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Author Topic:   New member - Introduction, motivation & an opinion, Is this the right forum for me?
Nicked
Inactive Member


Message 1 of 17 (196463)
04-03-2005 2:11 PM


OK, this is self indulgent but bear with me. I registered recently after spending weeks dipping in and out and reading through some of the threads (I already feel like I know some of the characters on here from previous forums, lol). Anyway, I couldn't really find anywhere else on here where I could just dip in and introduce myself so I thought what the heck. At the risk of getting banned on my first post, here it is!!!
It looks to me like most here are US citizens or at least from the Americas, and have a background or interest in Biology and Chemistry. Well I'm a Limey (English) with a university education in Mechanical Engineering, in addition I have a specific interest in a very specialist field of Metallurgy (I prefer not to divulge the field as it would easily reveal my identity). To be honest, I never really developed any appreciation for Biology or Organic Chemistry in my education (I touched on some fundamental Inorganic Chemistry as a byproduct of my degree). I know from what I have already read that it will be an education for me to have skilled Biologists and Chemists at my fingertips, maybe in some small way I can reciprocate with some Mechanical Engineering or Physics insights.
Anyway, cutting to the chase I have recently developed an interest in Biology and Chemistry primarily for political/social reasons. I want to "arm myself" with knowledge to counteract what I percieve (reiterate that this is a perception only) that religion, and particularly Fundamentalist Christianity, has embarked on what it sees as a fight for the hearts and souls of our children. It also appears to me that this is a battle, not of intellect, but of propoganda. I know you guys want to keep this forum strictly scientific so I will try to avoid this in future, if I fail then I understand the consequences from the forum rules, I just wanted to explain where I am coming from. I realise that my motives are not as pure as some of you guys but I feel my quest to understand the subject jusifies my presence here.
Am I in the right place?
{Added blank linkes between paragraphs. They make message reading easier. - Adminnemooseus}
{Edited for clarity ref message 2 of this thread. - Nicked}
This message has been edited by Adminnemooseus, 04-03-2005 01:37 PM
This message has been edited by Nicked, 04-03-2005 02:18 PM

Replies to this message:
 Message 2 by Adminnemooseus, posted 04-03-2005 2:44 PM Nicked has not replied
 Message 4 by AdminJar, posted 04-03-2005 3:48 PM Nicked has not replied
 Message 5 by mark24, posted 04-03-2005 3:51 PM Nicked has replied
 Message 9 by Ben!, posted 04-04-2005 2:22 AM Nicked has not replied

  
Nicked
Inactive Member


Message 6 of 17 (196529)
04-03-2005 6:49 PM
Reply to: Message 5 by mark24
04-03-2005 3:51 PM


Intelligent Design
Being new here, I had no idea there was a preponderance of pro-ID Engineers on the forums.
Hmmm... I'll agree that Engineers assemble technologies that appear complex. However, it's not that difficult to break a complex artefact down into a series of linked problems. Once the problems are broken down to manageable segments you just allocate them to the specialists and they engineer. The project then becomes a matter of deadlines and overviews at various levels of the team organisation. It's not rocket science (the research scientists did that 10 years earlier, before the technology was innovated).
I'm simplifying a bit here because as an Engineer I know how problems can drive you nuts when you're working with leading edge technologies. In mitigation I'll ask how many science papers do you see attributed to just a single person? They have teams to, so it's not just engineering! lol.
It's a peculiar happenstance that you should mention ID because I have been pondering it since reading the thread regarding evolution of a bicycle to a motor cycle in the scientific forums earlier today.
I'll most likely post in that forum when I've thought some more about it but I have been thinking about the activity of "designing" in relation to "evolution".
For instance, when humans design for function what are they actually doing? Does functional design appear to be intelligent when in fact it is actually a selection of the most appropriate option from a random set of solutions? For instance, I was thinking of the bicycle frame and how all the modern frames I see are triangular. What if I had no knowledge that triangular frames were the most "economic" solution that met the required parameters for function? I randomly go about making different shapes of frames sometimes improving, sometimes not, until I chance upon this solution and select it as the optimum. What have I done? All I have done is randomly mutate the frame design until I found an inevitable solution pre-determined by universal laws.
Again simplifying a little here but it seems to me that complexity is just a matter of what level of detail you view a problem from. For me the evolution of a complex living creature only looks complex when viewed from a high level, break the problems down and it's not so overwhelming.
Now I'm waffling! Thanks for the welcome.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 5 by mark24, posted 04-03-2005 3:51 PM mark24 has not replied

  
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