Season 4 Podcast 174, A New Voice of Freedom, Argument for the Existence of God, Episode 13, “The Patterns of Nature.”
Season 4 Podcast 174, A New Voice of Freedom, Argument for the Existence of God, Episode 13, “The Patterns of Nature.”
We know that some patterns occur randomly like shapes in a cloud. I caught the image you see at the head of this podcast while watching thousands of starlings swarming above Syracuse, a small town in Utah:
Are the starlings conscious of the fact that they have formed the shape of a giant starling? Perhaps in a primitive way they are. Are birds conscious of being birds as people are conscious of being people? I believe that all living things have some intelligence regardless of how primitive that intelligence may be. They are not driven entirely by instinct. They are not merely biological robots. Intelligence, regardless of the level, is inherent to life. They have consciousness; therefore, they experience some joy in their own world as well as other complex emotions, each creature in its own level.
It could even be said that all living things are separated by levels of intelligence, consciousness, and expressions of emotion. Man is the only being who can expand his consciousness and broaden his intelligence to comprehend God and eternity. Our freedom is inextricably tied to our ability to organize laws, accommodate our desires, and expand our consciousness. Our agency is inextricably tied to our knowledge of good and evil. Our freewill, a product only of our spirit not our physical body, is inextricably tied to the laws of God, spiritual or temporal.
Many patterns in nature appear random, but there are hidden patterns in nature that are not random that evolution claims to answer; however, their explanation leaves a nagging doubt in one’s mind. It appears to violate too many rules.
Without patterns there would be no science. Patterns are a product of order. It is very probable, if not true by necessity, that all patterns, even those patterns that appear random are governed by a strict set of laws. Our astute scientists have written volumes on the patterns of nature which is evidence of their fascination. It is astonishing that their conclusions do not match the sum total of their facts. It is a basic rule of science that the cause must be equal to the effect, and that every effect must be accounted for. Super heroes only exist in comic books.
I absolutely love the world of insects. (Well, not all insects: I don’t like gnats, flies, mosquitoes, borer bees, chiggers, or ticks, but that is all nitpicky, though I don’t like lice either.) One of my favorite insects is the praying mantis. It should be called Nimrod, because it is a mighty hunter. Its body moves slowly, always stalking like a tiger, but its strong arms move at lightning speed and they are deadly. It eats its prey like eating corn on the cob.
I have spent countless hours lying in the grass observing the small world under a magnifying glass. But let me just use one example from a very astute science writer, Lewis Thomas, taken from his delightful book, The Lives of the Cell. Professor Thomas points out a peculiar characteristic of the Australian termite. The termite cannot digest wood, quite inconvenient since wood is its only diet. Those of you who are on a gluten free diets know how difficult it is to find food without wheat. Imagine being an allergic termite looking for a tree without wood. A petrified forest somehow doesn’t cut it. Some humans probably consider that a spot of luck, but that just shows an inherent prejudice against termites.
As Mr. Thomas informs us, the Australian termite, however, has a helper—
“the protozoan Myxotricha paradoxa,”
Which digests the wood.”
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