tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8823028754153829159.post1350199372917784252..comments2024-01-19T20:36:22.060+10:00Comments on soli deo gloria: Polkinghorne on emergence in science and theologyRoss H. McKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09950455939572097456noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8823028754153829159.post-30073355101296935252010-08-30T23:29:48.070+10:002010-08-30T23:29:48.070+10:00I love it. The downward input of information and t...I love it. The downward input of information and the upward input of energy! And:<br /><br />The correct lower-level description can only provide an envelope of possibility within which top-down causation will find its scope for realization. <br /><br />Beautifully put. <br /><br />That being said it makes me really uncomfortable. On the one hand the ontology of God seems to follow this pattern. If God is pre-existent in any meaningful sense I think this pattern is correct. And it's then no great leap to think of something like the breath of life as incorporating this idea. <br /><br />But then I can't shake the (deterministic) microscopic from my thinking (literally). <br /><br />In terms of chaos, for example, the analogy seems, to me, to be that constituent parts have potential. They can form this or that. And it's a system that is sensitive to inital conditions. So you're on the very apex of this potential peak. The top-down information, then gives the consituent parts a nudge in the direction they should go, and so determine the outcome. I mean, this is how chaos works right? And in some sense then, the emergent 'thing' is determined by the energy of the constituents, and the direction of the information. <br /><br />Sure, DNA works like this, millions of things work like this. But as an epistemology for humanity, it's getting very bold... As the writer says I suppose.<br /><br />Also at the end of the day I'm fearful of someone pointing and accusing me of "fill in the gaps" theology.<br /><br />Anyway, just thinking out loud. Thanks for the quotes Ross. Ridiculously interesting.Tonyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08582644751812812675noreply@blogger.com