Theistic evolution vs. Darwinism (Introduction)

by dhw, Sunday, June 09, 2013, 14:49 (3974 days ago) @ Balance_Maintained

TONY (quoting dhw): "There is no single overriding purpose; evolution simply moves onward in whatever directions it is led by individual intelligence."
It seems to me that you two are arguing over this more than anything. All of our personal pet theories on life require faith, intelligence from nothing, and some sort of starting energy. The real dilemma seems to be the question of purpose. (Feel free to correct me if I am mistaken, but...)
DHW thinks there is no purpose. (As do atheist)-I see three faith-based hypotheses but can accept none of them: 1) chance (atheist, no purpose), 2) God with a purpose (theist), and 3) an evolving universe of individual intelligences with individual purposes but no overall purpose (atheist). -TONY: David thinks that humanity was the purpose. (Though he goes no further than that, that I have seen). I think that there is a purpose, but that purpose was put on pause to deal with some housekeeping issues brought on by free will.-If I believed in 2), the most likely purpose for me would be God relieving his boredom. Free will and laisser-faire evolution would certainly be a major factor, as they would create elements of unpredictability essential to any form of entertainment.