Download 1-alternative-scientific-explanations

Can you think of any
arguments against
the inductive
argument for God?
Alternative scientific
explanations
The Big Bang
Question 1 What was the Big
Bang?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsyWMuBNr4 Stephen Hawkings
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePkPYA4A
Q3o
At the point of creation . . .
The entire Universe was
inside a bubble that was
thousands of times smaller
than a pinhead.
It was hotter and denser
than anything we can
imagine.
Then it suddenly
expanded/exploded.
Most astronomers believe that this expansion started
with a Big Bang about 14 billion years ago.
In fact the words ‘big’ and ‘bang’ don’t even begin to
express the enormity
• The Universe that we know was born.
• Time, space and matter all began with
the Big Bang.
• In a fraction of a second, the Universe
grew from smaller than a single atom
to bigger than a galaxy.
• And it kept on growing at a fantastic
rate.
• It is still expanding today.
Question 2 Evidence
Things I expect to see in your
answer . . .
• In 1929, astronomer Edwin
Hubble made his greatest
discovery
• It was that the light coming
from other galaxies was
redder than expected
• He took this to mean that
the galaxies were all
moving away from us
Evidence of the Big Bang
is found in the ratio of
hydrogen to helium
He observed this because of something
called the ‘Red Shift’
It’s about wave length
Something moving away very fast looks red
while something moving towards us looks
more blue
It’s the same sort of thing as the Doppler effect
with sound waves
Which means that a sound
coming towards us is
different from a sound
going away from us.
This leads to the believe
that the whole universe is
expanding
Summary
• Although this is a scientific theory, it can also
be used to either support or deny the
existence of God
• The debate is based on whether or not the
cause for Big Bang Theory was natural or
divine in origin
• In other words, was it a completely random
event, or- a deliberate action by God?
Evolution by natural selection
Darwin song
Does this queue
appear to have order?
What might the order
appear to be?
Would Darwin believe
the apparent order
came about from
agency or
mechanisation?
Write a summary
paragraph to explain
the ideas of agency
and mechanisation
8. What evidence did Paley use for
design
9. Explain the ideas suggested before
Darwin?
10. What evidence was used to
support Darwin’s ideas
11. Explain how Darwin’s theory of evolution challenges
inductive arguments for the existence of God.
Evolution claims . .
The first life form arose from inanimate matter
All life forms originated from this single organism
There was a gradual development of increasingly
complex life-forms
There is variation in nature, evolution is
continuing
Not as described in Genesis
Charles Darwin (1809-1882)
• On the Origin of the Species
by Means of Natural
Selection 1859
• Darwin proposed that
organisms produce
more offspring than can
actually survive - pigs
• Offspring are not
identical, there are
variations - finches
Darwin cont..
• Survival depends on adapting to the
environment
• The offspring that prosper produce more
offspring than those who don’t
• Over time this increases the number of
offspring, with more variations
• This in turn increases the survival of the
species
• It’s a process of “natural selection”
Evolutionary theory
• Each species has a limited supply of food so there is
competition for nutrition within species and
between other species who share the same habitat –
NATURE IS ‘RED IN TOOTH AND CLAW’
• There will be winners and losers
• Those who survive predators and get enough food to
eat are the ones with the strongest characteristics
“survival of the fittest”
• Their offspring in turn then inherit the best
characteristics needed to survive e.g. speed, ability
to climb or think
So did Darwin murder God?
The challenge to religious belief from evolution
• Darwin’s theory did
undermine the biblical
account of creation
• He showed living things
might develop in small
steps – challenges fixity
of species
• Life could be the result
of random chance –
Dawking ‘random
genetic mutation.’
• Not created by a
creator/designer
Darwin on God cont..
• Evolution states that species had to change to
fit in with their environment
• Adaptation- rather than God creating the
environment for the benefit of various lifeforms
• Darwin concluded; “all human characteristics
are by natural selection of other life forms;
we are descended from apes” (The Descent of
Man, 1871)
Dawkins – useful for AO2
What can you see?
What would you
like to know?
What can you
infer?
Dawkins – introduction
Listen, think and jot down
key
• Richard Dawkins has written several books
that support Darwinian evolution and reject
God and the design argument
• For Dawkins the appearance of design is an
illusion.
• There is no God masterminding the process,
only the ‘blind, unconscious automatic process
that Darwin discovered’
• A famous book by Dawkins is called ‘The Blind
Watchmaker’
• Explain the significance in the choice of the
title
Relevant information
• Dawkins has redefined the principles of
evolution by introducing the concept of
random genetic mutation
• Living organisms have complex genetic codes
• When a new organism is formed through
evolution sometimes random genetic
mutations creep in
• This genetic make up causes each living thing
to develop in the way that it does
The Selfish Gene
• Dawkins believes that our genes are ‘selfish’: by this
he means that genes are engaged in a struggle for
survival
• The most ‘selfish’ genes survive using the human
body which is a kind of ‘survival suit’
• The sole purpose is that genes survive to benefit
themselves primarily, rather than the organism as a
whole
Supporting evidence/examples
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RykoSHRdZs
1. Why do you think this bird is singing?
2. Why might it be dangerous for the wren?
‘A student of wren biology claimed that one of his wild males sang
itself literally to death. Any utility function that had the long term
welfare of the species at heart, even the long term survival of this
particular individual male, would cut down the amount of singing,
the amount of displaying, the amount of fighting amongst males.
Yet, because what is really being maximised is DNA survival, nothing
can stop the spread of DNA that has no beneficial effect other than
making males beautiful to females’ Dawkins
What are memes?
Meme – unit of cultural inheritance
Memetics applies evolutionary principles to
ideas.
Ideas can mutate and compete for survival
Memes and beauty
http://meme
Music
1. Why might some people think this song is ‘beautiful’?
2. Do our opinions affect/have an impact on anybody else?
Who? Why?
Art
1. Why would many people consider this to be
a ‘beautiful’ picture?
2. Where do we learn our ideas about what is
good, fashionable or beautiful?
Fashion
1. How do we know what is
stylish?
2. Who or what influences us?
Memes
1. What aspect of the teleological argument can
be challenged by memetics?
2. Why does Dawkins describe religion as a
successful meme?