RE: Detecting design or intent in nature
January 25, 2015 at 1:36 pm
(This post was last modified: January 25, 2015 at 1:47 pm by Heywood.)
(January 25, 2015 at 7:07 am)StuW Wrote: What is it about flocking of fish and birds specifically that leads you to see intent of intelligence rather than just response to external stimuli like any other natural "flocking" of non-intelligent objects?
Its not that I see the intent of intellect. It is that I observe that whenever there is a flock or school, brains are always involved. From that observation I can conclude that brains are required for flocking.
(January 25, 2015 at 8:27 am)bennyboy Wrote: Iron particles group around a magnet in an organized way. Are you saying that God is hanging around in magnets putting all those particles in order? Cuz my guess is that's just natural forces at work.
Iron particles arranging themselves around a magnet is not flocking. The iron particles gather around the magnet because of the electromagnetic force. Birds flock because they follow a set of rules:
1. avoid predators.
2. don't be to close to your neighbor.
3. don't be to far away from your neighbor.
Iron particles are not going to move off into another direction if rust inducing water particles show up the way birds do if a predator shows up. A better example of "flocking without brains" would be swarms of jellyfish but this too isn't flocking.
