THE DARWINIAN PROCESS
OF NATURAL SELECTION
DEPENDS ON THE EXISTENCE OF
SELF REPLICATING ENTITIES.
AND THOSE ARE NOT FOR FREE.
WHERE DO THEY COME FROM?
AND IT LOOKS AS IF WE'VE
GOT A PARADOX HERE,
BECAUSE THE SIMPLEST
SELF REPLICATING THING
IS APPARENTLY MUCH
TOO COMPLEX IN ITSELF
TO HAVE COME INTO
EXISTENCE JUST BY CHANCE.
BUT WITHOUT SELF
REPLICATION, YOU
DON'T GET TO INVOKE THE
DARWINIAN MACHINERY.
SO, HOW DO WE PRIME THE PUMP?
HOW DO WE GET THIS
PROCESS UP AND RUNNING?
LOTS OF PEOPLE HAVE
THOUGHT THAT THIS
IS THE PLACE WHERE
WE HAVE TO GO TO GOD,
TO AN INITIATOR TO EXPLAIN THIS.
AND THEN PEOPLE HAVE THOUGHT,
WELL, WHAT'S GOD'S ROLE HERE?
IT'S NOT SO MUCH THE
THE HANDY CRAFTER GOD,
THE MAKER OF ARTIFACTS,
AS THE PROMULGATOR
OF THE LAWS OF PHYSICS.
IF WE GET THE LAWS OF
PHYSICS JUST RIGHT, SO
THAT THE FORCES BALANCE EACH
OTHER JUST RIGHT, SO THAT WE
CAN HAVE CARBON, SO THAT WE
CAN HAVE OXYGEN, SO THAT WE CAN
HAVE METALS AND PHOTOSYNTHESIS,
AND ALL THOSE OTHER THINGS THAT
ARE THE BASIC ELEMENTS OF
LIVING THINGS, THEY'VE GOD
GOT THE ARTIFICER
INTO GOD THE LW GIVER.
AND THEY THOUGHT,
WELL, THAT'S GOOD.
WE STILL HAVE A ROLE FOR GOD.
BUT NOW A NUMBER OF THINKERS,
PHYSICISTS AND COSMOLOGISTS
WHO SAID, WELL, WAIT A MINUTE,
WE DON'T HAVE TO STOP THERE.
LET'S LOOK AT GOD THE
LAW GIVER AND REALIZE
THAT MAYBE GOD IS
JUST THE LAW FINDER.
MAYBE WE IMAGINE, IF
YOU LIKE, A WITLESS GOD
THAT JUST SEARCHES,
AND SEARCHES,
AND SEARCHES THROUGH ALL
THE POSSIBLE LAWS OF NATURE
UNTIL A BUNCH OF LAWS
HAPPEN TO COINCIDE
WHICH PERMIT GALAXIES TO
FORM, AND MATTER TO SOLIDIFY,
AND LIFE TO GET
STARTED, AND SO FORTH.
SO NOW THIS PROGRESSION
TAKES THE ORIGINAL GOD
AS ENGINEER AND
ARTIFICER, AND TURNS HIM
INTO GOD AS WISE LAW GIVER.
AND TURNS GOD NOT NECESSARILY
WISE LAW GIVER, JUST
LAW FINGER.
WELL, NOW IF WE'VE GOT
GOD THE LAW FINDER,
THIS IS PRACTICALLY A
VANISHING INTELLIGENCE.
AND PEOPLE HAVE LOOKED AT MODELS
OF COSMOLOGICAL EVOLUTION,
WHERE WE JUST SUPPOSE THAT THE
LAWS OF NATURE THAT WE NOW FIND
UNIVERSAL, AND AS
GOOD AS ETERNAL,
WELL, THEY'VE BEEN HOLDING
FOR BILLIONS OF YEARS NOW,
BUT THAT'S NOT ETERNITY.
AND MAYBE THERE ARE
OTHER UNIVERSITIES
WHERE THE LAWS ARE
SOMEWHAT DIFFERENT,
AND MAYBE IN THOSE UNIVERSES,
LIFE DOESN'T EXIST.
LIFE EXISTS HERE,
BUT THAT DOESN'T
MEAN THAT THERE HAS TO BE AN
INTELLIGENCE THAT BROUGHT IT
ABOUT.
IF THERE CAN BE
JUST FREE VARIATION
IN THE LAWS OF NATURE, WHICH
MEANS THEY'RE NOT REALLY LAWS,
THEY'RE JUST TEMPORARY
REGULARITIES,
THEN THAT'S ENOUGH TO
GET LIFE OFF AND RUNNING.
HUME, I THINK, SAW THAT DIMLY
SEVERAL HUNDRED YEARS AGO
IN HIS DIALOGUES CONCERNING
NATURAL RELIGION.
AND, IN FACT, IN
THE INQUIRY WHERE
HE RAISES THE STANDARD
AND FAMOUS HUMAN QUESTION
OF WHETHER THE FUTURE
WILL BE LIKE THE PAST.
AND OUR FAITH IN INDUCTION
IS BUILT RIGHT IN.
IT'S NOT GOING TO GO
AWAY, BUT HE ARGUES,
I THINK ENTIRELY CONVINCINGLY,
THAT YOU CAN'T PROVE,
YOU CANNOT PROVE BY
INDUCTION OR DEDUCTION,
OR ANYTHING ELSE THAT THE
FUTURE WILL BE LIKE THE PAST.
AND WHO KNOWS, MAYBE IT WILL BE.
IF IT ISN'T, THEN
ALL BETS ARE OFF.
