I have also been thinking about this and haven't been able to come
up with any short and elegant way to express the idea. The problem
as I see it in your proposal above is that irregular and unpredictable
phenomena can be completely natural. I think the best way to express
this idea is with the concepts of algorithmic complexity. Irregular
and unpredictable phenomena are said to be random. Extremely regular
phenomena (those obeying simple laws) are ordered. There is then a
continuum in between these two extremes with the really interesting
phenomena lying at the edge of random. These I would label organized.
The nice thing about this approach is that it yields an intrinsic
definition of complexity, one not tied to function or meaning or
purpose. From the ID point of view, I've been trying to think of
a way of tying these ideas to design. This would give an objective
definition of design, which is what is needed.
But I'm digressing from the point at hand. The problem with this
terminology is that we would have to say that sometimes God acts
randomly. After saying this we would then have to spend weeks
explaining what random means :-0, divorcing it from its meaning in
everyday conversation.
Brian Harper | "If you don't understand
Associate Professor | something and want to
Applied Mechanics | sound profound, use the
The Ohio State University | word 'entropy'"
| -- Morrowitz
Bastion for the naturalistic |
rulers of science |