Evolution, survival and adaptation (Evolution)

by dhw, Thursday, October 05, 2017, 13:30 (2604 days ago) @ David Turell

DAVID: You have created an inventive scenario that fits the facts, no question. But it defines a different motive for God than those who believe in Him would ever want to accept. Since it fits, it is a possible interpretation, but that is not proof. My proof to myself gets into the issue of design complexity, which I constantly present here and you admit its importance and then appear to gloss it over in your theories. The complexity requires design by a planning mind is my constant point. I'll stick with it.

dhw: Thank you for your first sentence. You have always rejected organized religion and identified your beliefs with panentheism, which most religious people have probably never heard of, so I would suggest that even for you, it’s more important to find explanations that fit the facts than to follow what other believers accept. In any case my hypothesis is very much in line with Deism, which proposes that God lets his creation pursue its own course. Neither your hypothesis nor mine is proven. If it were, there would be no discussion. I have never glossed over the issue of complexity, which is why my hypothesis leaves room for God. The issue is whether your God created a mechanism that was capable of creating the complexities that have given rise to the history of life on Earth. The answer is we don’t know. Your answer appears to be that although it fits the facts, unlike your own hypothesis, it doesn’t fit your interpretation of how God’s mind works.

DAVID: Your summary certainly defines our differences.

The basic difference being that my hypothesis, unlike your own, fits the facts but not your interpretation of how your God’s mind works. I’ll settle for that.