tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4307187040250193857.post7450807481649646900..comments2024-03-20T03:33:22.357-07:00Comments on Skeptophilia: The argument from designGordon Bonnethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06003472005971594466noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4307187040250193857.post-32395511813019931652013-01-12T09:24:54.110-08:002013-01-12T09:24:54.110-08:00Not to nitpik (along with Rik) but the conversatio...Not to nitpik (along with Rik) but the conversations on this topic frequently include the word "random", which I object to in this context. Humans did not come about through a random ("without method; involving equal chances for all outcomes") method. Characteristics that favored survival persisted and those that did not, did not. And such selection is on-going. And as for the nature of the universe itself, it appears to me that natural, predictable (if you know all the information, which we don't) processes continue. The question of 'why is the universe here' (the 'is-m' question: why is there anything?) isn't approached by this conversation. One would have to ask of the Design Theorists, 'why did God choose to create anything at all?' because all else appears to be susceptible to explanation.Nancy Millerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05138313832899984644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4307187040250193857.post-44981295928183406772013-01-11T12:22:39.299-08:002013-01-11T12:22:39.299-08:0099% of all species that have existed on planet Ear...99% of all species that have existed on planet Earth have gone extinct.<br /><br />For all the talk of Goldilocks zones, scenarios, etc... and intelligent design, if humanity doesn't reign in our less-than-homeostatic stewardship of Earth, that figure will climb to 99.001%Hontseur Thotshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10799765178908406877noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4307187040250193857.post-7927444065274249862013-01-11T08:25:37.756-08:002013-01-11T08:25:37.756-08:00I actually think the weak anthropic principle miss...I actually think the weak anthropic principle misses the point. My understanding is that our current models simply don't - can't - give enough detail to exhaustively enumerate all the possibilities for other values of Rees' six numbers (after all, presumably they all have an infinite range of logically possible values, unless any of them are intrinsically Boolean). So we actually don't know what kind of complex systems would be possible were the fundamental constants not fine-tuned for *our* kind of life.<br /><br />After all, if there's one lesson that life on Earth teaches us, it's that life will find a way to exist whereever it can, given enough time.<br /><br />And not to nitpick, but there's at least one thing that *can* be proved from a lack of knowledge: that our epistemic methods so far haven't been good enough. Actually, two things; we also need to keep learning ;)Beckyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16677076598470332030noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4307187040250193857.post-39257833921593608082013-01-11T06:08:25.112-08:002013-01-11T06:08:25.112-08:00Thinking about why there is something rather than ...Thinking about why there is something rather than nothing is just weird. Even if there were nothing, we're used to thinking of nothing in relation to something. If there were nothing, the statement "There is nothing" is meaningless.Tyler Torkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11460706772136362593noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4307187040250193857.post-72470943400983042292013-01-11T04:38:02.556-08:002013-01-11T04:38:02.556-08:00I love your sentence: "You can't prove an...I love your sentence: "You can't prove anything from a lack of knowledge."<br /><br />The strange thing is that so much of what is being touted as news on many conservaive media outlets ignores this basic premise. All that is demonstrated is a total lack of knowledge and understanding. Even their questions show such enormous ignorance. And yet they try to PROVE something with that same ignorance. Makes my head hurt. Alex Sollahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12222528761667893874noreply@blogger.com