Category Archives: Science

Complex systems and top-down causation

Posted on 30/07/2014 by Jon Garvey

Lest you think that my last post  was merely whimsical (which seems a popular word here recently) have a look at the following YouTube talk by George F Ellis (quoted in that post), whose speciality as a physicist is complex systems.

Posted in Philosophy, Science, Theology | 24 Comments

Form, health and optimization

Posted on 29/07/2014 by Jon Garvey

One of the things that used to intigue me when I was in medicine (in those occasional philosophical moments) was the fact that, though I spent my life combating disease, it was rather hard to pin down what health actually is. The 1946 WHO definition of health is very worthy, but totally impractical: “A state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” Whilst I had a pretty holistic approach, I wasn’t going to sort out people’s social lives, and for some reason it was officially frowned upon to improve their mental well-being by sharing the gospel with them. But I knew reliably, … Continue reading →

Posted in Creation, Philosophy, Science | 1 Comment

Great journeys

Posted on 27/07/2014 by Jon Garvey

I’ve mentioned the swallows nesting in our stable in passing on a couple of posts. They’re now on their second brood (on a second nest, atop a second light-fitting, for some reason – failure to find a valeting service locally, perhaps?). It’s astonishing that within a month or so those parents, and both new broods, will be making their way to South Africa.

Posted in Creation, Science | Leave a comment

The myth behind the myth

Posted on 24/07/2014 by Jon Garvey

In the last post I referenced C S Lewis’s essay on the modern Myth of “Evolutionism” (as distinct from the scientific theory of evolution, just to remind you…), of which one major, and undoubtedly correct, point is that the ideological motivation to believe in evolution as an overarching principle precedes Darwin’s biological theory by several decades. But Lewis doesn’t attempt to explain fully why it should have developed in the first place. Here’s my attempt to do so.

Posted in Philosophy, Politics and sociology, Prometheus, Science, Theology | 2 Comments

Enduring myths and their aftermath

Posted on 23/07/2014 by Jon Garvey

When I cited Os Guinness in a recent post, I noticed a reference to an important essay by C S Lewis whilst re-reading Guinness’s assessment of humanism. It’s well worth reading, though from the 1940s, and gives that feeling you always get with Lewis that, although a mediaevalist, he was half a century ahead of his time.

Posted in Philosophy, Politics and sociology, Science | 115 Comments

When stories become science (and when they don’t)

Posted on 21/07/2014 by Jon Garvey

I hesitate to continue on the subject of maths in evolution, as it takes us into some deep philosophical waters, and especially as evolutionary programming is outside my comfort zone. But some useful stuff arose from the comments on previous threads, and there may be a couple of posts in it to make us think more critically.

Posted in Philosophy, Science | 14 Comments

On metabiology, natural law and divine action

Posted on 19/07/2014 by Jon Garvey

I’d like to pick up on a remark made by our friend Darek Barefoot on a recent thread: God may be working outside the pattern of lawlike regularities in countless irregular nudges of the genetic code, but given how many of these nudges there seem to have been it becomes difficult to distinguish them from lawlike regularities.

Posted in Creation, Science | 10 Comments

Frontloading, maths and logic

Posted on 17/07/2014 by Jon Garvey

After our worthwhile diversion into the christology of creation for three posts, I want to drop back briefly to the previous discussion on frontloading, natural v supernatural action in nature and so on. A post on Uncommon Descent about scorpion burrows prompted  one of my infrequent comments there.

Posted in Creation, Science, Theology | 23 Comments

Check out McGrew

Posted on 11/07/2014 by Jon Garvey

Lydia McGrew has done an excellent piece, Special agent intention as an explanation, which though not addressed to the same specific subjects, relates to the discussions we’ve had here over the last few posts, on frontloading, natural causes, etc. It’s in the comments that much of what is relevant to our concerns crops up, so I recommend reading those, and the article itself.

Posted in Philosophy, Science, Theology | 5 Comments

A potted guide to potato peeling

Posted on 08/07/2014 by Jon Garvey

Hanan’s query on the last thread was trying to sort out what I meant by “guided evolution”. He, Eddie and I all made the same distinction between a universe created with “frontloading”, so that “natural laws” elegantly do all that God might wish in a hands-off way, and a “guided” process where God continues to be active in “nudging” evolution the way he wishes it to go.

Posted in Creation, Philosophy, Science, Theology | Leave a comment