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2005 Top Award for Evolution -AAAS

SamCJ

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Jeez! Either you did not understand what I said or you have deliberately framed your reply to mislead the casual reader as to what I said.
 
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SamCJ

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Read Dembski's writings. You can find many of them on the web.
 
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SamCJ

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SamCJ

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Go read Dembski's writings, and then maybe you will understand that I am not suggesting the stagnant answer you refer to.
 
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HairlessSimian

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SamCJ said:
I do not understand your reliance on thermodynamics and statistics. Is this your own theory or is it found in a peer review journal that has received general acceptance among other atheistic evolutionists?

Thermodynamics and kinetics (applied statistics) rule chemistry. Replication is chemistry. Not at all my theory.

SamCJ said:
Loudmouth said there was an imperfection, and when I argued, I was jumped on by other atheists supporting him. Why did you fail to advise him of his error?

I am tempted to concede this point because it's late and I'm tired. I did not jump on Loudmouth, true, but that was because I generally don't disagree with him and was focussing my limited time on the more pressing issues you evoked. There is no imperfection without perfection. Since we don't have a good exemplar of perfect replication, attributing imperfection to what we have is subjective, and moot anyway, since we don't need to call what is natural imperfect when it's doing what it can as perfectly as it can. No doubt, there is room for improvement through further natural selection.

SamCJ said:
I do not think you are really that naive. Did you count the number of newspapers in which it made the front page news?

The AAAS does not have as its mandate to hit the front pages of newspapers. That is does occasionally does not mean that they are trying to influence the lay public about evolution.


What is it you disagree with, exactly? Do you dispute that science can only tackle physical phenomena, or that I am the final authority on this point?

BTW, I and a great many other scientists have a fair idea of what science can do and what it cannot.

Of course, I'm always surprised by science. I wouldn't be a scientist if it was otherwise.

SamCJ said:
This is an tenaciously held belief adopted on faith about the supernatural's non-existence. It waddles, quacks, swims and flies -- it's a duck! I have no qualms calling atheism a religion.

There was no statement in my post about the supernatural's existence or non-existence. Nevertheless, it's true that most atheists do not believe in the supernatural. This disbelief is based on a lack of evidence, and is not a statement of 'faith against all evidence', which is the basis for theists' and creationists' beliefs.
 
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SamCJ

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five said:
But you are labelling everyone who doesn't agree with you an atheist. It's become a derogatory term for you.

I did not label you an atheist. There have been a few atheists here who have been civil and patient in trying to address exactly what I have said. More often I get from atheists here smart alecky remarks and deliberte misstatments about what I have said in an apparent effort to make their attacks easier.

I have some very good friiends who are atheists and when I joined this site, I was very close to being one myself. Still am. But your are absolutely correct in saying that the term has become a derogatory one in my eyes as a result of their posts to me, to Edmond, to Mark Kennedy and others who deigned to argue for the possibility of intelligent design.
 
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HairlessSimian

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For the record, I think Mark Kennedy is in a class by himself. I have quite a bit of respect for someone so knowledgeable. Edmond is, shall we say, not so knowledgeable.
 
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Elduran

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SamCJ said:
Read Dembski's writings. You can find many of them on the web.

If I recall correctly, Dembski weaseled out of the Dover trial after he saw that his fellow witnesses were being torn apart by the lawyer representing the scientific side of the argument. In other words, he knew his writings wouldn't stand up to close scrutiny and backed off before he could be discredited along with Behe.

Now, why are you recommending that skeptics read into writings by a man who doesn't have enough confidence in them to put them into the fray? You can imagine that few people will look now without a veryt good reason, so why not instead paraphrase some of his best arguments and see how well they do?
 
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Elduran

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Mutations are a part of evolution, but not the whole story. Hence mutations ARE random, but evolution is NOT. natural Selection is the bit that you missed out here, and it is far from random.

In other words, evolution is NOT random as you seemed to believe, which means that my analogy with gravitation was valid.


No, please, explain. Theistic evolutionists don't seem to have any problem with their religion and their scientific stance, so please explain how the science can be a "no god" stance with theistic evolutionists around the works happily accepting it (and there are many more TEs than fundamentalists or IDists, and probably even atheistic evolutionists, so one of them should have noticed by now if they were following a "no god" theoiry, wouldn't you say?)


Have you missed the fact that the theistic evolutionists are for the most part also arguing against ID? Have you missed the fact that while atheism is a small religious stance worldwide, the theory of evolution is accepted by a majority almost everywhere? This thread is not representative of the overall statistics, so I think that yes, the 90% figure is a combination of coincidence and location.

The rest of your post was incorrect, as I have already showed you why evolution is not "random".

You have articulated one of the primary reasons that I have doubts about the existence of God. Why would he want to be a trickster? Someone suggested the built the universe as a toy for mankind to puzzle about. That seems a little bit of a stretch.

ID is about god, therefore you have doubts in your own theory due to the lack of evidence for it?


That's not a scientificquestion, so you won't get an answer from the scientific method. It's sort of like asking if your cheese grater can inflate a balloon. Wrong tool for the job.

The meaning of life is a personal conclusion that everyone has to ask themselves at some point. Their acceptance of the scientific method MAY influence their decision, but their religion is almost certainly going to trump that.
 
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Beastt

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I agree with you, James. My example is not analogous to abiogenesis in any way I can think of. But there is a reason for that. If you go back and follow the thread, the comment was made, "If the mutations are not random, then they must be directed by intelligence. If there is another alternative, please reveal it to me. If you agree there is no other alternative, either you must accept intelligent direction as a possibility and allow scientist to search for it, or you must echo the position of the overwhelming majority of evolutionists that random mutations are the only possibiliity." (Post #59)

My post was designed to demonstrate that there is another alternative to apparent direction, aside from intelligence. As for the specifics of the evolutionary randomness, it would seem a very common mistake is again raising its head here. The genetic mutations can be random but the selection process which determines which mutations will flourish and which will not are anything but random. Those mutations which provide any measurable advantage in meeting the challenges of the environment, will provide some measure of advantage in reproduction. As such, beneficial mutations, regardless of how randomly they came to be, will be more likely to continue through the blood line.
 
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Beastt

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SamCJ said:
Jeez! Either you did not understand what I said or you have deliberately framed your reply to mislead the casual reader as to what I said.
It appears to me you are suggesting that the apparent designs of nature show signs of intelligence. My statements, comments and examples are designed to show that what you may mistake as intelligence may not be anything of the sort. It's a fine point on a sidebar of the discussion but it's worthy of consideration to avoid making the mistake of assuming that we can immediately recognize that which is designed intelligently based on complexity or perceived function.

There is really no basis, aside from the standard creationist mythology, for support of Intelligent Design.
 
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SamCJ

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Dembski is trying to figure out how to distinguish random causes from intelligent causes by looking at the result because the cause is not available for observation. I do not know whether he has accomplished that yet. If you tell me that it is impossible to do, I will not believe you unless you are able to present one hell of an argument on the subject. I understand the difficulty, but I do not want atheists squelching the effort just because the results my offend their adopted religion. Archeologists do it all the time without scientific complaint.
 
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LogicChristian

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SamCJ said:
I have never heard of a scientist claiming that mutations are created by natural selection. NS simplly determines which mutations survive.

Of course you haven't because that's not the point I was trying to make.

I didnt' say the mutations are caused by natural selection, I said they are guided by natural selection. If the mutation helps the organism to survive to reproduce, it will propagate, if it does not, the mutation will go away in the population once the individual creature dies.

You seem a lot more interested in telling me why what I said was wrong than actually trying to figure out what it meant. I've seen quite a bit of that on this thread.
 
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SamCJ

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Yes, I do dispute that science can only tackle physical phenomena. The last time I said this, you guffawed. Please refrain from that tactic. It gives me indigestion. Archeologists find intelligence by examining only the results all the time. I understand the distinctions you and Jones bring up. We have physical evidence of what humans can do, what they need and their artifacts do not replicate. However, we can make assumptions about God's abilities, about his intentions while searching for signs of his intellect in his creation. I do not understand why replication creates an impenetrable barrier to making the extrapolation.
HairlessSimian said:
BTW, I and a great many other scientists have a fair idea of what science can do and what it cannot.

Dembski is trying to create a system that will distinguish between results caused by random activity and results caused by intelligence. Maybe he is not there yet. I understand the difficulty. I believe that science is up to the task, and I want the task worked on, not squelched.

Of course, I'm always surprised by science. I wouldn't be a scientist if it was otherwise.



There was no statement in my post about the supernatural's existence or non-existence. Nevertheless, it's true that most atheists do not believe in the supernatural. This disbelief is based on a lack of evidence, and is not a statement of 'faith against all evidence', which is the basis for theists' and creationists' beliefs.[/QUOTE]
 
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SamCJ

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I am saying that apparent designs seem to be a result of intelligence, but I think I understand how that appearance can be deceptive. I think scientists can figure out how to tell the difference, even though it may not be able to do that now with living organisms. What do you think about that capability being a reasonable goal to achieve?
 
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rjw

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Gidday SamCJ,


This reply will consist of many questions with a few comments, simply because there are many things you write which I find hard to accept and wonder just where you get your information from.

Hopefully you are happy with this.

SamCJ said:
I suspect AAAS gave these awards primarily to influence public opinion in favor of evolution theory.

You are free to be suspicious but what evidence do you have for your suspicion?

SamCJ said:
IMO evolution theory to the extent it advocates randomness and denies the possibilty of intelligent design does not deserve any credit for the biologists' findings, particularly the promising findings about the chimps' genome.

I do not understand your logic here. You appear to argue as follows:-

Premise 1) – Evolution advocates randomness.
Premise 2) – Evolution denies intelligent design.
Conclusion – Evolution does not deserve credit for findings in biology.

How does your conclusion necessarily follow from your premises?

Thus, is the following argument sound:-

Premise A) – Intelligent Design advocates non randomness.
Premise B) – Intelligent Design denies randomness.
Conclusion – Intelligent Design does not deserve credit for findings in biology?

SamCJ said:
It would have been wise for biologists to understand the chimp genome, whether the differences between man and chimp were created randomly or by intelligence.

What makes you think that understanding the origin of something is not a part of understanding something? Do you believe that biologists must know all there is about the chimp genome before they can begin to probe its origin?

Do you insist on knowing everything about how a car works before you ask “how was this car made?” If so, then why? If not then why demand exactly that of biologists?


SamCJ said:
I think the answer is the randomness was absolutely irrelevant to the biologists analysis, but that is contrary to the AAAS presentation.

Where in the article do you find the AAAS making the claim that randomness was relevant to understanding the chimp genome?

Do you ever read any text books or journals on biology or evolution?

Why do you argue that we claim that we do not have to demonstrate the processes behind genetic variation and the importance of these to evolution? (Hence my question about the textbooks and journals.)

SamCJ said:
… because 90% of the evolutionists community is athiestic (judging by the population of this site)
Given that many evolutionists are theists, then on what grounds do you argue that 90% are atheists? How did you arrive at your estimate that 90% on this site are atheists?

SamCJ said:
… and therefore readily accept the assumption with scant evidence to support it.
Given that both randomness and non-random processes are important to evolution because these are the only observed mechanisms behind evolution, and given that text books and journals continually report these observations, then in what sense are evolutionists accepting “the assumption with scant evidence”?

If you read the quote carefully you will see that its author was complaining about the very thing Judge Jones noted – that ID requires that ToE demonstrate absolutely everything before it makes an inference, whereas ID does not demand this of the rest of science, and it certainly does not demand it of itself.

So the only double standard here is that set by ID. Evolutionists do not demand that ID show the designer in flesh and blood before it will be accepted. They only demand that ID present credible evidence. Judge Jones noted that ID fails on this ground too. Conversely, however, ID generally employs the old creationist tactic of “I am not interested in evidence. Show me it happening, then I will believe.” (I debate mostly on other boards and I can show you numerous examples of IDers making just this request – namely “You must show me so that I can see with my eyes, however I do not have to show you so that you can see.”)

This is why the Talk.Origins author wrote:-

“Because we can access only genomes of modern (or very recent) species, we can never obtain the direct evidence - i.e. a complete list of those mutations - that some anti-evolutionists (e.g. Behe) seem to think would be necessary to support NDT.”

The underlining is mine because the author was complaining how ID often demands “a complete list” from ToE while allowing that itself provide precious little. Have a think about your (seeming) demand that biologists learn all about the chimp genome before they begin to ask about origins. Why is that a reasonable demand SamCJ? I reckon you would not ask this of any other science, yet when it comes to evolution, suddenly the new demand is invoked. Why?

Can you provide me with the link to the T.O article. In these debates context is everything when quotes are presented. I would not mind having a read.

SamCJ said:
While this quote is about past mutations, new ones cannot be observed in process either, evolutionists here have told me.
As above - can you present me with examples of these claims by evolutionists? Context is everything and I would not mind reading what was actually said and in what context.

SamCJ said:
But that is exactly what evolutionists do. "We cannot observe the mutation in process, so we assume it is a result of some unknown imperfection in the mechanism that randomly occurs in rare instances of replication."
What gives you the idea that we do not know what causes variation within the genome of animals? What gives you the idea that we do not have an idea of the frequency of these events? As above, can you provide links to where these claims are made?

(Are you arguing that because the mutation events happened in the past then we do not exactly know about them? If so, then you are correct – we do not know exactly what the mutations were. In a few cases, I suspect we can present a good case for the kind of mutations, that is, we can make inferences about them. But generally we do not know.

If this is your argument though, then you have the Judge Jones problem I mentioned above. We argue that we see mutations causing variation today. We see this variation giving rise to variation in animals. We infer that this happened in the past. If you wish to argue that we cannot make this inference because we were not there to observe, then on what grounds can you even argue that animals in the past had genes? On what grounds can you even argue that fossils are the remains of extinct animals and not tricks put there by the ID to test our faith? None of us were there to observe all this either!

This is the point the T.O author and Judge Jones were making. We know how genetic systems work today and we infer they behaved like that in the past. ID on the other hand (often) argues that we cannot make those inferences because we were not there to observe those events. However, it quite happily accepts the idea that fossils are the remains of once real animals and that those animals had genetic systems – even though the ID advocates were never there to observe what they, themselves now claim.

This is the kind of thing Judge Jones meant when he talked about unfair burden of proof. ID does not make this demand on the rest of science – with the exception of some of astronomy and some of geology – and it certainly does not make this demand on itself. It only makes this demand of ToE.)

SamCJ said:
I do not think rain and gravity and other such non-living things are claimed by scientists to be random.
Well these natural systems, like evolution, do have random aspects to them. Again, do you read books on science at all? I am not being nasty here SamCJ. But statements such as this baffle me.

And given what you write about evolution, non-randomness appears to be the hallmark of ID. Are you arguing here that weather systems are the hallmark of ID such that you can reformulate the scientific description of weather phenomena in terms of ID?

Show me how you would reformulate our current scientific description of the origin of rain (from pond evaporation, through to condensation in the atmosphere, to falling back to earth) in terms of ID!

SamCJ said:
Life and particularly mankind are different.
In what way? We do not understand life, but no matter how closely we look at it, life obeys the laws of nature. That is it obeys chemical laws, physical laws etc.

Since you claim that life is different, that is, it obeys non physical laws and non chemical laws, then tell me what these laws are and how they can be incorporated into a scientific description of life!

Sa said:
If man is an accident of nature or an accident of God, God does not care what happens to us.
You are anthropomorphisising God here SamCJ. If you had a child accidentally, you may not care for that child. Does that mean God would not? Many parents have unplanned children and many of those children are loved. Many parents have planned children and end up behaving as if they wish they never did have the child.

SamCJ said:
Life becomes meaningless.
For you it might. For me it is not.

SamCJ said:
Perhaps that is the reality, but it is hard to swallow.
Because you dislike something does not mean that it is not reality. Because you would like something does not make it reality.

Reality is whatever you think to be real and if aspects of it are unsavory then it is best to make the most of it.

I dislike the idea of a car accident. That does not mean therefore I have not had, nor will I ever have, an accident. I like the idea of a fridge full of strawberries and a freezer full of ice cream. My fridge has no strawberries and my freezer has no ice cream, only fish, veggies and some bread.

SamCJ said:
I think that Dembski and Behe have used and promise to use further scientific methods to determine with greater certainty whether man is a mistake or intended.
Well they certainly had their chance to show to the world that:-

1) ID is not creationism,

2) ID is not religion,

3) ID has made scientific claims (irreducible complexity etc)

4) ToE is not scientific

5) Etc.

and they failed badly on all counts.

SamCJ said:
Jones made a pretty good argument, and I am not presently prepared to argue with it.
The mainstream and the ID proponents made their arguments, Jones made the judgment.

SamCJ said:
I think "breathtakingly inane" is over the top and betrays an ingrained prejudice …
Perhaps. However, Jones used the notion of “reasonable person” or something like it in his judgment, so why do you think that “breathtakingly inane” was over the top? Maybe it was, but maybe the behavior of the advocates for ID really was “breathtakingly inane”.

Hence my question – why was it over the top (in the context of Jones’ statement)?

Well SamCJ, I am going to stop here. I have already asked many questions of you and this should be enough for now.

As I said, I asked these questions because I just do not understand why you make some of the statements you do. I would like to see some evidence in support of your claims.


Regards, Roland
 
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Beastt

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In assuming that scientists can tell the difference, you also seem to be assuming that scientists have apparently natural examples of both so that they may compare. I believe this to be the first error in your logic. If you can assume for a moment that everything we consider to be naturally formed is without intelligence, then perhaps you can start to see the problem with what you propose -- no sample of intelligent design to use for comparison.

SamCJ said:
What do you think about that capability being a reasonable goal to achieve?
I think we first must determine that there are both intelligent examples in nature and non-intelligent examples. If we can do that, we might be able to move to the step you suggest. But I find it highly unlikely that we will do better than to find out that all examples of nature can be adequately and accurately explained without including an unseen intelligence factor.
 
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five

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But he wants the answers now and if science can't provide a satisfactory answer right now, then science is flawed and facts can't be believed and black is white and therefore God exists.
 
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SamCJ

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Only my knowledge of the world. Are you saying you do not suspect it?

That's not my argument.

rjw said:
What makes you think that understanding the origin of something is not a part of understanding something?
Nothing.
rjw said:
Do you believe that biologists must know all there is about the chimp genome before they can begin to probe its origin?
No.

rjw said:
Do you insist on knowing everything about how a car works before you ask “how was this car made?”
No.
rjw said:
If so, then why? If not then why demand exactly that of biologists?
NA. Atheists demand that of IDists as shown by your reply before this one.

rjw said:
Where in the article do you find the AAAS making the claim that randomness was relevant to understanding the chimp genome?

"Evolution" is presently all about randomness, because atheistic scientists exclude the possibility of intelligence. It is inherent in the word "evolution."
Do you ever read any text books or journals on biology or evolution? [/QUOTE]
Not much. I read this article: http://www.intelligentdesignnetwork.org/NCBQ3_3HarrisCalvert.pdf

rjw said:
Why do you argue that we claim that we do not have to demonstrate the processes behind genetic variation and the importance of these to evolution?
I don't.
rjw said:
(Hence my question about the textbooks and journals.)


Given that many evolutionists are theists, then on what grounds do you argue that 90% are atheists?
How did you arrive at your estimate that 90% on this site are atheists?
A sample count I made here that seems to be confirmed by various things. The posts of theistic evolutionists are relatively scarce here.



"...certainly neither side can hope for anything close to "proof." Although Spetner denies that he is "obliged to prove a non-existence" of such a chain of mutations, his whole effort in the correspondence seems to be directed to just that aim. Evolutionists have the job of defending the reasonableness of such a series of mutations. I believe that Spetner would agree with this."

I concentrated on the highlighted portions.


That is not my point, as I have tried to explain.

rjw said:
Why is that a reasonable demand SamCJ?
Show me where I said it was.

rjw said:
I reckon you would not ask this of any other science, yet when it comes to evolution, suddenly the new demand is invoked. Why?

Perhaps if you quote the particular phrase that has misled you...?

rjw said:
Can you provide me with the link to the T.O article. In these debates context is everything when quotes are presented. I would not mind having a read.

Not easily. It was someone's notes about his email communications with Spetner dealing with "intelligent design." I think that is what I searched.


rjw said:
As above - can you present me with examples of these claims by evolutionists? Context is everything and I would not mind reading what was actually said and in what context.
Pass. I cannot find what this relates to.


rjw said:
What gives you the idea that we do not know what causes variation within the genome of animals?
Several evolutionists here have said the process cannot be observed and they referred me to a link that said it was a "mistake." Others said the exact cause is unknown.

rjw said:
What gives you the idea that we do not have an idea of the frequency of these events?
The same link said 1 in 100 million. Later other writings said more frequently and not well known.
rjw said:
As above, can you provide links to where these claims are made?
Not easily.


Partly. I say "partly" because there have been no observations past, present or future of the process or the precise causes, evolutionists' assumptions are necessarily based on circumstantial evidence, which is scant.

We have better circumstantial evidence of the things I am not arguing about.



I hope Jones had something better than that. I think that is a misrepresentation of the ID viewpoint. It certainly misrepresents mine.


Find my post about the Mandelbrot set and look at Beastt's post on this thread about the deceptiveness of randomness-- it creates evidence of intelligence. Why do we think it looks intelligent? That is what Dembski is trying to answer. Evolutionists seem to me to say that because the patterns of the mandelbrot set look like a product of intelligence but are actually a product of an "irrational" fomula that makes dots in random order, we cannot consider the fact that a design looks like a product of intellignece to
constitute evidence of intelligence. I believe that argument is flawed. I hope Dembski or others can determine some rules to distinguish whether apparent intelligence is a product of real intelligence or just randomness.


rjw said:
Well these natural systems, like evolution, do have random aspects to them. Again, do you read books on science at all? I am not being nasty here SamCJ. But statements such as this baffle me.

Have you read "Does God Play Dice?" by Ian Stewart. I was in the middle of it when I got sidetracked by this site. Einstein spent 2/3rds of his life trying to prove the negative, and never did.

rjw said:
And given what you write about evolution, non-randomness appears to be the hallmark of ID. Are you arguing here that weather systems are the hallmark of ID such that you can reformulate the scientific description of weather phenomena in terms of ID?

Weather systems may be deterministic or random or controlled by God on unbelievably minute levels. They are certainly more predictable than mutations. Gravity conforms to a clear formula and seems very predictable.
The answer doesn't matter to me much although I have read a lot about it and it is pretty fascinating.

rjw said:
Show me how you would reformulate our current scientific description of the origin of rain (from pond evaporation, through to condensation in the atmosphere, to falling back to earth) in terms of ID!

Pass. I leave it to the scientists, but I doubt many are concerned about whether God is playing dice with the rain.

rjw said:
In what way? We do not understand life, but no matter how closely we look at it, life obeys the laws of nature. That is it obeys chemical laws, physical laws etc.

What are the laws governing the random mutation?

rjw said:
Since you claim that life is different, that is, it obeys non physical laws and non chemical laws, then tell me what these laws are and how they can be incorporated into a scientific description of life!

I did not make that claim. I said it is possible and I want the question to be explored.



Well, I made him in my own image and likeness or maybe it is vice versa.

rjw said:
For you it might. For me it is not.

What is your life's meaning to you? I do not remember if I ever knew. Are yu an atheist. What is the meaning of one's life to an avowed atheist?


rjw said:
Because you dislike something does not mean that it is not reality. Because you would like something does not make it reality.
Bummer.

rjw said:
Reality is whatever you think to be real and if aspects of it are unsavory then it is best to make the most of it.

Ohmm.


I have not yet found their reaction to Jones opinion in any detail. I am anxious to see it.

rjw said:
The mainstream and the ID proponents made their arguments, Jones made the judgment.
I'm not very impressed by that.


Apparent intelligence is everywhere, like I explained a little fuller above.

 
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