James Le Fanu: Why Us? (The limitations of science)

by dhw, Friday, July 03, 2009, 10:30 (5621 days ago) @ John Clinch

John writes: "Whether chance or miraculous intervention occurs once or a million times seems to me to be irrelevant to the argument as to whether there is, or may be, a god. It's a blind alley." - At the moment, we only know of life on Earth, and it does seem like a miracle. I can't understand how it could have happened, and so I remain simultaneously open to but sceptical of all explanations, including those of chance and of a god figure. But the essence of miracles is their extraordinariness. If it turned out that this one had occurred a million times, and there were a million Earths with a million evolutions, it would therefore cease to seem so extraordinary. I for one would then be very much inclined to embrace the atheist faith that under certain conditions there must be natural laws ... as yet unknown ... which cause life to emerge from non-life. It's amazing what an "if" can achieve! - (On the subject of miracles, I'm delighted that my magic spell has not caused you to disappear this time, and will look forward to your response.)