by gumby 80 Replies latest jw friends
Intent cannot be attributed to an accident since by very definition an accident is not by design and therefore has no purpose in view.
Just remember, this is the misconception of evolution that some have. Evolution is not an accident, and most definitely does have and act with purpose.
Very interesting. Please elucidate.
A proper answer requires some in-depth study of evolution itself. I find that most of us who came out of the WTS have no clue what evolution actually teaches. The WTS taught us lies and innuendoes about it, and many fundamentalist Christians repeat those misconceptions without ever realizing what they are doing.
The brief answer: Evolution proceeds through a series of non-random mutations in response to outside influences. The good mutations cause the species to have a greater chance of survival, and thus get propagated and passed on.
The long answer: http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/chance/chance.html
Hi all!
Here's my two cents. It seems to me it is not known whether awareness of one's demise is advantageous to a species for survival or not. It may be a side effect of greater intelligence.
However, it may be that having that edge of knowing of one's eventual death makes him/her prepare better thru their life. Thereby having a slight survival edge in the genetic line.
As a similar instance, longevity wouldn't seem to enhance the propagation of one's genes. This is because once having reproduced and raised young, the purpose (if you will) is over. However, in the group that has only one or two elderly folks, that can make the difference of survival thru a drought or other disaster the old ones had known how to survive before. Hence that genetic line may survive while another shorter-lived one may be wiped out.
So, I wouldn't be willing to grant that knowledge of one's eventual death wouldn't be an edge for living better.
As for the question of Gumby's asking about a purpose in life, doesn't that presuppose the existence of a God? Because if there is no God/Creator, then it would be self-evident there would be no purpose other than that of what Seeker already stated.
Cheers!
Pat
non-random suggests design. If evolution is not an accident (or a series of accidents) then it must be deliberate, must be by design. You can't have it both ways.
Pat:
:::As for the question of Gumby's asking about a purpose in life, doesn't that presuppose the existence of a God? Because if there is no God/Creator, then it would be self-evident there would be no purpose other than that of what Seeker already stated.:::
Agreed. And since Seeker (or anyone else for that matter) has not given us the purpose of life, without a creator (God) there would be no purpose.
Hi Frenchy,
BTW, I just love your quote about the grim sentinels (regrets) preventing one from taking.. well, you know your own signature line!
Anyway, in answer to your statement about design (i've never been able to do that copy quote stuff--maybe because i have webtv?). The 'non-random' chance is not a design, according to what i've read. This is because it is natural selection that prevents it from being random. For instance, an organism happens to be better at surviving without water. A drought happens. That organism is the one that survives and reproduces, while other become extinct. This is non-random selection of genes. It is directly due to the ability to survive.
Another instance is a mutation that doesn't prove harmful to the organism and enables it to cope slightly better. In time, that gene lineage will become more prominent. That's non-random.
Richard Dawkins does an excellent job of explaining this concept of "apparent design" and the non-random natural selection. His book "The Blind Watchmaker" really explains it well.
Everything in nature, he says, goes thru a sieve, if you will. And that gives the appearance of design. He uses the example of water washing rocks up on a beach and the heavier and lighter ones kind of line up accordingly. It looks designed, but isn't. Just responding to the environment.
Cheers!
Pat
I believe my life has a purpose. It just is not playing out an agenda on script. No pre-schedule set up by some ghost or god. My purpose is realized by those I touch. The reason it is so hard to realize one's own purpose is that it is not that one's business. My purpose is to be known by the people in my life, not by me.
Life is short. I'll be dead a long time. I want to live healthy as possible, hurt as few people as possible, help as many as possible, have as much fun as possible, live as comfortable as possible, experience little pain and die as old as possible.
No ghosts, no gods, no goblins, no Korans, no Bibles, no religion. Just reality, just life - with a purpose - and death. No big deal . . .
non-random suggests design. If evolution is not an accident (or a series of accidents) then it must be deliberate, must be by design. You can't have it both ways.
Non-random does NOT necessarily suggest design. Pat gave you an excellent answer already. Think of this example: water running down a stream comes across a boulder that has landed in the midst of the stream. What does the water do? It courses around the boulder. What caused it to do this, to change course? Was it by design? No, it was just responding to the new obstacle in its way, and took a non-random, but totally not by design, course of action.
Hello again, Pat.
Thanks for the comment about the signature line.
I love buzz words like ‘non-random’. They really are amusing because they exist only to obfuscate what is real and substantial. Why use a word like ‘non-random’? It is equivalent to using the word non-wet instead of dry. ‘Non-random’ simply means: Not random. What does random mean? It’s generally defined as: Having no specific pattern, purpose, or objective. It is also used in mathematics and statistics (probability distribution) and can even refer to an incident or occurrence in which all possible outcomes are equally likely. The basic concept of the word is the same in these instances, namely: Without a governing design, method, or purpose, by chance.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Random: Going at random or by chance; done or made at hazard, or without settled direction, aim, or purpose; hazarded without previous calculation; left to chance; haphazard; as, a random guess.
I would hardly equate the complexity of life with the settling of rocks in the water. One would have to be simple indeed not to distinguish a pile of rocks in a puddle of water as being a natural occurrence. One would have to be simple indeed to look upon Michelangelo’s David and reason that it’s the result of wind erosion on a stone.
I have to call it an evening now but I'll come back as soon as I can and read your response.
Hey, it’s good to see you…thanks for the chat.
