[Ego Tripping]

Originally posted by theorangejulius
An interesting standpoint, but I think you misunderstand the implications of the 2nd law of thermodynamics. What the law states is that order will not spontaneously spring from disorder in a closed system. The story is different though, if there is energy coursing through the system, providing the 'fuel' to create order. In our case, the sun provides energy to the Earth, so the Earth cannot be considered a closed system. The 2nd law says that if left undisturbed, with no outside influences, a closed system will not become more ordered (a messy room stays messy). Enter an outside influence, such as the energy from fusion reactions in the sun's core (someone using energy to clean up and organize the room), and order can be created from disorder.

But the Law still states the energy has to be put into the system intitially, it can't just "appear", that would contradict the idea of cause and effect, requiring A to make B. You can't make something from nothing, right?

If you apply the law you describe to Evolution as you described it, it doesn't help the theory. Like I said, Evolution requires making large bets, and always winning. If there is external energy or variables "driving" evolution along, where is it coming from?

Down to it's most philosophical implication (which it must be viewed as), Science alone, arrives at a dead end, a contradictory end.

If I put enough energy into it, I could separate all of the red grains of sand from all the blue ones, and create order from disorder. I call that energy the result of nuclear fusion, you call it god.

But it requires 1/100th of that amount of energy to simply mix the sand again. The point is that the chances of a potentially disorganized system such as our Universe, coming together perfectly without external information being put in, implies a creator, or at least a power behind it all.

Even if you obey the "natural laws of physics", you still arrive at a problem. If I decide to rob your house, I break the law. What retricts my doing so is this law. If I drop my pen, the 'law' of gravity pulls it to the Earth at a certain rate, no matter what I drop. By our logic, if a law exists, some authoritive figure would have had to place it. Even if you follow physics down to it's most complex laws, it's still logical to imply there is a supernatural essence to it.

As far as each DNA code being a near impossibility, so is the probability of the existance of the Earth itself. If you think about the billions of galaxies we can see, and the billions of stars in each of those galaxies, and all the planets surrounding those stars, it's not hard to come up with a figure on the scale of 1 in 2432902008176640000. Even though the chances are that YOU won't be the 1 in that figure, something HAS to be the 1.

Only furthers my point. Evolution is a theory based on chance, yet it seems detrimental variables never succeed.

Who is to say that the intelligence of other animals remains constant while only human intelligence increases? The very fact that there are so many different variations of every species, all descending from somewhat common ancestors, implies that changes affect all living species in the long run. I personally believe that the human race was solely one of the first of these organisms on which the changes began to focus on mental growth, while other organisms adaptations were focused on keeping the organism alive long enough to reproduce. Because of this, we were able to climb high enough on the food chain to gain a secure position on top of it (at least for now). If you could watch a time-lapse film of the evolution of all life except humans for the next 3 billion years, I have little doubt that something as intelligent or moreso would spring up. (Assuming our sun is still burning bright, and Earth hasn't been slammed by a wandering asteroid)

On a final note, It's so easy to forget that humans and humanoid species have only been around for a blink of an eye on the time scale of life on earth. Assuming Australopithecus as the first humanlike ancestor, 4 million years divided by the 4 billion years that 'life' has been around, that means we've only been here .1% of the time that life has been on earth. That hardly makes us special, considering what kind of intelligence could spring up in the next 3 billion years. [/b]

I guess my view of "God" is different than you think. I'm not speaking of the typical Christian/Catholic God that seems to rule from above and direct things...I lean more towards the Taoist view, the Unity of all.

Even if Evolution is true, I don't find it illogical to think there is a divine force behind it, motivating it to progress. This concept bridges the gap I think between Spirituality and Science.