A philosophical worldview or belief system grounded on the 20th century discovery that Information, rather than Matter, is the fundamental substance of everything in the universe. It is intended to be the 21st century successor to the ancient worldviews of Materialism and Idealism. An Update from Bronze Age to Information Age. It's also a Theory – of – Everything that covers, not just matter & energy, but also Life & Mind & Love.
Post 139.November 20, 2024
Cosmology and Evolution
Luck vs Laws ; Stuff vs Life
For a more mundane example : in a dice game of Craps (pure chance), the little cubes sitting still would spell out a fixed number of dots, up to 12. But by shaking & rolling the dice (jostling), that static combination is randomized to display alternative numbers, and if you are lucky : "seven come eleven". Hence, if evolution works as Darwin observed ─ by variation & competition ─ then Luck or Chance or Probability plays a role in the Selection of viable (life-possible) forms of material objects³. Moreover, Quantum Theory has found that statistical uncertainty (probability) is essential to the funda-mental functions of Nature. But Luck alone, sans organizing influences, is not a winning strategy, even given infinite rolls of the dice.
For another instance of the role of regulated irregularity, design engineers originally programmed (initialized) their com-puters with specific criteria for limiting variables, in order to pre-define the output within a certain predictable range. But as the desired functions became more complex and unpredictable, they were forced to emulate Darwinian natural design. By that I mean their Evolutionary Programs⁴ were set-up to use Trial & Error (stochastic⁵) procedures to sift-out the "fittest" forms for whatever function the programmers intended.
In Nature, the laws are by definition stable & consistent, but some destabilizing force causes material forms to change over time, to evolve. And not just random change, but progressive evolution : e.g. from simple-minded ape to philosophical homo sapiens. Physical (causal) Energy alone is aimless, except to move toward the "heat death" of ultimate Entropy. But when combined with those specifying Natural Laws (motion, conserv-ation, etc.) the tumbling dice of evolution may occasionally hit upon a lucky (fitness) number, which will allow them to move on to the next stage of the ecological game : Darwinian selection. Darwin's implicit invisible hand then uses the lawful selection criteria (embodied in the environment) to weed-out the unfit, choosing from the various or mutated options resulting from the “antecedent” randomizing stage.
The vital element in the game of Life, though, is biological Information, as found in the form of complex chemical patterns (DNA). Hence, German bio-chemist Manfred Eigen concluded that "our task is to find an algorithm, a natural law, that leads to the origin of information". Yet, as Meyer noted, "the regular-ities we refer to as laws describe highly deterministic or predict-able relationships between antecedent conditions and subsequent events". And, "potential information content mounts as improbabilities multiply". Subsequently, the probabilistic law of Entropy weeds out the impossible, allowing only the “fit” forms to pass the sieve. Thus, we know that matter can be trans-formed over time, as law-like information is scrambled by competing forces to produce the lovely novelties --- formless Plasma to spiraling Galaxies, and colorless shapeless Amoeba to the rainbows of flittering-twittering Birds --- that science has discovered in Cosmology and Biology. [see images above right]
3. Viable statistics : ‘According to current scientific understanding, the probability of life emerging on a planet with suitable conditions is considered to be relatively high, although the exact odds are difficult to quantify due to the complex nature of abio-genesis, but the early emergence of life on Earth suggests a fairly significant chance of life arising given the right environment and enough time; however, the probability of intelligent life evolving is considered much lower.” ___Google AI overview Note --- Statistical Probability is not an accident, since it is predictable.
"Statistical probability is not accidental" means that when a statistically significant result occurs, it is highly unlikely to be due to mere chance; it suggests a real phenomenon or pattern is likely at play, rather than just a random occurrence.”___Google AI overview
Odds of Existence
Blog Post 138 continued . . . click Next
Return of the God Hypothesis
The Synthetic Tendency in the Universe
Stephen Meyer
Historian & Geo-physicist
and Philosopher
“Three key scientific discoveries that supported theistic belief : Origin of Cosmos ; Fine Tuning ; Origin of Life ”
4. Evolutionary program “is one of the four major evolutionary algorithm paradigms. It is similar to genetic programming, but the structure of the program to be optimized is fixed, while its numerical parameters are allowed to evolve.”https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolved_antenna .
5. Stochastic design method : “Stochastic design uses random variables and probability to simulate long-term sequences and account for uncertainty. The word "stochastic" means randomness.” ___Google AI overview
6. Five coincidences that make existence possible :
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