autonomy v. automaticity (Evolution)

by dhw, Monday, March 12, 2018, 11:07 (2231 days ago) @ David Turell

dhw: This depends on what you mean by “guided”. You now seem to regard his job as “creating a huge diversity bush”, which is a colossal switch from creating the brain of Homo sapiens – hitherto his one and only purpose. I am the one who suggests that if he exists, he actually WANTED a huge diversity bush, and I’m quite happy to accept Darwin’s proposal that this evolved from a few forms or one, which matches Tony’s and your own. Each twig, however, would not need “guidance” if he gave it an intelligent, AUTONOMOUS, inventive mechanism of its own – e.g. he did not have to design a particular nest, a particular camouflage, a particular migratory pattern etc. That is where your “guidance” goes way beyond my personal bounds of credulity, and of course my hypothesis leads precisely to him thus doing his “job” of creating a huge diversity bush.

DAVID: When I enter something as above, I assume you understand that I have not changed my mind about the goal of a human species with our magnificent brain. He also created an enormous diverse bush of life along the way which helped to supply the energy for evolution to continue for a very long time (3.8 billion years). You use an IM and i suggest built-in patterns of development. Why are you incredulous that God would want to carefully guide His plan of evolution?

My incredulity concerns the idea that the God you keep saying is in total control should specially design millions of innovations, lifestyles and natural wonders extant and extinct when all he wants to do is create the brain of Homo sapiens. The fact that evolution has gone on for 3.8 billion years so far does not mean it was all for the sake of your brain and mine. It simply means that life has gone on for 3.8 billion years so far. It makes far more sense to me to suggest that since evolution has produced this astonishing and ever changing variety, what he wanted – if he exists – was an astonishing and ever changing variety. I don’t have a problem with the idea that your controlling God could interfere at any time he liked, possibly even to guide one of the twigs towards a species blossoming into sapiens. But guiding the weaverbird to build its nest so that he could guide a different twig to sapiens makes no sense to me. Multiply that example by umpteen million.