The Fallacies of Intelligent Design Theory
Based on recent studies in the sciences of complexity and artificial life computer simulations, the main requirement for life to develop seems to be that stars must live long enough to produce the elements needed for life and allow time for the complex, nonlinear systems we call life to evolve. Moreover, the biochemistry that produces life is not chance. Once certain chemicals come in contact with one another, biochemistry produces complex products, and the products themselves may interact in complex ways. Besides, if the origin of the universe is the origin of time, it is difficult to see how anything could possibly have pre-set the universe's physical constants, since there would have been no time prior to the origin of the universe to do any tinkering that would influence it.
Some theoretical lines of evidence indicate that many other universes, with varying sets of physical constants and conditions, might well exist. Thus, even if the probability that a given universe would have constants close to those of our own universe is small, the sheer number of possible universes would virtually guarantee that some of them would possess constants that would allow life to arise. The claim of ID advocates that the universe is "fine tuned" for the existence of life as we know it is not corroborated by any theoretical understanding about what forms of life might arise in universes with different physical conditions than our own or about any theoretical understanding about what kinds of universes are possible at all. It is basically a claim founded upon our own ignorance of physics. Even if our universe is the result of chance, many different forms of life could still have occurred, though with different laws and constants of physics.
When ID advocates estimate that the probability of a universe with our particular physical properties is 1 in 10^10^123, they are unable to say how many of the other possible universes formed with different properties could still have led to some form of life. If it is half, the probability for life is 50%. However, there are difficulties in making these calculations. Conditions today are different from conditions in the past. The oxygen content in the atmosphere and oceans was different when life first appeared than it is now. Moreover, there obviously was no life around before life appeared. Can new life forms emerge today? The difficulty is that the life that is around today scavenges and eats any complex organic molecules before they can turn into anything approaching new life. Of course, since man doesn't yet understand all the factors necessary to have life, how can anyone calculate the probability of life beginning by natural means?
The fact is that for some reason we have a tendency to consider a "meaningful" combination of anything as less likely to occur than a "meaningless" one. Some training in mathematical statistics would enable us to understand that a tendency to think this way is unjustified.
We should only be amazed at the occurrence of an improbable event if it has been specified a priori: for example, if a blindfolded man successfully predicted he would spin himself around on a golf tee, hit the ball at random, and achieve a hole in one. That would be amazing, as the target destination is specified in advance.
The Second Law of Thermodynamics and Order
ID advocates like to claim that, in closed systems like our universe, the second law of thermodynamics forbids the generation of order by natural processes. The position is that, in the formation of the complex molecules characteristic of living organisms, when living things decay after death, the process takes place with an increase in entropy, i.e., greater disorder. Thus, the explanation for life on earth is that a grand design was necessary. This position displays ignorance about the second law.
The second law of thermodynamics specifies that, on a macroscopic scale, the entropy of a system cannot decrease. However, order can be produced in a local region of the universe with a decrease in the local entropy, as long as the total entropy of the universe remains constant or increases. That is, when a smaller part of the system becomes ordered, the rest of the universe must become more disorderly, and, as the universe expands, the maximum entropy that can be contained in its volume increases. A larger volume contains more room for disorderly behavior. Thus, in an expanding universe, pockets of order can easily form in which most of the particles are part of a uniform background; the local entropy decrease is easily compensated for by an entropy increase in the remaining part of the universe.
Since the orderly part of the universe - the galaxies - includes only a minute fraction of the total particle count, there is plenty of room and more than adequate energy for minor, small-ordered structures like the earth (and life) to appear. Most of the universe's entropy is carried in the microwave background (or in a background of "dark matter" that is believed to be present but has not yet been detected by scientific instruments).
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The Case for Design Based on the Anthropic Coincidences: Pages 1, (2), 3, 4, 5
