This is interesting, I'm not too familiar with Teilhard de Chardin's
writings, would you happen to know offhand where he discusses
this analogy? This is very much like what happens in Per Bak's
sand pile illustration of self-organized criticality.
To re-inforce Terry's earlier points, Per Bak, in his new book
<How Nature Works>, scolds Dawkins a little along the
same lines that an ID'er might scold him. I don't have the book
with me so I can't quote him directly, but it was something like
"how can you say that the origin of all of biological complexity
is understood and is due natural selection? Where's your
evidence for such a grand claim?".
Brian Harper | "If you don't understand
Associate Professor | something and want to
Applied Mechanics | sound profound, use the
The Ohio State University | word 'entropy'"
| -- Morrowitz
Bastion for the naturalistic |
rulers of science |