[Phys-L] Re: god friendly science

[Hugh Haskell <hhaskell@MINDSPRING.COM>]

At 13:40 -0700 5/20/05, Gary Turner wrote:
> Let's compare three statements -
>
> 1. Creatures evolve by survival of the fittest, allowing them to adapt to
> their surroundings.  Small changes occur randomly, with the large changes
> between species being the result of an accumulation of small changes.
>
> 2. Creatures evolve by survival of the fittest, allowing them to adapt to
> their surroundings.  Small changes are directed by an intelligent being,
> with the large changes between species being the result of an accumulation
> of small changes.
>
> 3. Creatures evolve according to their suroundings following a
> pre-determined path layed out by a divine creator.  Small changes are
> directed by this divine creator, with the large changes between species
> being the result of an accumulation of small changes.
Your three statements are exactly why it is possible to be religious
and accept evolution at the same time. I agree that it is not
possible to definitively distinguish between the three (at least I
cannot think of a means by which it could be done--others more clever
than I may well know of ways to do so), but it does seem to me that
the first statement is more plausible than the other two, since the
other two require the ad hoc addition of a feature (divine
intervention) that is not necessary in the first. Thus I would say
that only those who a priori want to believe in some supreme being
will gravitate to one or the other of the second two possibilities.
The inclusion of probability (plus the necessary factor of natural
selection) isn't a big stretch, since such processes can be directly
observed in nature, while the hand of the divine is not, IMO,
directly observable, but must be inferred.

Hugh
--

Hugh Haskell
<mailto:haskell@ncssm.edu>
<mailto:hhaskell@mindspring.com>

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