Date
Wednesday, 19 Aug 2015 9:15 PM
Of all the areas where science and the Bible differ, only the topic of evolution spurs a strong backlash. Why is the topic of evolution so special in this way? Some concepts of evolution that are hard to accept. To wit: auto-creation, the idea that things can create themselves. Even scientifically minded people have a hard time accepting auto-creation. A mind adapted to understanding existence at one level is challenged to grasp the workings at other levels. The realms of the molecular world, and the extremely complex are not intuitive, and hard for anyone to accept. You could say that we have have a specific mental block, which one has to work around to accept evolution.
What does it mean for something to create itself? One way to understand auto-creation is by examining the process that causes a snowflake crystal to form. A snowflake represents an increase in information that is NOT the result of any intelligence. That seems to violate the 2nd law of thermodynamics, but actually there is a widespread misrepresentation of this law, particularly by the religious community. Intuition says that everything devolves into randomness, but actually information (organization) can form spontaneously out of nothing! Complex systems display this funny behavior of auto-creation all the time. It is easy to see once we learn to recognize it. Evolution is a process of auto-creation among other examples.
The goal of this discussion is to gain an understanding of:
Why people find it hard to accept evolution
What the natural cognitive barrier is, and why it exists
The role that misunderstanding randomness plays in this
The role that misunderstanding entropy plays in this
How complex systems display the behavior of auto-creation
Several examples of auto creation
(with luck) an improved way to explain why evolution is really quite reasonable after all
Please come and participate in the discussion.
(Bio) Keith D Swenson: Keith is a long time resident of silicon valley, playing various roles in software startups. He has a degree in Physics and a Masters Degree in Computer Science. He is a co-author of more than 10 books on technology, and his latest book “When Thinking Matters in the Workplace” advises managers on how to use information system to address the problems of complexity in organizations. He is a regular attendee to ACSJ meetings, and like many members, this is an area of personal interest and not one of expertise.
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