Signature In A Cell, Aging, Disease and Death by Jeffrey Dach MD
Intelligent Design - Metaphysical Speculation or Science?
In his new book, Steven Meyer redefines the argument for Intelligent Design. In doing so, Meyers directly answers his critics who reject Intelligent Design as a non-scientific metaphysical proof for the existence of God.
Stephen Meyer's new book, Signature in a Cell, Evidence for Intelligent Design, argues that the best explanation of the origin of biological information in the DNA code, is an intelligent cause. The origin of the coded instruction set in the DNA of the cell is best explained as designed by an intelligence. Meyer also claims that this specific inference is a scientific argument which was used by Darwin himself, called best inference from the evidence.
Stopping Short of the Intelligent Designer In 1802, prior to Darwin, William Paley came up with the Watch Maker Analogy, an argument for the existence of God. The argument goes like this: while walking on the beach, if one would find a watch in the sand, one would conclude that the design of the watch required an intelligent designer, a watchmaker. Paley's argument continued with the inference that living creatures are more complex that the watch in the sand, and therefore must have a designer. Paley takes the next step and infers that the designer is God, the creator of the universe.
Left image and book cover courtesy of Stephen Meyer.
The Mechanical Age Gives Way to the Information Age
As explained in Stephen Meyer's new argument, Paley's mechanical watch has been replaced by the information stored in the coded instruction set in cellular DNA, a modern discovery yet unknown to Paley or Darwin. Since we have entered the Information Age with computers connected to the internet, it is appropriate to reframe the 19th century argument in terms of the 21st century Information Age.
Stopping Short with the Inference
Unlike Paley, Meyer stops short with his Intelligent Design argument, staunchly refusing to then infer the nature of the designer, as this would be outside the realm of scientific exploration. Nonetheless, Meyer goes on to say (off the record) that in his opinion, two possible candidates for the designer are extra-terrestrial beings as suggested by Crick with his life seeding earth hypothesis. Another candidate is God the Creator. He goes on to say that Big Bang cosmology suggests a cause before the creation of matter, space-time which would be compatible with the idea of a supernatural creator.
Is There Intelligence in Nature?
The claim that there is intelligence (other than human intelligence) in nature is not a new one. As a matter of fact this claim has been present in human thought since the earliest recorded written documents, more than 5 thousand years ago. The inference that this intelligence is God the Creator has also been present for millenia in human recorded thought.
A New Package for an Old Idea
What is new about Meyer's presentation is the packaging of the claim in the cloak of a scientific methodology which was used by Darwin himself. This methodology makes Meyer's inference of intelligence in nature a valid scientific endeavor. To be scientific, the claim must be falsifiable, and his book goes through this line of reasoning as well.
Monolith in the Cell - Space Odyssey 2001 by Stanley Kubrick
A 1968 movie classic, Stanley Kubrick's Space Odyssey 2001 explores some of the same ideas in the Meyer's Signature in a Cell book. See the 2001 Principle which explains the movie and the socio-political implications of discovering a non-human intelligence in the universe. In Kubrick's movie, a large rectangular object called a Monolith is discovered on the far side of the moon, obviously the result of an intelligent civilization.
Left images courtesy of WIkimedia commons
In Stephen Meyer's book, Signature in a Cell, the Kubrick Monolith is replaced by the coded instruction set in nuclear DNA. Perhaps an appropriate title for the book should be, Monolith in a Cell.
Kubrick's movie opens with a scene of the Monolith (see image) at the dawn of human life with ape-men fighting around the Monolith. The next scene of Kubrick's movie fast forwards millions of years to the discovery of another Monolith on the far side of the moon which emits a radio signal upon uncovering it. Knowledge of the Monolith is censored, and top secret with no media leaks allowed. A space ship is dispatched to follow the radio beacon to its destination.
Information in Both Animate and Inanimate World Meyers would probably say there is information throughout nature in both the living, animate world and also premeating the inanimate world. Again, science has been useful in bringing this information to light. Take, for example, the laws of electromagnetism in Maxwell's equations. Natural laws such as Maxwell's Equations are instructions for the behavior of the inanimate world. An instruction set contains information which implies an intelligence for its origin.
Information Permeates the World
Information is contained in all the natural laws science, and the laws of physics and chemistry as well. Science is concerned with finding these natural laws, and when possible, describing them mathematically, as in the equations describing the orbits of the planets or the motion of subatomic particles. All of these natural laws and their mathematical descriptions are instruction sets for the behavior of the natural world. Instruction sets represent information, and like all information, one could infer intelligence for their origin.
Reformulating the Debate
Stephen's Meyer's great accomplishment is the reframing of this debate into a format which is acceptable to the vast population of reasonable people, a format which uses the usual tools of science, and abides by the same rules.
A Modification of My Opinion
My previous articles have stated my opinion that the ID argument (Intelligent Design) is NOT science because it follows the full William Paley argument for the existence of God. Paley's Watchmaker Analogy makes the final inference that the designer is God, and uses subjective rather than the objective knowledge as required by science. However, after reading Stephen Meyer's materials and watching his debate videos, I must agree with his redefinition of Intelligent Design and change my opinion. Meyer's critics however will indubitably accuse him of being dishonest. The argument, while pretending to be science maintains the agenda of promoting theism, and creationism. This may be true, yet even so, Meyer's carefully crafted argument remains science.
ID "IS" Science After All
Stephen Meyer's re-definition of ID is within the realm of science. Why? Because Meyer uses the methodology of science, making best inference from the available objective evidence. There is no reliance on subjectivity, or subjective knowledge. There is no reliance on religious scripture or religious activity. There is no appeal to the supernatural.
What is Intelligence?
So, once we agree that the best inference is that coded instructions in DNA originated from intelligence, then what? We are left with the problem of defining “intelligence”. We think we know what intelligence is, yet once we look at the definition, we discover that we really don’t have a good scientific definition of intelligence. I suspect the reason for this is that our recognition of intelligence is somewhat subjective.
Reading Other People’s Intelligence.
For example, one of the first things we do when meeting a new person, is assess that person’s level of intelligence. Some of us have an innate ability to do this. Some of us lack this ability. When it comes to reading other people, in addition to intelligence, we are interested in other qualities in the new person. Are they a good or a bad person, are they trustworthy, truthful, capable of love, are they happy, depressed, confident, fearful? Is this new person a threat to me in any way?
Friend of Foe?
Will they be a potential ally or a foe? Intelligence is in the Subjective Realm. We can also try to assess the intelligence of animals, such as our cats and dogs that we are familiar with around the house. We can also get the feeling that there is artificial intelligence in some forms of computer software such as chess programs that exhibit a form of artificial intelligence.
Again, we do not have any instruments to measure intelligence in an objective way. IQ testing doesn't’t seem to be a very good tool. Our knowledge of intelligence seems to remain in the subjective realm. Science is concerned with the objective realm, and doesn't’t do very well with the subjective realm.
The Implications of A Non-Human Intelligent Agent.
Let's assume that we all agree that this is a valid inference, that the coded instruction set in DNA is evidence of the work of an intelligent agent.
Is the Intelligent Agent Friend or Foe?
This brings us back to popular movies like Space Odyssey or Contact in which extra-terrestrial intelligence is the subject of the movie. When primitive man came across tracks or markings indicating an intelligent agent, the intelligent agent was either another primitive human, or else an animal. Either way, the highest priority consideration is whether the intelligent agent is a threat or a friend. This is true for ANY new found intelligent agent in the wild, and must be applied to our new found intelligent agent, the originator of the information in coded DNA.
If a Foe, is the Foe Dangerous to Me?
The first thing we would ask is, "what is the level of this intelligence relative to mine or other humans?" Molecular biologists have concluded that the complexity and elegance of the coded instruction set in DNA is far in excess of anything humans could produce.
A Frightening Realization
This is a frightening realization, because, if the intelligent agent is a threat rather than a friend, then we are at a serious disadvantage. A foe with more intelligence, means a foe with better technology and better weapons.
Aging Disease and Death
It seems that the intelligent agent, if there was one, has left the scene. What can we deduce about the intelligent agent from the instructions left behind for us to decipher? Our DNA contains a coded instruction set for our pre-programmed aging, disease and death. What does that tell you about the intelligent designer?
Links and References
Video of Meyer's book presentation here.
Debate Video Stephen Meyer and Peter Ward Seattle 2008
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