Intelligent Design and Atheism are logically consistent

Many people think that Intelligent Design necessarily infers the existence of God.  Therefore, it must count as a religious doctrine since it is necessarily connected to an essential article of all religions.  However, this analysis relies on hasty reasoning, without giving due consideration to the definition of Intelligent Design.

Many also know that Intelligent Design proponents often claim that ID agnostic about the designer, that it only cares about examining the activity of said designer.  Many claim this is disingenuous, since who else could a designer of our world be but the God of the faith traditions?

Maybe the many are correct.  But, let us first take a moment to examine what ID on its own merits entails.  To start with, let us see what the basic claim of ID is.  The basic claim of ID is that only intelligent agency (IA) is capable of creating complex specified information.  This claim takes a bit of unpacking, and has been adequately unpacked in many other arenas, so I will forgo the unpacking for now.

Back with the core claim, then.  Does it imply that the IA must necessarily be God?  Well, no.  There are many other potential IAs that can can account for a given portion of CSI.  For instance,  humans are a great candidate.  In fact, humans account for all the CSI for which we have direct, unequivocal, historical evidence of its creator.

Plainly, then, ID does not necessitate the designer be God.  Otherwise, you'd have to say God created the computer you are reading this article on, instead of a number of American and Chinese researchers and workers.  Perhaps in certain theologies that statement is true, but in the everyday common sense understanding of that statement, it is false that God created your computer.

Now that we have identified that the intelligent designer can be many other agents besides God, it is clear that the initial claim that ID necessarily entailed the designer be God is false.  But perhaps an infinite regress argument gets us back to the necessity of God?  Maybe, but this is not straightforwardly the case.

To understand why, let us consider physics.  In physics, in order for anything to happen, we must at least have matter and energy.  Now, if matter and energy inherently necessitate the existence of God, then physics too is a religious doctrine, and should be removed from the schools.  But, it is not immediately obvious that matter and energy do inherently necessitate the existence of God.  Instead, matter and energy are considered basic substances in our universe.  Kinds of substances that have existed for the entire duration of the universe.

Consequently, there appear to be some things which we don't account for their origin.  If intelligent agency is shown to exist, it may be the same sort of substance.  If ID turns out to be correct, physics may say that there are three basic substances: matter, energy and intelligent agency.  Accordingly, there is no inherent reason to account for the origin of intelligent agency, at least not any more than there is an inherent reason to account for the origin of matter and energy.  And, just as the mere existence of matter and energy does not tend to convince atheists they must become theists, so the mere existence of intelligent agency has no more reason to dissuade atheists from their atheism.

In fact, a number of existing and ancient religious narratives are consistent with a non-theistic existence of intelligent agency.  If we define theism as a belief in an all powerful, all knowing God, such a view of God is fairly recent in the religious timeline.  There are even religions today that don't believe in a deity with omnipotence and omniscience.  Without these qualities, the gods in these religions are essentially super men - humans that have acquired greater than normal powers.  As such, there is no ontological difference between these gods and humans, and in fact ancient myths tell of humans supplanting the domain of the gods.  Consequently, these religious traditions are actually atheistic in the logical meaning of the term, and are additionally consistent with ID.

That being said, while Intelligent Design is logically consistent with such an atheism, it may not be evidentially consistent, such as demonstrated by events like the big bang.  And, upon further reflection, it may also turn out there are deep logical problems with intelligent agency existing without any further explanation.  But, if so, then these same logical problems also apply to the existence of matter and energy, and are not unique to Intelligent Design.

Sketch of experiment using Stylus and Complex Specified Information Collecting (CSIC) to falsify Intelligent Design

The central claim of Intelligent Design is that only intelligent agents can create complex specified information (CSI).  However, Intelligent Design research has not focused very much on how intelligent agents actually impart this information, choosing rather to focus on detecting information in the first place.  This makes sense, since we have to detect the information in order to then determine whether it was deposited by an intelligent agent, or some other causal agent.

In a previous post, I outlined a practical approach of discovering how intelligent agents, such as humans, impart information.  The approach is called Complex Specified Information Collection, and I describe CSIC here:
http://appliedintelligentdesign.blogspot.com/2012/04/background-experiment-and-results-of.html

In CSIC, human interaction is incorporated into an algorithmic search process to add active information to the search process.  The amount of active information imparted can be measured during each stage of the search process to determine just how responsible the intelligent agents are for the information that is in the search.  The concept of active information is explained by Dr. Dembski's work on the No Free Lunch Theorem:
The Search for a Search: Measuring the Information Cost of Higher Level Search


In "The Search for a Search" Dr. Dembski shows that the effectiveness of a search algorithm in finding a target is limited by the amount of active information the search has about the target, which is information that reduces the area the algorithm must search.  Thus, extremely effective search algorithms should correspondingly possess large amounts of active information.

Dr. Dembski, with the aid of Dr. Robert Marks and Mr. Winston Ewert, have shown this correspondence holds true with Avida.  Avida has been purported to generate complex specified information without the intervention of an intelligent agent.  However, Dr. Dembski et al. have shown that the active information was actually front loaded into the search algorithm by the programmer.

ID experimental researcher, Dr. Doug Axe, has been investigating the implications of ID for evolution.  He has developed a cutting edge simulation called Stylus to examine how well functional specification can be acquired through stepwise mutation:
http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0002246

The notion of active information also applies to Dr. Axe's stepwise mutation algorithm.  If it ends up being especially effective at creating functional specification, it is possible to take the algorithm apart and examine it piece by piece to see how the active information has been integrated into the algorithm.  With this analysis we have a baseline of active information to characterize the search process.

Now we also have the tools to go the next step and see how intelligent agents can increase the amount of active information in a search.  This is very valuable since we can learn how conditions, behaviors, techniques exhibited by the intelligent agents impact the amount of active information created, if any.  We can also falsify Intelligent design theory by detecting an increase in active information within the search with no corresponding intelligent agent interaction.

Thus, by combining Stylus and CSIC, we have a full fledged scientific experiment with which we can either falsify or confirm intelligent design, as well as gain valuable insights into how intelligent design works.

Intelligent Design Links Epistemology to Ontology (Part 1)

A famous argument against Artificial Intelligence is John Searle's Chinese room argument.  In this argument, a person resides in the room who possesses a perfect ability to translate Chinese character strings to semantically equivalent English character strings.  However, the person himself has no knowledge of Chinese or English.  This argument shows that even observing a presumably intelligence based behavior tells us nothing about whether the responsible agent has intelligence regarding the content of the behavior.  Thus, there is a strict division between the syntax (form) of something and its semantics (meaning).

While a brilliant argument in its own right, it still leaves us with the most important question unanswered, which is, how do I know whether an agent is in fact intelligent?  I don't have any direct insight into the minds of others, the best I can do is infer internal states from external effects.  But, if Dr. Searle's argument is correct, then even if my friends all exhibit behavior I would classify as intelligent, I still have no clue whatsoever whether they are conscious beings or just robots.  I must take a leap of faith to assume that I even have friends, instead of a bunch of fancy mechanical dolls.  Though it is quite disturbing to take this leap of faith, it is rationally unjustified under Ockham's razor.  If in theory intelligent agency is strictly independent from and unnecessary to account for intelligent behavior, then it violates Ockham's razor to infer intelligent agency from intelligent behavior, as the former is unnecessary for the latter.

Thus, even though Dr. Searle's argument has been hailed as a definitive blow against the concept of Artificial Intelligence, it seems an even greater blow against real intelligence.  Due to his argument, we become eternally stuck within a world filled with automatons in which we seem to be the only conscious beings, in other words we become Dwayne Hoover in Vonnegut's "Breakfast of Champions".

Intelligent Design provides the metaphysical equipment to get us out of this dilemma.  Stay tuned to find out how!

Part 2

Is Neo-Platonism consistent with Intelligent Design?

I don't believe Neo-Platonism, in which Platonic forms have some kind of causal power, whether directly or through an intermediary, is Intelligent Design proper.  This is because the Platonic forms are necessary entities, and insofar they are necessary their instantiation in turn exerts necessity upon the instantiation.

However, if the causal agent that brings a particular object into being is necessitated in doing so, then that object is a product of necessity, at least in some way.  Per the CSI criteria, said object does not possess complexity, as it has a probability of 1.  On the other hand, perhaps it has a probability less than 1 but greater than 0.  In this case, Neo-Platonism does not explain the existence of the object any better than materialism does.

This argument is very similar to the proof that ID implies the supernatural, in which Neo-Platonism is substituted for the physical laws of chance and necessity.

http://appliedintelligentdesign.blogspot.com/2012/07/does-id-imply-supernatural.html

That being said, Platonism does serve a very valuable purpose for Intelligent Design in that it provides an objective specification.

SETI needs Intelligent Design

As Dr. Gonzales' and Dr. Richards' show in the book "Privileged Planet" a SETI project with materialistic metaphysics does not have a hope in heaven to expect to find a habitable planet.  The improbabilities involved in the formation of habitable planet in the universe are extremely small, much smaller than the probabilistic resources available in our universe.

Fortunately, the fact we live on a habitable planet within our universe makes the possibility of a trans-universal designer extremely strong.  At least it makes such a possibility the much preferable explanation to a process that works through merely chance and necessity.  If an intelligent designer created our planet, despite the enormous probabilistic barriers to doing so, then this makes the possibility of other habitable planets a live possibility.

This possibility gives SETI a way out of the probabilistic hole they dug for themselves with materialism.  It is only if SETI allows for the possibility of intelligent design that they can justify further searches for other habited planets in the universe.

That is not all.  The very interesting result from "Privileged Planet" is more than the fact our planet is very finely tuned for highly complex living beings.  Additionally, our planet has been uniquely placed and constructed to make the discovery of the universe a tractable task.  Furthermore, the extremely amazing thing is that the finely tuned parameters for life are the same parameters for discovery.  This requires an even higher level of design than if these parameters were independent.

However, this third aspect is not explained by either the function of survival or discovery.  Also, it is both not necessitated by the situation while at the same time exhibiting a highly intelligent design decision.  Since design decisions are made for a reason, we need to identify a third reason for this third feature of our finely tuned abode.

So, what does the convergence between survival and discovery entail?  It entails that wherever there are  habitable planets in the world, they will share a common frame of conceptual reference.  What purpose would a common set of concepts serve?  On the Pioneer space mission, a disc was placed on the craft that attempted to communicate aspects of our world to extraterrestrial beings, and part of this communication made use of concepts that should be universal, such as mathematical concepts.  Or another example, in CS Lewis' "Out of the Silent Planet" the protagonist at one point attempts to communicate with an inhabitant of Mars by making use of common concepts the two share.

With these considerations in mind, one possible explanation for the convergence between survival and discovery is that it provides a means for disparate inhabitants of the universe to understand each other.  Why provide a means of understanding?  Perhaps because the inhabitants are meant to discover each other...

Method for Making New Technology from ID

http://appliedintelligentdesign.blogspot.com/2012/07/looking-for-human-engineering-concepts.html

In a number of arguments for ID, such as Dr. Meyer, Dr. Dembski and Dr. Behe, the writers argue that there appears to be intelligent design in nature because natural entities resemble human engineered products, and human engineered products are intelligently designed.

If we look at this relationship formally, then it looks like biological/natural entity -> human engineered object -> intelligent design.  However, what if we reverse the relationship so it looks like intelligent design -> human engineered artifact -> natural entity?  This means if intelligent design theory is true, then perhaps we can use human engineering to predict the kinds of functionality we will find in the natural world.

For instance, consider a city.  To make a functional city, a wide variety of important technologies are required: communication, transportation, plumbing, power plant, fuel, waste disposal, construction, health, etc.

Where might such a system reside within the biological world?  Perhaps the human body?  A human body is composed similarly to a city, and accomplishes a similar function, providing for its own wellbeing and maintenance.  We can look at the body and then look for the components we'd expect in a city.

"But, how does this give us new forms of technology?" you may ask.  Well, for one thing we can look at how the same functionality is implemented in the body and then attempt to reverse engineer it to improve our existing technology.  There is currently a technology company doing exactly this by reverse engineering the motor in the bacterial flagellum.  Our body contains much, much more than new kinds of motors, however.  It has instantaneous communication systems, extremely effective repair and construction systems, and is amazingly effectively at extracting and utilizing energy from food.

That is not all.  Furthermore, we can learn of new kinds of technology.  While our body shares similar systems with cities, it also has systems and capabilities we have not thought of before that equally apply to a city.  And this is where the real promise lies in the technique of learning from nature.

Here are a couple examples to get things started.
- While our cities today have a very limited utility system, the body not only distributes power and water, but the body also has a system of very decentralized manufacturing.  Today, we are rapidly nearing the point where people can manufacture objects within their homes.  The innovation within the body is there is also a resource utility system, such that the basic resources for manufacturing are distributed throughout the body.  The same could be done within cities.
- All the systems in the body are autonomously run and optimized by a central processing unit, to which our cities have no existing analog, but would be very useful.
- The body is maintained by what amount to robots.  While manning our cities with robots is not possible yet, the body presents a example on how it can be done.
- The body is able to turn its fuel waste into a form that can be recycled right back into fuel again.

It has been noted by a number of scientists that biological organisms appear to be phenomenally optimized for their particular function.  The technology in nature far exceeds any technology we have ever been able to create.  If we can perfect our ability to reverse engineer natural systems, our modern technology will grow by incredible leaps and bounds, since we can see from nature that we are only beginning to touch what is technologically possible.  There is an enormous wealth of technological innovation that is ours for the taking, to which we have been blinded ever since the industrial revolution by Darwinism and methodological naturalism.

However, with the introduction of Intelligent Design, our blinders have been removed.  Forget mining for gold and diamonds.  Forget pumping oil.  We have vast untapped quantities of the most valuable resource in our universe: CSI.

Still feeling skeptical?  Well, ask yourself what the greatest technological innovation has been of the past century that has revolutionized our entire world.  It is information technology.  But where has information technology existed since the beginning of life?  Why, within the very DNA and protein production that make up all organism.  Think how much sooner we could have invented computers if we'd only known where to look.

What untold other technologies are lying out in the natural world just waiting for us to discover them?  It is time to look for Intelligent Design!

ID Implies the Supernatural

Here is a first order predicate logic proof which shows ID implies a supernatural causal agent.  The agent is properly called "supernatural" because it possess an ability that is above nature.

Legend

------

V x p : universal quantification - for all x proposition p holds

~p : not p

p1 ^ p2 : conjunction

p1 v p2 : disjunction

p1 -> p2 : implication



The following is how new universal propositions are introduced using temporary variables.

The | indicates that the corresponding line is part of a subproof.

The numbers on the right indicate which prior lines, and laws/identities, are used to generate the current line. 

1. | x0 ^ y0                                        x0, y0

   --

2. | x0                                             1

3. V x, y ( x ^ y -> x )                            1-2



Proof

-----

P(x): x is an entity that is entirely controlled by physical laws

C&N(x):  x is an entity that operates by events entirely describable by chance and necessity

C&NO(x): x is an entity whose origin can be explained by proximate chance and necessity causes

CSI(x): x contains CSI

C(x, y): x is the proximate cause of y



Goal: V x, y ( C(x, y) ^ CSI(y) -> ~P(x) )



1.  V x ( P(x) -> C&N(x) )

2.  V x ( CSI(x) -> ~C&NO(x) )

3.  V x, y ( C&N(x) ^ C(x, y) -> C&NO(y) )



4.  | C&N(x0) ^ C(x0, y0) ^ CSI(y0)                 x0, y0

    --

5.  | CSI(y0)                                       4

6.  | ~C&NO(y0)                                     2, 5

7.  | C&NO(y0)                                      3, 4

8.  | _|_                                           6, 7



9. V x, y ( ~(C&N(x) ^ C(x, y) ^ CSI(y)) )          4-8

10. V x, y ( ~C&N(x) v ~C(x, y) v ~CSI(y) )         9 & De Morgan's Law



11. | C(x0, y0) ^ CSI(y0)                           x0, y0

    --

12. | ~C&N(x0)                                      10, 11

13. | ~P(x0)                                        1 & Modus Tollens, 12



14. V x, y ( C(x, y) ^ CSI(y) -> ~P(x) )     11-13

UPDATE:

Elsewhere, an author claims this argument shows ID is committed to substance dualism.  

http://www.jackscanlan.com/2011/08/homologous-legs-now-has-a-facebook-page-its-2011-right/

While I agree substance dualism is the easiest way to make sense of this argument, it is still not a necessary conclusion.  For example, Mormon theology maintains there is a way for matter to be intelligent and possess free will.  Such a claim is not logically incoherent (as far as I know), so here we have a materialistic theory of intelligence that is compatible with my argument above.

However, a materialistic theory of intelligence would still be supernatural, since intelligent matter is beyond the physical laws of chance and necessity.