Return to David's theory of evolution, purpose & theodicy (Evolution)

by David Turell , Saturday, June 15, 2024, 15:20 (84 days ago) @ dhw

DAVID: More insane interpretation. God created the evolutionary system to form humans and their food resources, while setting up an Earth full of elements for human use.

dhw: And for the use of every other species that has ever lived, 99.9% of which he specially designed but then “had to cull” because they had no connection with the only species plus food that he wanted to create. When will you stop this “insane” dodging?

I am only dodging your insane interpretation. To reach the surviving 0.1%, 99.9%m must go extinct.

DAVID: I do not consider the 99.9% as irrelevant, but necessary ancestors of the 0.1% surviving.

dhw: […] if 696 out of 700 species of dinosaur did not produce any descendants, how could they have been the necessary ancestors of the species that survived? (Yet again: dhw: Do you believe that we and our food are directly descended from the 99.9% of all creatures that ever lived? DAVID: No. From the 0.1% surviving.) Please stop disagreeing with yourself!

DAVID: The only difference is I see the 99.9% as necessary to produce the 0.1%.

dhw: Please explain how 696 out of 700 species of dinosaur were “necessary to produce” us and our food, even though they had no descendants.

It is wrong to use a single segment of the 99.9% whole extinct population as a valid example.

God’s nature

DAVID: […] Whoever God is, is up for grabs. We are faced with a totally unknown personage.

dhw: […] if whoever God is, is up for grabs, how can you reject the possibility that he has thought patterns and emotions like ours, enjoys creating, is interested in his creations, might want to relieve boredom, might like to experiment? You have every right to invent your own form of God, but it is not up to you to decide what a “totally unknown personage” can or cannot be, want, or do.

DAVID: I didn't decide: Adler told me how he did it.

dhw: Please stop hiding behind Adler and answer my question.

DAVID: I am only following Adler's guidelines. Your guy hates boredom, likes to experiment, wishes a free-for-all with no direction to be entertained. The God I invent does none of that humanizing.

dhw: If Adler tells you that whoever God is, is up for grabs, and he is a totally unknown personage, and you confirm that “everyone chooses the God he wishes to believe in” and “there are as many forms of God as people invent him”, and at different stages in our discussion you suggest that he would have been bored by a Garden of Eden, enjoys creating, may wish to be recognized and worshipped, and probably/possibly has thought patterns and emotions like ours, you are in no position to insist that he can’t possibly hate boredom, like to experiment, wish for a free-for-all with the very precise direction of relieving boredom and providing himself with exciting new inventions and even a being in his own image who might recognize and worship him. Please stop contradicting yourself and trying to hide behind Adler.

I can't hide behind Adler. He taught me. All of your suggestions form a humanized God. A true God does not become bored, require experimentation to reach his goals or get excited over new inventions.