Harry Potter & Evolution
Whenever I discuss the Harry Potter stories with my right-wing Christian friends (just kidding) or anyone else that feels the same way, I challenge them with the idea that perhaps the "magic" in the stories is really just an example of Clarke's Third Law:
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
- from Profiles of the Future: An Inquiry into the Limits of the Possible, 1961.
Several posts in my blog over the years have discussed this and used the moving, interactive paintings featured in the stories as examples. The electronic ink story recently in the news and especially my post about binoculars from earlier today continue this theme.
Recently I have begun to think that this can also be applied to the current Evolution debate. Isn't the idea behind Intelligent Design essentially what Clarke has asserted? My pondering leads me to conclude the answer is "Yes!" and here is why: It is the simplest explanation.
Of course I'm not the first to apply Ockham's razor (Entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem or "Given two equally predictive theories, choose the simpler" if stated as Pluralitas non est ponenda sine necessitate) to the debate as it is an integral part of the Scientific Method (also see application to religion). Adding Clarke's 3rd Law, though, seems unique and it fits very nicely by allowing for Evolution as postulated by Darwin to be a tool in the toolbox of any Intelligent Designer. We can now allow for miracles - something we have as yet to discover a concrete, scientifically testable explanation without giving offense to either side.
Something I find amusing, though, is that both theories - Evolution and Intelligent Design - are advancing due to the conflict. Anthropologists believe that a culture advances when it has something to struggle against such as weather, climate, or another culture. This spurs advances in technology or social structure. Struggling against ourselves, the contention between proponents and opponents of each theory are thus helping each other strive to be something better. I hope that by recognizing the potential influence of Clarke's 3rd Law the results can be more beneficial to society.
