Philosophical musings on Quanta & Qualia;  Materialism & Spiritualism; Science & Religion; Pragmatism & Idealism, etc.

  Post 116.  October 4, 2021 . . . . . continued

   The Anthropic Cosmological Principle

   Logical Teleology vs Random Cosmology

During the Enlightenment era, mechanical Evolution began to replace Divine-Creation-from-nothing as the presumed process for producing a world of order & diversity from the original raw materials, whatever they were. Even Charles’ father, Erasmus Darwin, assuming theistic design, envisioned Evolution only as the means of implementing the divine plan of “Universal Teleology”. As the authors quote him, “. . . David Hume . . . . concludes that the world itself might have been generated, rather than created. . . . What a magnificent idea of the infinite power to cause the causes of effects, rather than to cause the effects themselves”. That epigram could become the motto of Enformationism. Speaking of “teleology”, they note that “Like Kant,  . . . most biologists did not regard teleology and mechanism as polar opposites, but rather as explanatory modes complementary to each other”. Which could serve as the motto of the BothAnd Principle¹⁴, as a necessary premise of the Enformationism thesis.

Even William Paley, 17th century author of Natural Theology¹⁵, “the gospel according to anthropomorphic design”, quibbled over some of the current terminology. “The idea that postulating ‘laws’ of Nature gave explanations of design, he thought to be a form of mysticism, ‘a mere substitution of words for reason, names for causes’ “  Thus, he nailed the weakness of reductive cosmology : it assumes that a random mechanism without Reason or Purpose could magically evolve creatures that are characterized by both. At least, the ancient theory of Logos¹⁶ (reasoner, orderer, planner) could explain the existence of rational reasoners in reality, as well as of mind-lessly meditating matter, by including Rational Planning in the First Cause. Logical or rational thought is the ability to compare one thing to another in terms of proportion, or relative value. Although statistical randomness is undeniable, “Paley felt that chance was not a mechanism . . . . “ but instead, “a principle of order, acting blindly, and without choice”. Which is close to the modern definition of Chance : it’s unpredictable for humans, because we lack the ability to calculate complex probabilities. Nevertheless, “There is order in chaos: randomness has an underlying geometric form”¹⁷ ¹⁸.

So, even the apparently random mutations of Darwinian evolution, seem disordered only because the observer cannot track all the complex operations of genetic combinations¹⁷. Yet, since the advent of computers, we have begun to plot the beautiful chaos of Fractals. Moreover, in combination with a program of Natural Selection (Chance + Choice), the hidden order within randomness is realized in physical forms. Even Darwin himself admitted, regarding “blind chance or necessity”, that “I am compelled to look to a First Cause having an intelligent mind in some degree  analogous to that of man and I deserve to be called a theist” ²⁰. Perhaps not a biblical Theist, but an enlightenment Deist. Even theistic botanist, Asa Grey, noted that, “Darwinian teleology has the special advantage of accounting for the imperfections and failures as well as for successes”. And that is also the case for the Intelligent Evolution¹⁹ corollary to the thesis of Enformationism.

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18. Order within Randomness
“Order in Nature is so complex that it seems to give rise to chaos. But in examining that chaos, we find a surprising new order.”
https://www.thegreatcoursesdaily.com/order-in-randomness-fractals-and-chaotic-systems/

19. Intelligent Evolution :
This essay lays-out my hypothesis of how the First Cause/Creator axiomatic to the  Enformationism worldview programmed a physical universe that could in-effect create itself from scratch. By that, I don't mean from absolutely nothing, but from a metaphorical seed or egg of cosmic mathematical potential that cosmologists call the Singularity. From that point of beginning, Evolution began, not with a literal bang, but with a magical "voila!" of instant inflation. Since then, our world has been emerging from potential to actual more-or-less as scientists have documented.  
http://blog-glossary.enformationism.info/page14.html

20. Darwin’s Deism :
“Another source of conviction in the existence of God, . . .This follows from the extreme difficulty or rather impossibility of conceiving this immense and wonderful universe, including man with his capacity of looking far backwards and far into futurity, as the result of blind chance or necessity.”
https://www.azquotes.com/quote/575509

14. BothAnd Principle :
The Enformationism worldview entails the principles of Complementarity, Reciprocity & Holism, which are necessary to offset the negative effects of Fragmentation, Isolation & Reductionism. Analysis into parts is necessary for knowledge of the mechanics of the world, but synthesis of those parts into a whole system is required for the wisdom to integrate the self into the larger system. In a philosoph-ical sense, all opposites in this world (e.g. space/time, good/evil) are ultimately reconciled in Enfernity (eternity & infinity).
http://blog-glossary.enformationism.info/page10.html

15. Natural Theology :
“theology or knowledge of God based on observed facts and experience apart from divine revelation.”

16. Logos :
“A principle originating in classical Greek thought which refers to a universal divine reason, immanent in nature, yet transcending all oppositions”

17. Order within Chaos :
https://www.jstor.org/stable/24976102

The Anthropic

Cosmological

Principle

John D. Barrow

& Frank Tipler

1996

“. . . A series of mysterious coincidences between the numerical values of the the fundamental constants of Nature. The possibility of our own existence seems to hinge precariously upon these coincidences..”

Logical

Vs

Accidental

ENFORMATIONISM

Indirect Creation :
“power to cause the causes of effects,
rather than to cause
the effects themselves”

Teleology & Mechanism :
not opposites but complementary modes of explanation.