{"id":40220,"date":"2012-11-29T09:52:16","date_gmt":"2012-11-29T16:52:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/?p=40220"},"modified":"2014-12-30T11:01:22","modified_gmt":"2014-12-30T18:01:22","slug":"this-is-fun-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2012\/11\/this-is-fun-2.html","title":{"rendered":"This is Fun"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Mike Flynn, when he is not busy writing great science fiction that will be read for many years to come, is a statistician by trade.\u00a0 His specialty being the contemplation of things like \u201crandomness\u201d and \u201cchance\u201d and other such things, he has been afforded an opportunity to think about the hoo hah that typically accompanies arguments between Christian fundamentalists and atheist fundamentalists as they ignore the Church and engage in sideshow arguments about evolution, \u201cchance\u201d and such like.\u00a0 As a result, he brings a perspective most people don\u2019t have (such as seeing evolution as a prefigurement of the Eucharist) or, in this case, making the rather tongue-in-cheek Thomistic argument that randomness points to a Creator:<\/p>\n

\nThe Argument from Chance<\/a><\/p>\n

The sixth way is taken from the randomness to be found in things. Among\u00a0 things that exist we observe that some come to be by chance, as for example the striking of Earth-1 by a marsbody at precisely the right angle and speed to throw off a lunar divot.\u00a0 Or the end of a ball in a slot on the roulette wheel.\u00a0 Although the motion of the ball is governed by deterministic laws, the final cause \u2013 viz., which numbered slot it winds up in cannot be predicted.\u00a0 However, we note that in paradigmatic random situations, such as a casino, great care and planning must be taken to ensure the requisite randomness.\u00a0 Equipment must be fabricated and installed, rules enacted, systems established for accounting for the results, attracting players, and so on.\u00a0 Thus while much of what happens in a casino happens by chance, the casino itself cannot happen by chance.\u00a0 It is thus clear that a random universe does not arise by chance, but by careful planning.\u00a0 But careful planning requires a Planner.\u00a0 Etc.<\/p>\n

(Sexta via sumitur ex fortuiti qui in rebus inveniuntur. Invenitur enim in rebus aliquid in esse veniunt a casu, ut pro exemplo quod planeta magnitudinis Martis percuciet terram-I justum ius celeritate et angulus ut <\/em>planeta magnitudinis L<\/em>unae abruptus est.\u00a0 Etc.)<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

One of the things I love most about the Faith is that it really does give us\u00a0full scope for genuinely creative thinking.\u00a0 Flynn exemplifies this.\u00a0 More people should read him.<\/p>\n

For myself, I\u2019ve never been able to see a problem with the notion that God works through what we call \u201crandomness\u201d.\u00a0 This just seems to me to be God wearing Fuzz Puss glasses <\/a>and preferring not to be noticed.\u00a0 After all, one of the *major* ways that Israel sought God\u2019s guidance was with the Urim and Thummim (essentially rolling the dice).\u00a0 Matthias was chosen to replace Judas by drawing lots.\u00a0 Ahab\u2019s death was prophesied by an inspired prophet, but accomplished by an archer who shot \u201cat random\u201d according to inspired scripture.\u00a0 So what the big deal with God working through the normal shuffle of randomness in nature to create man?\u00a0 This is simply what we call \u201cProvidence\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mike Flynn, when he is not busy writing great science fiction that will be read for many years to come, is a statistician by trade.\u00a0 His specialty being the contemplation of things like \u201crandomness\u201d and \u201cchance\u201d and other such things, he has been afforded an opportunity to think about the hoo hah that typically accompanies […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[7,90],"class_list":["post-40220","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-doings-on-other-blogs","tag-the-darwin-mythos"],"yoast_head":"\nThis is Fun<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Mike Flynn, when he is not busy writing great science fiction that will be read for many years to come, is a statistician by trade.\u00a0 His specialty being\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" 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