From: bivalve (bivalve@mail.davidson.alumlink.com)
Date: Fri Aug 08 2003 - 19:49:23 EDT
>Interesting question; can anyone imagine a way that this algorithm might have build up gradualistically as a series of simpler algorithms, which also perform "useful" functions, such as a mathematical series, each one more useful than the last?<
Obviously each line of the algorithm performs some sort of useful function.
If the pieces were present in an environment that could mix and match them and then take the "useful" initial combinations as the starting point for further variation, it seems likely that a relatively complex "useful" function would be produced. However, specifying usefulness is highly problematic. A wide range of mathematical functions could be considered "useful", and some superficially "useless" ones might in fact be "useful" in some situations. (Incidentally, this is another area where ID arguments may be inconsistnent, by using a very broad definition of "useful" when arguing against purported bad design while using a very strict definition when estimating probabilities of a purported example of specified complexity).
The same problem applies to biochemical systems and to Bible codes. In none of the three cases do we have a previously specified target. Thus, determining whether a pattern is unusual enough to merit interest as possibly "intelligently designed" in the interventionist sense is subjective.
Dr. David Campbell
Old Seashells
University of Alabama
Biodiversity & Systematics
Dept. Biological Sciences
Box 870345
Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0345 USA
bivalve@mail.davidson.alumlink.com
That is Uncle Joe, taken in the masonic regalia of a Grand Exalted Periwinkle of the Mystic Order of Whelks-P.G. Wodehouse, Romance at Droitgate Spa
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