The American Spectator

Richard Bentley /p>

A couple of observations:

- Quoted: “If we wrote a program to run on a supercomputer that would generate random strings 22 characters long, and our supercomputer could run through a trillion tries every second, the odds would still be against producing this exact sequence by chance in 20 billion years. The fact that it’s very improbable to produce this precise sequence by chance is another way of saying, in information theory, that it is highly complex.”

You are making the same mistake Fermi made about cyclotrons generating enough enriched U235 in our lifetime. If a single computer was used (or cyclotron), yes. But what if I used 10 billion computers? Can I not deliver that permutation within but a couple of years? I think you have to answer yes. When you consider that in nature, cells don’t live in singularity, but in the trillions each possible of developing a minute flaw during mitosis then change can come about rapidly.

-Sounds to me like much of the scientific community need to read Origin of Species again. Sir Darwin was addressing the transitional morphology of species and the possible process by which it might occur. His access to science, locked as he was in his era, predates the existence of molecular biology. Science is replete with examples of theories, though perfect for the science it represents, falls completed asunder when applied to another discipline. So in this I agree that the transposition of Darwinism to cellular biology is a fundamental error. But in defense of Darwin, he never made that claim at the molecular level, nor could he.

- The ID theorists may be onto something, or maybe not. One would need to be wary of the concept that something must be complete to be operational. We are early in the gene assessment game. But scientists already know that there are whole sequences of genes that appear to have no function or at least have no function we are currently aware of. That notion could change with time. But as improbable as it may sound, chance rendered quadrillions of times can at time reach something that “clicks” and renders something that is superior to its predecessor.

p>But the fundamental question will still not be answered even if ID theorists are proven “right.” Till someone can define the big bang event of the living cell or the universe itself we won’t have an answer. Even Darwinism can’t answer that, for fundamentally the theory is a process not a source. I hold out that God has a sense of humor better than Dave Berry. After a couple of more centuries of peeling back the onion Science will reach some singular discovery that leads to the scribbled note on the wall much like Kilroy: “I AM.” br> — John McGinnis br> Arlington, Texas /p>

“A lot of influential people in science, the media, the schools, and other institutions don’t much like the notion of the Big Intelligent Agent. Hence the controversy over ID, and the slanted treatment of it that is often seen.”

This sentence betrays the underlying logic upon which this article is based. It is not based on hard analysis of scientific data; it is based on emotional responses to faith and the perceived lack thereof by certain influential people.

When and if Creationists present a theory that explains generally accepted data in geology, biology, chemistry, and other natural sciences without resorting to faith to explain unknowns upon which the theory depends, the simplicity, elegance, and power of that theory will be obvious to most people and will be accepted. Until that time no amount of talking, discussion, emotion, or anything else can replace evolution as the underlying logic upon which human understanding of nature is based.