<<I am currently reading Walter's book. I am up to about page 100 (of 500+)
and so far have not encountered a logical argument that purports to
establish Walter's two characteristics of the biotic message. From my
naive perspective as an engineer, I have no problem with the idea that life
is the work of a single designer, and from my perspective as a Christian I
know that that is true. But Walter seems to simply assert it and then go
on to attack evolution. The idea that life resists other explanations seems
more problematic to me. If it resists, it resists in a funny way: by
offering lots of tantalizing data that leads scientists down many blind
alleys before they (perhaps, someday in the distant future) discover the
truth: that all these millenia life has been resisting explanations other
than the single designer explanation.>>
Skip ahead to page 465 - 467! [The case for message theory] Walter won't mind.
Anyway, I think there are theological reasons which support this "funny
resistance." We've posted on it before, but essentially it is Pascal's notion
of God's "hiddenness." Walter did not write a theolgocial tome, but I think we
should consider it if we are asking the question "Why did the biotic message
sender do it this way?"
The part of Walter's theory that I find most ingenious, and am still trying to
wrap my mind around, is his explanation of "odd and curious" designs. The old
argument from imperfection [e.g., the panda's thumb] has been used from Darwin
to Gould as evidence against an optimal designer. Walter actually proposes
that it is essential to message theory: unless a single designer departed from
the mere efficient, we would have no good reason to suppose life was the
result of only one designer. The odd and curious designs are actually
NECESSARY to send the biotic message!
Walter's book is a wonderful critique of evolution. His message theory, even
if you don't accept all of it, is startlingly original. That's why I call him
the Bizarro World Glenn Morton. Those of you who read Superman comics as kids
will know what I mean.
Jim