Intelligent Design in Schools

[iglak]

a will of any sort requires interraction between the pieces that make up the will.

 

the neurons in a brain interract with eachother, and interract with cells via electrical and chemical signals. atoms and molecules in a cell interract with eachother via neclear and gravitational forces, as well as chemical and electromagnetic signals, and by both newtonian and quantum physics.

life interracts with other life via electromagnetic, electrical, and chemical signals, and newtonian forces.

planets and other space particles interract with eachother via gravity, electromagnetic signals, and newtonian and relativistic forces.

 

in this sense, all levels can be called a willpower of some sort, excepting that between galaxy clusters. galaxy clusters are too far apart to interract in the life of the universe, and even in the potential life of the universe if such potential is less than about a quadrillian years.

 

 

 

 

i like the free will topic. so i'm going to comment on that in response to your friend's e-mail

 

two atoms have a vast multitude of variables stored within them. first is the position, direction, and velocity of every proton, neutron, and electron in each atom. second is the amount of strong nuclear, weak nuclear, gravitational, and electromagnetic force caused by each particle, and the newtonian, quantum, and relativistic physics equations in which they interract. third is the quantum mechanics of the individual particles, such as the spin of the particles, or the quantum level each electron is on and how the electrons interract. fourth is everything relating to the sub-sub-atomic particles, such as the fermions he mentions, or the cosmic strings even below that, which i know almost nothing about.

 

with all of this information, it isn't beyond out computational power to determine exactly how they will interract, even though we don't have the required information (such as particular details about quantum mechanics, or even the ability to measure all of those properties of all of those particles at any given time)

however, to determine anything more than how a few atoms will precicely interract is impossible by any means.

the only potential way to determine such a thing would be to create an exact duplicate, down to the cosmic strings, and have the duplicate interract first. with such a duplicate, one could determine the future with exact accuracy, excepting the uncertainty principle that says a particle could be anywhere at any given time.

 

but such a thing is also potentially impossible, because creating a duplicate requires the exact measurements of every detail of every particle in the entire system, which is physically impossible according to quantum mechanics. something cannot be precicely measured without unpredictably changing it.

 

so, while the universe is predetermined, the only entity capable of determining the future is the universe itself, and it does so as time goes by. so determinism can only be used to determine with a degree of accuracy. and to that effect, determinism can be said to be free will.

 

but even so, assuming determinism is completely true, free will in the purest definition requires something outside of the universe that can interract with the universe at its will. such as a soul. such a thing is beyond infinite in complexity, because no matter how complex, something can still be understood, such as the infinite complexity of the universe. but free will in the purest sense against the above determinism must be something that cannot be understood on any level, because it is outside of the universe, and thus could only be understood as random interractions with the universe.

 

it is concievable that random interractions we observe and attribute to the uncertainty principle are in fact free will in action. but i don't have enough understanding of the uncertainty principle or quantum mechanics to put anymore thought into this prospect.

 

 

 

 

 

also, i agree with you philosophically thinking of ID.

ID in the sense of space aliens could potentially be observed in the future.

ID in the sense of a 'gaia' or 'mother earth' of some sort could potentially be observed in the future.

interractions between a faith-based god and the universe could potentially be observed in the future. it is concievable that such interractions don't follow normal physics (as any free will in the purest sense would not follow physics anyway, as Jake stated), and so we haven't found them yet.

ID in the sense of a 'chi', 'ki', or 'qi' flow, or some other 'force' (referring to "Star Wars") could potentially be observable in the future.

ID in the sense of supernatural entities, similar to ghosts or souls, could potentially be observable in the future.

ID in the sense of the noodly appendage of the FSM could even be observable in the future.

 

not now, but possibly in the future.

of course, going by the free will above, it's also possible that free will can never be observed, because any measurement and observation tools use physics and are observed by determining physics equations. and since free will in the purest sense above would be outside of physics, only interracting to change the direction of physics, could possibly not be observed by physical means.

 

 

someone on here said ID is not philosophy because philosophy asks questions, and ID is faith. but ID is not only faith; and asking questions about ID leads to many more interresting questions. for example, this free will thing. or when talking about space aliens, the physical possibility of such a thing, which gets into relativity and quantum mechanics. or when talking about a 'life force', or 'chi', gets into the philosophy of many different religions and teachings, and gets into meditation, buddhism, tibetan monks, martial arts, and new age ideas.