Behe on Shapiro: do these systems have a source? (Introduction)

by David Turell , Monday, March 25, 2019, 14:25 (1859 days ago) @ dhw

DAVID: I state that God choice this method of evolving through evolution. First evolution of all organisms occurs in parallel contemporaneous paths, so the path to humans was somewhere along the way when finches first came on the scene. Secondly, the need for econiches/ecosystems is well-established for food supply. Your comment points out that you seem to see single linear path to the human brain. What happened to the bush of life?

dhw: Sorry, but that is precisely the question I keep asking you! Econiches providing food does not explain why your God designed millions of them and adapted finches’ beaks (apparently in advance of the new environment) and designed the whole array of species mentioned under “vast new Cambrian explosion” if his one and only purpose was to design the human brain! And why “parallel contemporaneous paths”? Evolution has occurred along divergent paths at different times, so how does that support the hypothesis of humans as your God’s only goal? The bush of life is what makes your proposal so illogical. (See also “Big brain evolution”)

DAVID: You are totally confused in your current argument. God chose to delay the appearance of humans because He chose to evolve them over time, which fits the history. They appeared last. Therefore the complexity of food supply had to exist for evolution to continue. By the way, divergent pathways and contemporaneous pathways obviously can be the same. As for goal, read Adler's argument.

dhw: Your first statement is not a reason but is pure tautology: he chose not to directly create the one thing he wanted because he chose not to directly create the one thing he wanted. And you keep admitting you have no idea why he did so. Of course divergent paths can be contemporaneous, but parallel paths are not divergent, and it is the divergence of pathways or the “bush of life” that renders your single goal plus “full control” illogical. (See “Big brain evolution”)

Of course I cannot know why God chose evolution. Which does not make me illogical. It is your definition of full control that is incorrect. If God created the universe, evolved it , then the very special Earth and evolved its conditions, than started life and evolved it, God is fully in charge. IF in the evolution of living forms He found He had some limiting circumstances, He is still in full control in the sense that He is the sole driving force.