Re: The Terms of Debate in Kansas

Dave:
>
> I have to object to your last sentence. I don't see how any person can
> be a black box. As I understand the label, a black box gives a
> consistent output for a specific input. But I cannot expect so direct
> a response from a person, although there are some social constraints.
> Even lesser creatures are not altogether predictable. I recall running
> across the Harvard Law of Animal Behavior, something like: If a
> laboratory animal is placed in a defined experimental situation and a
> measured stimulus is applied, the animal will respond exactly as it
> pleases. An entity with an infinite number of degrees of freedom is
> hardly a black box.

No, that is not at all what I meant. What I meant by supernatural
action as a black box, is that it is completely unconstrained. A
supernatural agent can do anything at anytime. It's actions are
unpredictable. I was simply making a play on Behe's use of the term.
An appeal to the supernatural as a scientific explanation is an appeal
to current ignorance -- a box that we cannot see into or open.

Keith
Received on Tue May 17 09:49:47 2005