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

Who makes the selection?

Post 45. 07/08/2018 continued . . .

Natural versus Supernatural Teleology

    Functions versus Goals

Throughout history, deep thinkers have produced various theories to explain the compelling “appearance” of design in nature6. Teleology : Aristotle's hierarchy of causes from First to Final, was presented as an “impersonal, undesigned, aspect of nature” equivalent to natural laws. Holism : Medieval meta-physicians produced a theory of Mereology, in which parts & wholes interact in a sort of mathematical logic to drive nature toward an final solution. Conatus : Aristotle called the tendency of things to evolve toward their natural predetermined state, “striving” , which is like a combination of Energy and Enformy. Vitalism : Gregory Bateson called his natural biological force, ėlan vital. Autopoiesis : The acorn-to-oak-tree process is an example of self-organization, and several thinkers have tried to discern how it works. Systems Theory :  A modern version of Holism is the science of Systems, which studies how parts & wholes work together to maintain the stability and success of the system, to ensure that it fulfills its function. Morphogenesis : A theory of biological enformation based on fields as the wholes that influence the parts to act cooperatively, and with single purpose, to reach a future form & function. This latter is a return to the notion that the future goal & purpose was set by the creator or designer or programmer. Thus, the “appearance” of design is an inference from a mechanical system that works as-if it was created for some practical reason, just as a clock serves a purpose that is not found in the mechanism itself.

In a 19th century mechanical metaphor, William Paley, described the designer of Nature as a watchmaker. But a more contemporary analogy might be to a computer programmer or game designer. The creators of software are not limited to the Genesis method of a priori, once-and-for-all, design by fiat (unconditional command). Instead, the gamer allows for feed-back & adaptation by the players7. In that case, the game world is partly self-designing. Likewise, a watch is a marvelous mechanism, but analysis of its parts doesn't reveal what its purpose is. Only careful observation over time will reveal the synchronous movement of sweeping hands and cycles of moon & sun. From which we may guess the maker's motivation and the intended function.

Unlike the deterministic watch mechanism, in the game metaphor some things are left to chance, yet everything works together for a reason, a purpose, a telos. The ultimate intention of a human designer may be to make money, or offer enjoy-ment to the players, or it may be simply the self-actualizing reward of creativity. But the process always begins with a motive, a vector of direction to the goal, and a push to get the system started. In the Real World game, the Big Bang imparted the momentum, along with the initial conditions as the starting setup, and some logical laws for guidance. Still, the intention behind that First Cause remains a mystery8. Just as with human artists, the motivation is not always made explicit. So its not surprising that the designer of our game of life has left us guessing about H/er reason for creation : the art speaks for itself.

Post 45 continued . . . click Next

6. Theories of goal-   directed evolution :
• Teleology
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teleology
• Mereology
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mereology
• Orthogenesis
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthogenesis
• Epigenesis
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epigenesis_(biology)
• Autopoiesis
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autopoiesis
• Systems Theory
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_theory
• Morphogenesis
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morphogenesis

7. Adaptive Systems :
“Interdependent entities forming an integrated whole that together are able to respond to environmental changes or changes in the interacting parts, in a way analogous to either continuous physiological homeostasis or evolutionary adaptation in biology”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adaptive_system

8. Motive :   Does God have emotional urges, like humans, that overwhelm the rational mind? Or does G*D create for no practical reason? My guess is that eternal/infinite, omniscient/ omnipotent deity lacks only one thing : imperfection. So creating space-time worlds may be the only way to experience change, desire, love, need, etc. In a state of perfection there is nothing to do . . . except create.