Inner Life

Irreducibly complex systems in the human body. Purely amazing!

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Of patterns and purpose

We have an extremely creative Designer who has orchestrated the laws of physics perfectly in order for us to have a very special place in our galaxy and solar system.  He planned for a mighty organic vessel to knit itself together around our intricate souls, so that we physically can discover and interact with the world that surrounds us.  For that purpose, the designer planned a flawless (though currently corrupted) interface - the human body.

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While pondering upon the beauty of snow crystals, it became obvious to me that the hexagonal shape plays an important role in many of the designer's projects.

  

Hexagonal structures are not only symmetrical they are extremely strong.  Snow crystals form when water evaporates into ice and their shapes vary, from what is known, depending on temperatures, pressure and water density (humidity) as they fall down towards Earth.  The author of these SEM photographs explains that snowflakes display a very "high degree of hexagonal structure and symmetry" with "additional ultrastructure" at even higher magnification.

Our arms and legs in the picture of my son above viewed as part of the whole design unquestionably display that functional pattern.  It is not the result of purposeless bottom-up evolution that our limbs enable us to create some thing as sophisticated as a Bugatti Veyron or a Space Station.  Much like these human engineered mechanical wonders allow us to travel on the ground at 248 mph (400km/h) and orbit the earth at 17,500 mph (28,163 km/h), the human body is top-down design at its best and there is unmistakably no room for chance in its execution.  Any amount of chance stifles purpose.  Each element is designed to work harmoniously with the other to fulfill the aforethought function.  The designer may reuse the same functional patterns in different designs.

This moth eye surface is another use of the shape.

 

Design occurs in the designer's consciousness from the top-down much like you plan a recipe, a family trip or the catching of mice. It is within this immaterial framework that the architect conceptualizes his blueprint which he eventually wills into existence.  What others have called irreducible complexity (Michael Behe), specified complexity, design inference, explanatory filter and empirical detectability of design (William Dembski), I call willed induction.



Even though the designer uses the same fundamental physical constants as instruments, and reuses the same pattern in many of his projects (much like you would reuse a switch in a Bugatti, a space station or your home), the fact that no two snowflakes that ever fell to the Earth, or DNA and consequently human beings are alike points to an unspeakable creativity.  Although computer modeling of snow crystals attempts to explain their formation, only a mind could transform water vapor into the fine wine of snow crystals. Right now what has me excited apart from their uniqueness is their hexagonal shapes.



For more study of snow crystals and amazing photographs, read Kenneth G. Libbrecht, in his very informative paper titled The physics of snow crystals where he comments, "explaining the physics behind the snow crystal morphology diagram, even at a qualitative level, continues to be a surprisingly elusive goal." (p.7).  His website on snow crystals at Caltech is probably the most thorough on the web.  There are many links there worth following.  You may also find Kepler's Discovery On the Six-Cornered Snowflake interesting.

Read Of patterns and purpose at Willed Induction in its intended format.

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Of license plates and double-helix strands

The strand pattern on Kansas and Missouri license plates had me curious. I found out others were curious as well, so I went on a little investigation to find the intelligent designer behind it.



The double-helix like pattern runs vertically in the center of the license plate, and shifts to the left or right of center depending on the State. The same pattern emerges horizontally on European plates.

(except KS and MO, collection courtesy of MySpace user Paradigm440)

I wanted to know who put the design there and for what purpose. Others online (Cliffie, Eric, Sandra, Paradigm440) across the United States found the pattern intriguing and had the same question. Who wouldn't? The pattern is three dimensional, and 3-D patterns that conform even vaguely to a double-helix strand of DNA don't just appear by chance or randomness. We could say that these strands just appeared over time without noone's involvement but that would be silly. Some intelligent designer had to place it there for a purpose, and people are naturally curious about purpose. Since the pattern emerges on more than one license plate across a wide geographic area, the design must originate from the plate manufacturer and not the individual states. The 3-D design being part of the thin layer glued to the metal points to a very savvy adhesive manufacturer and 3M® comes to mind almost immediately.

The Pattern
The threads conform to a certain kind of pattern that is improbable on its own, and therefore implies a designer. The pattern was indeed created by 3M®, the same company who gave us the Post-It® notes. I spoke with Jackie Brown with 3M®, and she emailed me the 3M Ensure Brochure which explains the design. As opposed to the highly speculated DNA Double Helix, the pattern in question is actually two sinusoidal waves and is called the Ensure Virtual Security Thread™.

As 3M® describes, "One wave appears to float above while the second wave floats below the warranty marks within the retroreflective material of the license plate" giving the 3-D appearance.

The Purpose
As the 3M® document states, this helps combat license plate counterfeiting while protecting public safety and revenue. 3M® Ensure Virtual Security Thread™ is visible in daylight and retro-reflected at night. This way it is easily seen by law enforcement agents. Terrorists and thieves are known to use plate numbers that match the vehicles they are using to fool law enforcement.

The Designer
3M Traffic Safety Systems
3M Center, Building 235-3A-09
St. Paul, MN 55144-1000
1-800-553-1380

Reflection
Patterns are curious things. We want to study them, know where they come from, find what their purposes are. When we see patterns in the biological world we must ask ourselves the same questions. Why should our thinking processes be different than at any other time? If we love and pursue truth, we go where the evidence leads. If a strand on a license plate has you wondering about purpose, what do you think of this?

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As the evolutionist stomach turns

The following article from ICR describes the digestive system and the production of energy by the body from beginning to end. It is hard to envision how, under evolutionary theory, an intermediate stomach could combat such lethal production of hydrochloric acid without having its protective layers already in place.  Other systems outside of the body, the watercycle for example, would also need to be in place for the digestive system to exist in the first place.  In fact when you think about the many other systems (circulatory system, immune system, skeletal system and more) needed for the digestive system to work, it leaves absolutely no room for chance and randomness.

Made in His Image: From Solar Energy to Human Energy
by Randy J. Guliuzza, P.E., M.D.

"Plants use biological systems that harvest light energy from the sun to convert environmental water and carbon dioxide into tiny carbon/hydrogen energy units stored within them. When people eat those energy units, the extraordinary human digestive and metabolic systems convert the work of plants into energy that is useful to people and give back water and carbon dioxide to the environment that can be used by plants. How do these systems make that happen?"  Read more...

Guliuzza, R. 2009. Made in His Image: From Solar Energy to Human Energy. Acts & Facts. 38 (3): 16.

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Of stochasticity and ambiguity

I was reading on Uncommon Descent that Walter Bock, a Columbia University biologist, urges his evolutionist peers to no longer use the word "design." According to the title of Bock's article, design is an "inappropriate concept in evolutionary theory."  Sounds to me like Intelligent Design is gaining ground and fear is creeping in.  Instead, Bock suggests the use of the word non-stochastic.  By definition, stochastic means random, unpredictable or unplanned.

Stochastic:  the presence of a random variable in determining the outcome of an event.

Stochasticity:  randomness. The quality of lacking any predictable order or plan.

Bock suggests, "Design could be replaced with non-accidental or non-stochastic, but these substitute terms are awkward and not really informative."  He concludes that "the living world as we see it is the result of chance because all of the attributes of these organisms evolved and the process of evolution is stochastic."

Everyone can see that there is design, but the word design implies a designer and that's really the heart of the issue.  Non-stochastic is more neutral, more academic and less personal, ultimately more ambiguous.

In regards to ambiguity, I often hear the argument that the universe just appears to be designed - that an eagle or a sea turtle are not designed, they just have the appearance of design.  Be attentive when someone claims the appearance of design. It brings ambiguity where there should be none.  What they are really saying is that we, lay people, by claiming design are way oversimplifying things.  Instead, chance and randomness offer a better explanation.  A rose, a whale or a DNA strand containing more information than the library of congress, emerge stochastically in their view.  I have a hard time thinking that the following came about by random processes:

   
   

There are things in this world we simply know to be true without knowing how we know them.  Knowing that I exist for example, that I want a Nutella Crêpe or desire to hug my son right now, is a fact I do know, and I do not need to know how I know it. There is no scientific data necessary.  I simply know it.  I can look at a giraffe and simply know that it is not the result of chance.  Trying to tell us that we cannot know things without empirical evidence is a lie.

Saying that something appears to be designed is like saying that this sentence appears to be saying something but in fact is just a string of latin alphabet letters that came together randomly to give the appearance of saying something intelligible.  The last sentence either says something or it does not.  Consider the sentence below:

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Vestibulum dui pede, tempus a, consequat a, tristique sed, eros.

Even the appearance of this random arranging of letters informs us of the presence of intelligence.  Whether the bed is made or not, is irrelevant. The very presence of the bed frame, mattress, pillows and sheets points to intelligence. Likewise, the presence of words, groupings of letters and the page itself show a sign of intelligence. The universe screams design and the truth about that could careless whether it is believed or not.

Adding ambiguity by saying that something just appears to be designed is just a tactic to foster confusion, stagnation and inaction.  We can confidently say that something is designed and maintain that position until proven stochastic.  So far the evolution alternative is not convincing.

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