From: Howard J. Van Till (hvantill@chartermi.net)
Date: Sat Aug 02 2003 - 10:38:01 EDT
>From: Dawsonzhu@aol.com
> Having read "The Design Inference", I would say that design
> detection in nature would depend largely on _the way_ that God
> actually interacts with nature.
I agree. But it is essential to see that when ID advocates are looking for
"design" in biotic systems, they are looking for evidence that some
particular biotic structure could not have been actualized (assembled,
formed, constructed, fabricated) by the joint action of all known and
unknown natural processes.
This use of the word "design" may, however, confuse many readers of ID
literature who think that the word "designed" means what it ordinarily means
in contemporary usage -- planned, conceptualized, purposefully thought out
ahead of time, and the like. In modern usage, the action of "design" is an
action of the mind. In most ID literature (especially Dembski's books),
certainly in regard to biotic systems, "designed" means "actualized in such
a way as to require one or more non-natural, form-conferring interventions
by an unidentified, unembodied, choice-making agent." In this context,
"design" is a hand-like action that assembles structures that the system of
natural processes was not equipped to accomplish.
So, the fundamental question is, Does God act on, or interact with, the
universe by direct, form-conferring action in order to assemble certain
biotic structures that God did not equip the Creation to assemble by the use
it its own formational capabilities?
<snip a bit>
> But what about God's character? Does God insist on displaying his
> "Intel inside" on every production unit (made by Heaven & Sons, Ltd.)?
> So a key point in the intelligent design model is that the "designer" wants
> to be plainly known. If for some reason, God is not interested in
> being known to this extent or doesn't care to display this clearly
> human attribute, it does seem like this will greatly reduce the
> likelihood that we can use a model like Dembski's design inference
> to detect God's action in the world.
The question might be refined to read, Presuming that God wishes to be known
or experiences by some creatures (members of the Creation), by what means
would God do so? By non-natural, form-conferring interventions to actualize
certain biotic structures? The ID movement is built on a Yes answer to this
question.
Howard Van Till
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