Purpose and design (Evolution)

by Balance_Maintained @, U.S.A., Saturday, April 08, 2017, 18:13 (2537 days ago) @ dhw

Tony: The balance is also between a is and order. If the structure is too rigid, there is no variation and it stagnates, if it is too chaotic, it all falls apart and self-destructs.

DHW:I don’t understand “a is"

That was supposed to say chaos. I hate my phone.

DHW: However, I accept what you say about structure, and if God set it all up, then clearly he set it up to allow for variation. Eventually, we are told, it will indeed fall apart and self-destruct – even solar systems have a limited life. Meanwhile, the system allows for continual falling apart and self-destruction on a micro-level (99% of species are extinct), but life goes on as long as life goes on, regardless of what form it takes.

That 99% figure is an unprovable, unsupported speculation.

TONY: First is that hated equilibrium makes sense. Second is that macro-evolution can only occur with outside intervention, but that, if properly guided, it could happen.

DHW: “Hated” equilibrium? Presumably a misprint, but I can’t work out what it’s meant to be.

Punctuated equilibrium. ..stupid phone.


DHW:David wants to know if you think God is in control. If God exists, I myself have no doubt that the system we have is the system he wants. The question then would be the extent to which he gives organisms the ability and freedom to control their own way of life: that applies just as much to their coping with or exploiting the environment as to humans choosing whether to be nice or nasty to one another.

I do not think there is one right answer to that question. Yes,God is in control, but that does not mean he exercises that control at all times. A parent sometimes let's their kids play without interfering, and sometimes the reason for their doing so is not readily apparent to the child. Maybe there is other work to do, or they just want the kids to enjoy life for while. Perhaps, the parent feels that there is a lesson to be learned in having to play with others. Sometimes parents even let kids go their own way just to allow them to figure out that they are wrong and should listen to their parents.

As far as evolution goes, the evidence indicates that it is dependent on the life form. Humans have more freedom than animals, who're are driven by more tightly constrained instinct. In all cases our genetic make up is tightly controlled, constrained, and self-correcting within those constraints.

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What is the purpose of living? How about, 'to reduce needless suffering. It seems to me to be a worthy purpose.


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