Perry Marshall's Intelligent Evolution Quick Guide

View a Printable 1-Page Version in Adobe PDF

               I.      Patterns vs. Designs

Naturally Occurring Patterns

Nature produces patterns by itself, with no help from a designer:

  • Weather: Hurricanes & Tornados
  • Snowflakes, Crystals, Stalagmites, Sand Dunes
  • Fractals and Chaos

Everyday interactions of matter & energy produce these things

Designs

Always based on language & symbols

  • Plans: Music, Maps, Instructions
  • Human languages: English, Chinese, Spanish
  • Computer languages: HTML, JPG,C++, TCP/IP, USB
  • DNA

Always require a designer

Designs always contain patterns, but natural patterns never contain designs or symbols.  There is a vast chasm between the most complex natural pattern and the simplest design. All designs start with symbolic representation of ideas through a code, which is always designed by a mind.

             II.      How DNA Works

  • Encodes all information necessary for life
  • Double Helix – Divides and complementary bases attach to make copies
  • 4-Character Alphabet of Adenine, Thymine, Cytosine, Guanine
  • A,T,C,G are comparable to binary 1 and 0 in computers
  • # of characters in DNA: 500,000 (single cell parasite) to 3 Billion (human)
  • DNA is an Encoding / Decoding Mechanism
  • Linguistics Analysis is used extensively to analyze DNA

The Language of DNA

DNA

Language

Nucleotide

Character

Codon

Letter

Gene

Word

Operon

Sentence

Regulon

Paragraph

           III.      Proof that DNA was designed by God:

1)       DNA is not just a molecule – it is a coding system with a language & alphabet, and contains a message

2)       All languages, codes and messages come from a mind

3)       Therefore DNA was designed by a Mind

           IV.      What is information?  What Makes a Message?

1)       Symbolically represents something other than itself (i.e. a book is more than paper and ink)

2)       Requires a speaker (“transmitter”) and a listener (“receiver”)

3)       Contains the elements of language – alphabet, syntax, meaning and intent

             V.      Information is an Entity on Par with Matter and Energy

Three Fundamental Entities: Matter, Energy & Information

Information can be transmitted & stored via matter and energy, but is neither matter nor energy.

“Information is information, neither matter nor energy.  Any materialism that fails to take account of this will not survive one day.”

-Norbert Weiner, MIT Mathematician and “Father of Modern Cybernetics”

           VI.      Update to Paley’s 200 year-old Watch Design Argument:

1)       The element common to both watches and life is: Both are preceded by a language (plan) before they are built

2)       The essential difference between naturally occurring pattern and an intelligent design is language

3)       All language comes from a mind

4)       Therefore all things containing language are designed

         VII.      The Atheist’s Riddle: “Show me a message that does not come from a mind.”

So simple, any child can understand; so complex, no atheist can solve.

       VIII.      Evolution: 3 Kinds

1)       Deliberate Mutation + Natural Selection      + Time = Design  (Business, Technology, NBA Playoffs)

2)       Random Mutation   +  Deliberate Selection + Time = Design  (Scrabble, Genetic Programs)

3)       Random Mutation   +  Natural Selection      + Time = Design  (Never scientifically proven)

In daily conversation, the word “evolution” always refers to intelligent processes. 

The only kind of evolution that is said to be non-intelligent is naturalistic biological evolution. 

However there is no empirical evidence that truly random processes create significant evolutionary progress

           IX.      Can Random Mutation Produce Information?  Try the Random Mutation Generator www.RandomMutation.com:

                  0 mutations: The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog              20 mutations: Th8 WuickMbrown f4jS1um6zd CjeD thZ lAhy Ao4     

                10 mutations: Th8 quick brown f4j 1umpzd Cjer the la,y do7                30 mutations: TL8 YnGc-Mbro-n f4jS1um6wdECjeD thZ 1AhyuAo4

                Fundamental problem with random mutations: They’re evenly distributed and destruction of information always exceeds the gain

             X.      All known examples of evolution (genetic programs, social progress) have an ability to Evolve that is designed in. 

Therefore life on earth, the Fossil Record, the Cambrian Explosion and Punctuated Equilibrium are a result of:

1)       The ability to make evolutionary change is designed in (i.e. not random mutation, but pre-programmed variations); and/or

2)       Multiple incidents of special creation                                

View a Printable 1-Page Version in Adobe PDF

 

Articles:

If You Can Read This, I Can Prove God Exists - The same communication technology that gave us our modern digital age shows that language is proof of the existence of God, and that all evolution is driven by intelligent processes.

The Atheist's Riddle - "So simple, any child can understand; So complex, no atheist can solve." An airtight inductive proof for the existence of a Superintelligence.

Q&A on Information Theory - Frequently Asked Questions on what the information sciences tell us about God

New Scientific Evidence for the Existence of God - A landmark presentation by Dr. Hugh Ross on the convergence of modern astronomy with ancient theology

Software Tool:

The Random Mutation Generator - Paste text into the box and MUTATE it! A useful tool you can play with that visually demonstrates that random mutation can only destroy information, not create it

©2005 Perry S. Marshall         www.CosmicFingerprints.com