A MULTI-DIMENSIONAL WORLD VIEW

 
 

8. WHY DOES OUR UNIVERSE SHOW EVIDENCE OF DESIGN?

Feeding the Ducks
We have a beautiful Botanic Garden near us that has some small lakes with ducks who have made it their home. Once when I was there feeding the ducks I noticed two of them swimming towards me at great pace, both alongside each other, eager to get their share of the bread I was throwing.

But as they came closer, one of them changed direction and veered off to the side and then stopped, while the other one continued on, eventually to leave the water and come to where the bread was on the shore.

I was struck by how the situation and their nature did not determine their actions. They were able to act independently from nature. Nature did not determine its own outcome. There was another dimension that was more important to their response. That factor was their knowledge, reasoning, and choice, which allowed the ducks to have a powerfully independent role to play.

There was enough bread on the shore for both of them. They both needed food to live, and initially both were trying to get some of it. There were at least two pieces of information that they each had. One was the bread, and the other was my presence. In exactly the same situation, they made independent decisions about how to respond. In the case of one it was to get some bread, and in the case of the other it was to avoid danger.

Behind the ducks' knowledge of the environment was knowledge of their purpose that was already in them. Ducks are designed to survive and reproduce, and that inner knowledge led them to either seek food or to keep away from possible danger.

Maybe ducks are more intelligent than we have thought, especially when they communicate to each other, "quark, quark"!

A Designed Universe
Christians have long felt that our universe shows evidence of divine design. Paul expresses it, "Ever since God created the world, his invisible qualities, both his eternal power and his divine nature, have been clearly seen; they are perceived in the things that God has made." [Romans 1:20]

Genesis shows us how God created in an orderly way with an obvious progression from the universe, to the earth, life on earth and then finally humanity. There is intelligent design to the universe. There is a clear message of purpose in that also with humans at the peak of creation.

The Bible is quite clear how creation came into being. “The Lord created the heavens by his command, the sun, moon and stars by his spoken word.”  [Psalm 33:6] The world is the product of God’s decision and communication. That the world is guided and upheld by God's laws, and he continues to speak into his world. God is not an absent landlord.

The most famous illustration for design came from a Christian Philosopher, William Paley in 1802. According to Paley, if we find a correctly working watch in a field we can tell that such a complex piece of machinery could not have come about by chance, therefore it must have been designed.

The thing that strikes anyone about the watch which is a complex piece of machinery, is that it takes information to put it together particularly for it to be able to display the correct time. That information does not come from nature itself, but is the product of an intelligent designer. So also our world is a complex piece of machinery with laws of physics and chemistry that requires complex working together, and contains information that does not come from nature itself. Therefore it must be a product of intelligent design.

Yet, Darwin's theory of evolution put a spoke into such logic, when it tried to show how life has developed through natural selection. The conclusion is that for many people there is no need to look for a designer. More than that, for large sections of the community, the model they follow is science which is concerned only with material or natural causes. Therefore they conclude that intelligent design cannot be accepted as within the scope of science.

But there has been a new look at intelligent design with recent discoveries in cosmology and science. Intelligent design theory claims that intelligent causes are necessary to explain the complex information-rich structures of biology and that these causes are able to be observed. [MC pg 16] They claim to be a fully scientific theory.

The following are some of the areas of scientific discovery where intelligent design theory is now making serious challenges to naturalistic evolution theory.

The fundamental laws and constants of nature. The physical universe is surprising in its simple mathematical form. The basis laws of physics and the correspondence of the universe to mathematical laws show us the logical nature of the universe. Why is the universe logical? Usually something logical is evidence of a mind that has produced the logic. Also the constants of nature, such as the speed of light and the force of gravity, are crucial in the level they are set at - like a finely tuned car if they are set at the wrong level the car is not going to work well or work at all. [MC pg 34] Chance wouldn't produce such finely tuned constants. Einstein said, "I cannot believe that God plays dice with the cosmos." [CFS pg 19]

The boundary conditions of the universe. These are the ways that the universe began that allow it to continue. The speed of expansion of the universe is one of them – if the universe expanded any faster it would not be able to forms clumps of matter and there would not be any stars or planets for life to be possible. If it expanded any slower, it would not be able to escape the huge gravity of its own mass, and it would collapse into one big mess. If the rate of expansion differed by just 10-55 from what it was there would be no habitable universe. The Universe shows design. [TCATC pg 110]

Sequencing. Proteins and DNA require correct sequencing of its constituent parts to work. This shows design. Life requires proteins, and even the simplest protein is extremely complex. The simplest protein, haemoglobin, is 146 amino acids long, and so offers 10190 possible combinations to get the amino acids into the right order. So it is extremely improbable that sort of information has arisen by chance. Proteins are formed by DNA. But the DNA molecule also requires correctly sequenced information. Not just any information will do, because only information sequenced correctly works with DNA. That’s not all. Without proteins DNA has no purpose. Are we to assume that they arose simultaneously by chance? DNA shows design. [MC pg 34f]
 

Biological keys. These are the necessary genes that enable abilities of an organism to function and reproduce. Locks do not produce keys, but require independent design. Key functions of life such as a cell walls, photosynthesis, sexual reproduction, or developmental differentiation, are only important if there is an end result in mind for them, but the ability is not produced by the result. For example the bicoid gene in the Drosophila fly allows the development of the head and thorax form of the fly, without which the fly would die. The bicoid gene only provides advantage if the full development happens. So how did the gene gradually develop in the first place unless it had an end result in mind? [MC pg 151]

Can monkeys randomly type out Shakespeare given long enough to do it? The problem has always been that randomness doesn't produce design. It doesn't really explain how a new ability develops. It has been shown how chromosomal segment linking, random gene duplications, old gene inactivation, and virus colonisation can create new genetic sequences [GBG&G pg 13-28]. On their own these are random in their actions relative to the host, so they still do not explain how meaningful abilities result.   They provide a mechanism but not the knowledge itself for new functions.

Irreducible Complexity. This is a more complicated form of the biological key. It is more like a 12 digit internet banking password. This refers to the machine-like nature of some biological systems that require full functionality of all working parts before any of it can work. The probability of the right parts coming together is too high to be by chance, but is more likely to be caused by intelligent design. Flight and sight are examples of biological systems that involve irreducible complexity.

These are only some of the pointers to design in our universe. There may be many more such pointers demonstrated in the future. Intelligent design is a scientific theory that brings evidence for an alternative to the Darwinian theory of purposeless natural selection. It has its own way of testing out whether something can reasonably be said to be designed and what may not be designed.

The Limitations of Naturalism and Evolutionism
Intelligent design theory has been helpful in showing up the deficiencies of naturalism and  Darwinian evolution (evolutionism):

• Science often has a naturalistic straightjacket. The naturalistic presuppositions that are brought to science can determine its conclusions. Phillip Johnson points out how in "the materialist model, science is seen as based by definition upon philosophical naturalism or materialism." [SOI pg 29]

• Science has failed to provide an explanation for the big bang, the cosmological constants, the mathematical form of nature, and the improbability for life on earth. [MC pg 48]

• For  evolutionism be a sound theory it has to show how all of life can be explained by natural selection. Clearly there are some significant areas where things cannot be explained by chance or natural selection, but rather indicate design.

• Evolutionism or naturalism has not accounted for the origin of life itself. Darwin assumed that life could be spontaneously generated. In an 1882 letter he wrote, "Though no evidence worth anything has as yet, in my opinion, been advanced in favour of a living being, being developed from inorganic matter, yet I cannot avoid believing the possibility of this will be proved some day in accordance with the law of continuity." [MC pg 78] We are still waiting for that evidence 120 years later.

The Limitations of Intelligent Design Theory
While I value the work of intelligent design theorists and believe that it is important for research in this to continue, it has some limitations.
 

• Attributing ID doesn't give an alternative explanation as to how something developed. We can assume Paley's watch was intelligently designed, but there still needs to be some explanation of how its manufacture to complete the story. How did design put the constants in place in the universe, or all DNA to be sequenced information? Natural selection provides an explanation of how a purely natural process could cause evolution. So ID needs to also provide an alternative explanation. It is not enough to claim as science that something may be intelligently designed without an explanation of how it happens. ID needs to develop its theory.

• It doesn't say anything about who the designer is.  William Demski says that "...intelligent design presupposes neither a creator nor miracles. Intelligent design is theologically minimalist. It detects intelligence without speculating about the nature of the intelligence." [MC pg 17] Now some Intelligent Design supporters have gone further than ID itself has and use this information for apologetics or evangelism.  Hugh Ross is an example of that. But others could use the same ID information and develop a different theology. ID needs to develop its theology.

• It doesn't answer the big questions we have.  One of the biggest questions about design is the question of evil. How can there be a designed universe when evil which is bad design is here also? There is also the question of purpose. If there is design, then there must be purpose. But what is that purpose? ID needs to develop its philosophy.

• It doesn't lead to explanations of other things. While this may not be a requirement for something to be proven, any theory which does not lead to further explanations about other things outside the immediate area of interest is a theory of limited significance. About all that ID can say is that one would expect further areas of life than the ones that have been considered so far could also be intelligently designed. In other words the theory is of limited usefulness to science or theology. ID needs to develop the scope of its interest.

William Dembski makes a useful observation about the nature of ID when he says, "Whenever these methods detect intelligent causation, the underlying entity they uncover is information. Intelligent design properly formulated is a theory of information. Within such a theory, information becomes a reliable indicator of intelligent causation as well as a proper object for scientific investigation. Intelligent design thereby becomes a theory for detecting and measuring information, explaining its origin and tracing its flow. Intelligent design is therefore not the study of intelligent causes per se but of informational pathways induced by intelligent causes." [MC pg 17]

This is a very important observation which could be a way forward for ID. ID is really concerned with the dimension of knowledge. Why is that knowledge there in the cosmic constants or in the biological key? It is clear that it hasn't arisen by chance, nor from the processes of nature itself. There are many such crucial items of information that are required for our universe to exist, or to be the kind of universe that would support human life.

Why Our Universe Shows Intelligent Design
It is not enough for those who have discovered that our universe has intelligent design to say that it is a theory of information. What is that theory of information? How has the information got where it has?

The intelligent design of the universe is another reason to accept the multidimensionality of our universe because it demonstrates a dimension of knowledge that is a requirement for life to exist.

The reason for our universe showing evidence of design, is that there is a dimension of knowledge that is also an integral part of our universe as we know it. This knowledge is essential for the universe to exist at all, and determines the way that development has occurred.

Some Principles Of The Knowledge Dimension
Are there mechanisms that are operating within the knowledge dimension which allow the development of knowledge within the universe?

It would not be possible for atoms to form without the information of the strong nuclear force which holds the protons and neutrons together, and the electromagnetic force which holds charged particles together that causes electrons to orbit the nucleus of an atom, to come together. We see in the formation of the atom at least two pieces of information coming together to form something new. Out of that interaction there is formed many different types of atom with specific properties such as atomic weight.

We can see from this that a general principle of the knowledge dimension is that where units of information join together further information is produced. In this way there is a gradual development of knowledge which affects the form of the objects where that knowledge is applied. The knowledge dimension is therefore a growing dimension. Whereas the time dimension is limited to one rate and one direction, and the mass-energy dimension suffers from entropy, the knowledge dimension is a growing one. A 1D universe can grow simply by the addition of knowledge, although realising that additional knowledge makes it potentially more complex. The growth of knowledge therefore is in both quantity and complexity.

A second principle is that knowledge is communicable, and can be received from a source of that knowledge and be passed on to other objects. The presence of any information needs to be checked out if it has come from previous knowledge, or whether it is independent information that has come from an outside source. In the end all knowledge has to come from on outside source, because there was no knowledge at the beginning of the universe.

That helps to explain why in a world with a dimension of knowledge, the world bears the marks of being designed. All the knowledge in the universe has to have come at some point from a designer.

What Darwin Failed To Notice About The Finches
A great story has been made about Darwin's discovery of 13 species of finch on Galapagos Islands, in his voyage of discovery on the 'Beagle' in 1835. The finches were basically alike but showed differences in plumage, food, size and beaks. Although there were similarities from finches elsewhere, their differences were also notable.

He noticed that in their competition for the food source of insects, one finch became able to crack open and live on seeds it would have an advantage over those who relied on insects.  They would also then favour those finches which had beaks suitable for cracking seeds open. In time, and particularly if the finches were isolated on different islands, different habits  and appearances would emerge. Thus over millions of years evolution would cause different species to arise through a completely natural process.

But as we saw with the ducks there is a dimension of knowledge operating also. What part did the finches' own choices make on the outcome. If competition for food was intense, were they able to choose different types of food? Did God put into the mind of one finch to try out a particular seed? Did he put the thought into another finch to try using a cactus spine to extract insects from holes in a log?  Did God put into the gene mix some new information for beak shape or plumage colour? As we can see, the decision of the finches could have been crucial in their survival. If eating a particular seed that was available was to make the difference between their survival or not, then a strong revelation of knowledge could have made all the difference.

Natural selection would favour those finches which were more open to receiving revelation or genetic information, and trying something new. So natural selection would be a mechanism but not the cause of the changes that were happening. On the surface natural selection may have seemed to be the only thing happening, but inside even just one finches' mind things could happen in the knowledge dimension which could dramatically change their lifestyle, and in the long run their genetics also.

Using the three dimensions of knowledge that would be available to God, it would be possible for God to reveal knowledge at any point of time, to specific objects or living creatures, in a variety of ways. Because knowledge is communicable, it would be entirely possible for knowledge of the cosmic constants, biological key information, sequencing information and other things to be imparted at the appropriate moments in history. This would allow for the development of life itself, new abilities, and different species. Once knowledge was introduced into the universe it may not be necessary to reveal it again as it becomes part of the 1D knowledge that gets added to and passed on from one entity to another.

Darwin did not even look at the possibility of some inner direction for the finches. He did not include all possibilities. As such his science was incomplete, and his conclusion that evolution could occur by an entirely natural process of selection, was flawed.

I believe the discovery of natural selection has been a great discovery, and has led to many helpful insights into the history of life. But it has been misunderstood. It is merely a mechanism and not the source of life or its development.

The dimension of knowledge helps us by providing a more adequate understanding of evolution. Does this fit with the Scriptures?

God Created By His Word
The Bible shows that God works in this world by his Word. His creative work began by his Word "Let there be light". What is a word but communication of knowledge. That word continued to speak out for each day of creation, and continues to speak to us in our own day.

John's gospel also emphasises the role of the Word. "Before the world was created, the Word already existed; he was with God, and he was the same as God. From the very beginning he was the same as God. From the very beginning the Word was with God. Through him God made all things, not one thing in all creation was made without him. The Word was the source of life, and this brought light to mankind."  [John 1:1-4]

The Word here is the truth of God himself in all his knowledge and design for the universe. The Word is personal because that is how the Hebrews had come to see knowledge. It is a personal knowledge because the world was made to relate to God and for God to relate to us. The Word is involved in all of creation, because all of it was part of God's plan, and nothing is left to chance. The Word is also the source of life, and imparts life to the world. The Word communicates all that is needed for life to occur and thrive in the universe, even before there were any humans on earth. The Word also brings light to mankind, the light of revelation understanding.

God does not hold back on his revelation to us. He revealed himself fully on earth as Jesus Christ. "The Word became a human being and, full of grace and truth, lived among us. We saw his glory, the glory which he received as the Father's only Son." [John 1:14]

What is the glory of God? God's glory is to share himself and his purpose with us.

Purpose
Let us go back to the ducks. As well as having knowledge of the environment they also had a sense of purpose, even if that purpose was only to survive. The knowledge of what was around them would have been of no benefit to them if they did not have knowledge of their goal as well.

Purpose is part of the knowledge dimension. It is knowledge that answers the question 'why?' It is built into our thinking that we do things for a purpose, and that purpose is imprinted in other parts of life and the universe also. It is something that we so easily take for granted, but is what drives us to complete a journey, risk an investment, or set an organisational vision statement. Purpose is a powerful force in our lives. Because the universe has knowledge planted in it, it must also be able to have purpose.

In contrast, the theory of materialistic evolution is a blind process with no purpose driving it. That is because a whole dimension, the dimension of knowledge and purpose has been left out of the thinking of humanistic evolutionists. True science doesn't leave things out.

The point is that because of the dimension of knowledge there is able to be a purpose for all things in this world, including ourselves. The simplest creatures will not be conscious of that purpose, but the knowledge that is still part of them will enable their purpose to be inherent. But for creatures with mind, particularly for humans, we will be fulfilled only as we come to understand our full purpose. We not only live in an information age, but in an age of purpose.

Its one thing to grow our sense of purpose, but already we are part of a greater purpose. We should look around us to see the purposeful nature of our world. The fact that we desire to and are able to even search out the nature of our universe is a sign that purpose has been built into us. But where does purpose come from?

Knowledge Links To Spirit
For there to be knowledge at all in the universe requires mind. We know this from the operation of our own minds that knowledge is not random information, but reasoned information. Knowledge has to come from somewhere. There could be additional dimensions of knowledge, but even so there has to be a mind that processes information, and decides what information to apply. Such a mind is not knowledge itself, but points to a spiritual being who is the source of truth and purpose.

The dimension of knowledge is like a link between the natural dimensions of the universe and the dimension of the spirit. Knowledge is super-natural, yet it is also an essential element of nature.[]

Rev Brian Brandon, May 2004

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