natural vs. supernatural: how can we draw the line? taner edis department of physics, truman state...
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Natural vs. Supernatural: How can we draw the
line?
Taner EdisDepartment of Physics,
Truman State University
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Natural vs Supernatural 2
Supernatural fiction
• Stories of ghosts, gods, spirits, magic, the occult.
• Personality and agency (“spirit”) somehow fundamental to how the world works.
• Top-down world, not bottom-up.
2011
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Natural vs Supernatural 3
Cognitive science of religion
• Sharpen understanding of supernatural agency: violations of intuitive ontology. Talking statue, bodiless person, …
• Violates but also underlies commonsense natural order.
2011
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Natural vs Supernatural 4
Counterintuitiveness
• Unlike counterintuitivity of modern physics, “supernatural” violations more limited. (But can be developed by theology—Pyysiäinen.)
• Reinforces commonsense dualism of folk psychology.
• Personality and agency remains fundamental.
2011
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Natural vs Supernatural 5
Ambiguities
• No sharp distinction? The natural can gradually shade into the supernatural.
• Theologian David Ray Griffin: Psychic powers part of the natural order. “Naturalistic theism.” Personality remains fundamental in a mind-first, top-down view of reality.
2011
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Natural vs Supernatural 6
All becomes “natural”?
• Dr. Who and other science fiction: Psychic powers a natural capability. Mind-over-matter events are not miracles; maybe some quantum feature.
• (Note: Not real QM!)• Some magic can be
assimilated into a natural order?
2011
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Natural vs Supernatural 7
Sharpening the definition
• Nothing wrong with ambiguity. But we might do better.
• Draw on intelligent design (ID) and the theistic tradition. ID claims to distinguish between what is mindless (physical/natural) and what is irreducibly mindlike and purposive.
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Natural vs Supernatural 8
Intelligent design
• William Dembski’s version.
• Claim rigorous ID detection: eliminate chance (randomness) and necessity (rules); left with design.
• NFL theorems.2011
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Natural vs Supernatural 9
Physical explanations
• Combine rules and randomness––what has to be listed explicitly, without a pattern.
• Is there anything we see that “chance and necessity” cannot do?
2011
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Natural vs Supernatural 10
Physicalism
• Philosophical tradition of “chance and necessity”—understood in impersonal terms. Rules and randomness.
• We have confidence in the success of physics, in our ability to describe nature mathematically. Bottom-up view.
• (Compare to Melnyk—more emphasis on randomness.)
2011
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11
Random = Patternless
Disordered: No correlations. ~ Fair coin
flip. Pass all possible statistical tests. No predictability. No pattern.
Ordered: Correlated. Has pattern––
predictable.
2011 Natural vs Supernatural
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Natural vs Supernatural 12
Algorithmic randomness
0100011011000111101…• Kolmogorov, Martin-Löf, Solomonoff,
Chaitin…• No algorithm correctly gives more than
a finite subset of the infinite sequence.• = No correlations, fair coin flip, pass all
possible statistical tests.
2011
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Natural vs Supernatural 13
Random ~ incompressible
• Complexity ~ cost minimum.• Algorithmic complexity H(s): minimum
program size required to produce s.• s = 01010101010101…
compressible.• Incompressible s: H(s) ≈ |s|.• Random: infinite limit of incompressible
sequences.2011
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Natural vs Supernatural 14
Combining rules and dice
• Machine with RNG: combines algorithms with randomness.
• Every infinite bit sequence (function) 01001011110…:
s = algorithm + random part
• Is algorithm always finite?2011
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Natural vs Supernatural 15
Completeness
• Completeness theorem (Edis 1998).• Combinations of rules and randomness,
where the algorithmic structure is always finite, describe all bit sequences.
• Machines with RNGs can perform all tasks not requiring specific random infinite sequences.
• Gödel does not stand against AI.2011
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Natural vs Supernatural 16
The claims of ID
• Mindless physical processes, combining rules and randomness, cannot achieve certain outcomes, such as life or mind.
• In particular, the Darwinian combination of variation and selection is not creative.
• We need something nonphysical (mind, intelligence—supernatural!) to achieve “specified complexity.”
2011
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Natural vs Supernatural 17
Of scientific interest?
• Interesting claim: Detecting intelligence.
• Proposing new mathematical tools done all the time.
• Not obviously crazy.• Interesting question
about limits of physics.2011
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Natural vs Supernatural 18
Taking ID seriously
• Physicists, biologists, computer scientists, etc. address the best of ID. (Dembski and Behe.)
• Young & Edis, Why Intelligent Design Fails (Rutgers UP 2004/6).
• ID fails badly.2011
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Natural vs Supernatural 19
Failed design detection
• Dembski’s math: lots of technical errors.
• ID design-detection proposals overlook combinations of rules and randomness.
2011
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Natural vs Supernatural 20
Not fixable?
• Completeness: No dependence on specific random infinite sequence proposed by ID. (Not doable: infinite information.)
• Biology is accessible to rules and randomness.
2011
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Natural vs Supernatural 21
Oracles
• One thing could still be the signature of the supernatural: an oracle. Access to infinite information; performing a purposeful task.
2011
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Natural vs Supernatural 22
A Halting oracle
• Example: no device can solve Turing’s Halting Problem.
• No combination of rules and randomness can.
• Nothing in physics as we understand it can.
• Supernatural?2011
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23
Finding an oracle
• No definite test. (Noncomputability, finiteness of data.)
• Might have experimental data that makes it very plausible.
• A black box that looks like it could compute Turing’s Halting Function.
2011 Natural vs Supernatural
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Natural vs Supernatural 24
The Halting Box
• Results always correct according to finite approximations to the Halting Function.
• Very fast, always at same speed.• Just like quantum RNG in terms of
speed etc., only meaningful rather than random.
2011
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Natural vs Supernatural 25
Alien technology?
• Black box far beyond our capabilities. But may be an alien super-technological finite approximation, not a true oracle?
• (Goes for any physical miracle claim, such as healings.)
• After a certain point, it becomes perverse not to allow non-physical, supernatural possibilities.
2011
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Natural vs Supernatural 26
Intelligent design?
• A Halting black box would demonstrate supernatural ID.
• Beyond chance-and-necessity. Achieves meaningful task—mindlike, purposeful properties come first.
2011
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Natural vs Supernatural 27
Naturalism as a theory
• Naturalism (my physicalist version) is a broad theory—that the world is a bottom-up place where life and mind emerges from rules and randomness.
• Not just a methodological or regulative principle.
• Could empirically shown to be false. Find an oracle. Make ID succeed.
2011
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Natural vs Supernatural 28
No oracles
• Such counterevidence is nonexistent.• Naturalism is very successful.• Good reason to conclude that gods,
ghosts and ghouls are implausible. No supernatural agents appear to exist.
2011
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Natural vs Supernatural 29
Books
2011
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Natural vs Supernatural 30
Thanks for listening
• Questions?
2011