Miscellaneous (General)

by dhw, Thursday, November 28, 2024, 10:55 (6 days ago) @ David Turell

Negative theology

DAVID: I find elements of my thinking in negative theology. I view the natural world as evidence of God's works, but that does not reveal who God is. And that explains my problem as I develop thoughts about God. I continually recognize what we do not know. And I match that to the God-form I prefer, an especially non-human, selfless, intellectually powerful being. dhw's very human God created as much evil as my God does.

We don’t need all this to tell us that even if God exists, we don’t know what he is like! All we can do is theorize, and then test the feasibility of the theories we offer. For example, does it seem feasible that a theoretically all-powerful, all-knowing God would have the sole purpose of designing humans plus food, and therefore deliberately design and then cull 99 out of 100 species because they had no connection with that purpose? Does it seem feasible that an all-powerful, all-knowing, all-good God would deliberately create evil, or would create evil without wishing to do so? Looking at your list, I’d say that we can be certain that IF God exists, he is not a human being. (Negative.) I would say that if his motive for creating us was to be recognized and worshipped, or he enjoys creating and is interested in his creations (positive), that is feasible, but then it is not feasible to say he’s selfless. Yes to an intellectually powerful being (positive), as it would require lots of intellectual power to design life. My alternative versions are no more “human” than yours, and I have never claimed that he’s a human being. And yes, if he exists and created life, of course he created evil: the questions are how and why, and nobody knows the answers. But a theory which “explains” evil by telling us there’s more good than evil explains nothing. It is simply a dodge. Whether theology is negative or positive depends entirely on what theories the individual theologian comes up with!

Different birds build different nests

dhw: […] Your comment was: Not rigid like the weaverbirds, these birds sort of build whatever they wish. It is as if the DNA says build whatever you wish, as long as it is effective.

Wouldn’t you say this means they were given the intelligence to do their own designing?

DAVID: I would say they were given design guidelines to follow. Much like an architect goes to school and comes out designing buildings.

I’d have thought that history, common sense, experience and existing nests would have provided enough schooling. Don’t you think architects have the intelligence to do their own designing?

Theoretical origin of life: Space is filled with organics

All points covered elsewhere.

Cellular intelligence: renal cell memory

dhw: [..] You think cell behaviour only looks intelligent. I would suggest that cell behaviour only looks automatic when cells are performing their routine duties. Intelligence comes into play when something new is required.

DAVID: As I've noted renal cells and liver cells must be able to alter their routines as circumstances require to maintain the proper balances.

Thank you for repeating the point I have just made. They have the ability to change when required. That requires intelligence.

The Milky Way is unusual

DAVID: this is another study showing the Milky Way is very unusual. I think it is because we are here protected by God.

You published a similar article a week ago, with the comment:

DAVID: From the designer standpoint the Milky Way must protect the Earth and that explains the differences.

My own comment was: "From the agnostic and atheist standpoint, why would a designer design billions of galaxies if his one and only reason for designing life was to design humans and our food?" The question is unanswerable, of course, but even if God exists, it casts a substantial doubt over your theory about your God’s one and only purpose.

How dinosaurs dominated the Earth

QUOTE: By comparing the fossils with plant data from the period, the researchers found that dinosaurs’ rise was shaped by chance and by adaptations. For example, climate change led to increased humidity, which changed the vegetation available. Dinosaurs were able to better adapt to this shifting climate and change in diet than other land animals.

Support for Raup’s theory that survival is a matter of luck, and for the obvious fact that evolution occurs as the response of organisms (cell communities) to new conditions in a continuous process of extinction, adaptation and innovation. The process is continuous, survivors provide species continuity, and the result is all the different stages that have punctuated the history of life on Earth.

Introducing the brain

DAVID: neurons are unusual in many ways, again suggesting design. And our brain, compared to others, is quite different. Far more than simple natural evolution should have produced.

Much of the research is done on mouse brains because there are so many similarities, as there are between bird brains and human brains. The complexities of all types of cell can be said to suggest design. That is one major reason for belief in your God’s existence. Of course our brains are special, but that does not mean they did not develop from earlier brains.