Natural Teleology: More Thomas Nagel (The limitations of science)

by David Turell , Tuesday, February 05, 2013, 21:14 (4307 days ago) @ dhw

DAVID: There is a whole section of theological thought that describes God as very simple. It is the result of that simplicity's actions that you view as very complex.
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> dhw:So life and the human mind are too complex not to have been designed, but the universal, eternal, self-aware, planning mind which you think created them and the universe is undesigned and simple. I can see the "faith-based", but I'm struggling with the "reasoning"!-I must admit I've read the theologic thought, but not pursued it to understand their reasoning. 
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> dhw: Then your argument should not be that only an intellect can create information. You mean that only an intellect can plan. Agreed. However, that is the whole point of our discussion. Are the universe and life on Earth the result of planning, or of a higgledy-piggledy process of experimentation?-Our 'plan', especially life, is so complex only an intellect can create it. Chance cannot as the article below shows you.- 
> dhw: I can only repeat that all these theories (God, chance, variants of panpsychism) require faith, and I really cannot see why one faith should take precedence over another.[/i]-All a matter of faith. I've made my choice. You cannot.Both reasonable.-
> dhw:I agree that true planning intelligence requires an introspective mind, but "planning" is the nub of the controversy surrounding Intelligent Design. And yes, information must have a source, but that does not mean it has to be deliberately created by a single, self-aware universal intellect. Your starting-point is always an assumption based on your faith, and I can't fault your reasoning once you build on that basic premise. It's the basic premise itself that is under scrutiny.-Again, your only other source of the planning is chance. Very unreasonable conclusion considering the following article:
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> ****
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> DAVID: Great summary of why the origin of life is a miracle:
> http://www.algemeiner.com/2013/01/28/atheistic-science-is-rapidly-sinking-in-the-quicks... 
> It certainly is ... a great summary AND a miracle! Many thanks for this.