit ? " Linus2nd
It is a property of everything. Being a property of everything, it is useless. It is also a nonsense word I generated (alternate vowels and consonants).

My point is that if everything is X then property X is useless because everything has it and nothing lacks it.

rossum
 
Your observations are true but your conclusion is worng. If the human race was not capable of knowing the external world as it is, if his intellect did not form a correct idea of it from the data collected by the senses, it would not have survived more that a few days.
We do not need an exact knowledge of the external world. Europeans survived perfectly well for thousands of years without an exact knowledge of Australia. We do not need an exact knowledge; we need a “good enough” knowledge. That is, good enough in our environment. In the historical European environment, a knowledge of Australia was not needed and so could be omitted from their models.

Our senses are all imperfect hence our internal models are also imperfect. They are however, good enough to allow us to survive. As you correctly point out, models that deviated too far from reality would not survive. Models that are close enough to reality will survive.

rossum
 
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