Re: There used to be some really powerful thinkers on the list

Susan Brassfield (susan-brassfield@ou.edu)
Wed, 18 Aug 1999 09:42:34 -0600

Bertvan wrote (to Stephen):
>were designed. And since I never heard of any of design other than
>intelligent design, I am an IDer. I don't have any opinion about who or what
>did the designing. You do have an opinion and I respect that. I also
>respect those who believe the whole thing was a big accident. I just don't
>believe they have a corner on the truth, and their views are no more valid
>than those of ID'ers.

This sounds so wonderfully reasonable. However, people who have opinions
that are supported by evidence rather than wishful thinking get a little
more weight when I'm evaluating opinions.

In another post Bertvan said (also to Stephen):

>You call it God. I call it "will", that mysterious quality of
>spontaneity possessed, to some degree, by all life.
>Most atheists don't actually believe in free
> will. They regard the existence of will as an illusion.

of course, this utterly contradicts your statement above about how you
don't have an opinion about who or what is doing all that designing.

I haven't chatted with "most" atheists, so I can't really speak to what
they believe. However, I do know that our species, as well as many others,
has a great deal of behavioral flexibility. It seems to be built in and
could loosely be termed "free will."

Susan

----------

"Life itself is the proper binge."
--Julia Child

http://www.telepath.com/susanb/