Blogtrek

Intelligent design?

There has been a theory for the past few years that the Universe and all the objects, physical laws, animals, beings and stars were created by an intelligence of some sort: the "intelligent design" theory. The reason proposed for this theory is that the circumstances upon which we came to exist on this planet are so remote (developing life and intelligence, right orbit, right physical constants and so forth) that there had to be some intelligent being out there that created all of this. Some criticize this as a rehash of the Biblical creation theory. My feeling is that it is more than just that. There is a problem with intelligent design that is similar to the theory that God has feet:

The most advanced structures in our life are animals, including humans. Cats, chimps, and humans all have feet. God must surely be at least this advanced, therefore he has feet.

This sounds like a silly argument, but replace feet with intelligence:

The most advanced structures in our life are animals, including humans. Cats, chimps, and humans all have varying degrees of intelligence. God must surely be at least this advanced, therefore he has intelligence.

It's exactly the same argument. If there is some sort of God or Supreme object, it doesn't have feet, because it is beyond animals and humans, and hence beyond feet. If there is some sort of God or Supreme object, it doesn't have intelligence, since it is beyond animals and humans, and hence beyond intelligence. In fact, God, if it exists, is beyond all of our ability to comprehend it, so that a better model for the Ultimate would be the Tao: The tao that can be expressed is not the real Tao.

It's like my "Just add one" philosophy. If you can imagine a God, you can imagine one even more grander and higher yet; just take "God plus one". Therefore, you haven't imagined the real God, or rather, Tao.