Was you designed by DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid)? If you would say yes, you were designed by DNA then you are designed by intelligent design according to information I have come across.

Warning the video has some Christian dogma stuff. I am not try to advertise that. However, the explination that is given for DNA being a source of intelligence that designs people is interesting to say the least. If you think you can come back with some better opposition I would consider it.

Skip to 6 minutes and 20 seconds to skip dogma stuff and then listen to the information about DNA.

I'm an order from chaos kind of person, so I don't believe that you just have to trust and work with the order in the world.. nor does science say that. Sounds too much like non-religious fate.

I also know that in regular solitaire, you can be dealt a hand that has no possibility of winning. It's been ages since I played spider, but I would imagine it's the same.. just less frequent as you're dealing with more cards.

I love spider solitaire, but the best thing it's taught me, if anything, is to be mindful. Watch each move as I'm making them, be aware of options as they show up, and try them out; if it doesn't work, maybe take a step back and try something else... There's a lot to be said for being aware and in the moment, instead of blindly following along: we can't control the things that are in front of us, but we have a choice in how we deal with them. That doesn't mean that you always win, but you learn how to move through your surroundings.

It is not possible to create a random number generator.

As to the universe is fine tuned..... THERE IS NO WAY FOR US TO UNDERSTAND THIS.

Except life has few, if any, undo buttons.

I really enjoy Spider Solitaire, and never use the undo button. Sometimes I don't win - and it's ok.
As for life - I believe it's all random, serendipitous mish-mash ! I just try to roll with it.

The question I now have is--if God were playing Spider Solitaire, would s/he have to ever use the "undo" button?

If one believes that God has a plan, then one's efforts are irrelevant, because puny human effort pales in comparison to God's awesomeness. This leads to less or to frivolous action on the humans' part.

Interesting post. Please use paragraph breaks next time for easier reading.

I play spider solitaire occasionally. I've played it for about three years now. There is a point of diminishing return in which even the undo button will not allow you to proceed to a successful outcome.

Now to your point. If I understand you correctly, because you have a perpetual undo option the process is therefore not random. Therefore, by not being random and always being able to autocorrect, one can always expect a positive outcome (success). Working with this knowledge, the player moves forward more confidently having the knowledge their success is assured. Using game theory this conclusion is consistent, logical and mostly assurred.

Extending this to a metaphysical construct of a God-world in which their is a non- random design and a preordained underlying structure, a distinction arises. In spider solitaire, if a person moves slowly and deliberately, using the undo button liberally one moves with increasing confidence knowing the undo can change the outcome.

In real life, even with the knowledge of a structure that there is a greater plan, the individual does not have an undo or a reset button. The only comparable analogy would be prayer. Working on the assumption that a omniscient God is listening and will address ones requests. By praying, the God figure will introduce an out that nullifies or redirects previous circumstances to a more positive outcome. Therefore, one always has an opportunity to win, thus infusing a false level of security to the individual.

Conversely, if one accepts the concept of a heaven state, the undo button becomes the asking of forgiveness. As the Christian paradigm works, if one asks for forgiveness and accepts the proverbial host they are assured a successful outcome, "a place in heaven". In the big picture, this is a successful outcome. Thus prayer becomes the undo button. It does not help them in this world, but is still a successful outcome in the next.

A challenging post this early in the morning. Lol

There must be a designer if we are talking about clothes, houses, or cars. One day I am walking along and I find a watch, but the analogy is so often used to explain something that would come along later. If it comes later I would not know it was a watch would I? The truth is that we humans are the designer.

I've been trying to find the motivation. Not in myself although that is often a problem. But I mean for man in general. Some people will settle for whatever explanation they're taught it seems. Whereas others need to know for themselves and dig a little deeper. Some require lots of digging and persuasion and still never just "accept". These are normally the ones seeking more substantial proof than a good-sounding narrative.

Right now I am examining an idea of consciousness being the motivator. If we can establish the premise that increased information availability (more or better senses) and increased ability to store and manipulate and comprehend the data (larger brains with more neurons) increases consciousness then this could be a possibility. The mirroring of our inner self to the awareness we "see" as the knowing of all makes us try to recreate what we experience in our own mind. It's like a big puzzle that we're fitting together. Once we can understand it sufficiently then we can manipulate it to suit our needs.

I do believe our little inner worlds are always building. We take in new information daily even by mere osmosis. So the little paradigms that we accept and build our world around get challenged occasionally. Here's where I always thought the cognitive dissonance of things like hate vs. love would drive man to get a better set of rules than christianity or islam. But some people stick to their paradigms like a lifeline. I do believe it's both a security thing and an issue with confidence.

Education and experience are the tools to overcome it - but you can only LEAD a horse to water ... . Plus we have lots of church colleges pretending to offer actual educations. I say every American needs to spend 4 years in the military or peace corps abroad. Mandatory. But as you say we MUST learn to face some obstacles and overcome then without the safety net.

In general I agree with what you are saying. I do think however, that there is more than one kind of intelligent design proposal. There are ways of looking at intelligent design other than to believe that God is looking over you as an individual human body.

It would be entirely possible to believe in intelligent design and also to think that there was no God looking over you. It would also be possible to think that evolution preceded strictly along Darwinian lines, yet to believe in a God that helps you individually.

Conscious intelligence influences evolution all the time through selective breeding, demonstrating that possibility. I am not totally convinced that evolution has proceeded based strictly on random mutations and natural selection. The nature of conscious awareness is a profound mystery and I am not willing to declare that it plays no role in evolution.

Since I am player of Spider Solitaire (level 2) the analogy is amusing. I've been a believer in self since my teens. That others believe there is a god who will fix them and their lives is strange but hey it's their lives. I'm going back to playing solitaire.

The problem lies in the misplaced faith, for those of us who don't believe in magic. I have faith in meds, science, and my own ability to overcome obstacles. None of that relies on the supernatural.

Don't you find it interesting that none of them believe it's "God's plan" for them to fail? To die? Or at least not until it's too late to help themselves?