>I have been seeking clarification of ideas put forward by Bill
>Hamilton.
I've been somewhat remiss about finding all the posts that apply to me. I
apologize if I have not responded to something you expected my response on.
>In particular, the thought that "design is in the
>properties of entities in nature"[1] and the thought of God
>invisibly intervening in nature as an intelligent designer and
>overseer, maintaining "control over the direction of nature by
>means of infinitesimal perturbations".
>
>Of the first thought I said: "This seems to me to advocate a
>model of "design-for-self-assembly" ..." to which Bill replied:
>"It doesn't look like self-assembly to me".
I don't consider it self-assmbly because, as I stated above, I believe God
influences nature in part by infinitesimal, undetectible perturbations.
Although they are infinitesimal, they are nonetheless perturbations.
Furthermore, they influence the results of interactions of natural
entities. If the perturbations were withheld, the result would be totally
different. So I don't see that it can be called self-assembly.
I want to emphasize again that I see God as functioning more like an artist
than an engineer. Engineers (ideally) try to limit variation and
concentrate on meeting a set of specifications with the simplest design
possible. That's because they are working with finite resources and cannot
predict the results of all possible design decisions. God is not subject
to either of those limitations and can therefore "afford" to be an artist.
And I'm glad of that every time I see a sunset or a blossom or the evening
sky.
-----------------
Notes
[1] Stephen pointed out that it may be misleading to say "design is in
[some object]," and stated his view that design is in the mind of the
designer. What I meant by my statement was that design effort had been
applied to the design of the entities in nature and their properties. It's
fairly common engineering shorthand, but I admit it might be misleading to
some people.
Bill Hamilton | Chassis & Vehicle Systems
GM R&D Center | Warren, MI 48090-9055
810 986 1474 (voice) | 810 986 3003 (FAX)
hamilton@gmr.com (office) | whamilto@mich.com (home)