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Atheists Flock to Secular Sunday School
Christian Post ^ | Nov. 26 2007 | Nathan Black

Posted on 11/27/2007 11:53:56 AM PST by Between the Lines

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To: ahayes
LOLOL!
561 posted on 12/11/2007 12:04:41 PM PST by Alamo-Girl
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To: Alamo-Girl
So the use of the word “random” overstates what is known and knowable by the scientific method.

Sorry, but the word random has a specific meaning when applied to mutation. It means that there is no bias toward adaptive fitness.

Since actual laboratory experiments -- which can be repeated -- show that mutations explore the entire search space, there null hypotheses is confirmed. Change occurs along lines that are neutral or beneficial.

562 posted on 12/11/2007 12:25:28 PM PST by js1138
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To: Alamo-Girl

When you LOLOL, do you laugh louder than when you just LOL?


563 posted on 12/11/2007 12:47:06 PM PST by ahayes ("Impenetrability! That's what I say!")
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To: ahayes
LOLOL = can't stop laughing -or- a love of longer palindromes
564 posted on 12/11/2007 3:01:13 PM PST by Alamo-Girl
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To: js1138
Hi, js1138! Nice to hear from you!

The word "random" is generally associated with the mathematics involved in studying a phenomenon, e.g. Stochastic methods in Quantum Mechanics. In mathematics, such as in "random numbers" - the property is associated with a specified distribution which is to say, there are boundaries.

Mathworld: Random Number

A random number is a number chosen as if by chance from some specified distribution such that selection of a large set of these numbers reproduces the underlying distribution. Almost always, such numbers are also required to be independent, so that there are no correlations between successive numbers. Computer-generated random numbers are sometimes called pseudorandom numbers, while the term "random" is reserved for the output of unpredictable physical processes. When used without qualification, the word "random" usually means "random with a uniform distribution." Other distributions are of course possible. For example, the Box-Muller transformation allows pairs of uniform random numbers to be transformed to corresponding random numbers having a two-dimensional normal distribution.

It is impossible to produce an arbitrarily long string of random digits and prove it is random. Strangely, it is also very difficult for humans to produce a string of random digits, and computer programs can be written which, on average, actually predict some of the digits humans will write down based on previous ones.

Because the dimensionality of physical systems (specified distribution in a physical sense) is both unknown and unknowable then therefore I aver the proper word to use is "unpredictable" because in common parlance the word "random" is not understood to mean "uniform distribution" in the system. In the unknown physical system, we cannot ascertain the distribution - it may or may not be uniform.

It may only seem to be random, as in a string of numbers extracted from the extension of pi may appear to be random when they are in fact, highly determined.

Or to put it another way, unpredictability in physical systems does not preclude strong determinism, etc.

If you run into tortoise, you might ask him about the issues involved with infinity (no boundaries) in mathematics applied to physical systems.

565 posted on 12/11/2007 3:36:06 PM PST by Alamo-Girl
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