Either existence happened by chance, or by design. There seems to be no third or fourth way. We are limited to these two conclusions and nothing else.
Does the structure of a crystal come about by chance, or by design? Does the demographic distribution of visibly identifiable subcultures within a diverse population come about by chance, or by design? If I reroll stats for my D&D character until I get one I like, does the resulting set of numbers come about by chance, or by design?
Which is to say: I reject your assertion that the middle is excluded here.
With respect to evolution in particular, there have been many “less extreme hits” on the prevailing theory of evolution over the last hundred years or so, and they have resulted in changes to the prevailing theory of evolution. It happens all the time.
That said, if (hypothetically) someone is looking for is a “hit” large enough to necessitate a change to the theory on the order of positing a goal-seeking selection process, then yeah, that would involve a pretty extreme outlier. Which is to be expected, as it would result in a pretty extreme change.
It usually takes a large “hit” to cause a large change, in any field, be it science or theology.
Lets focus on the chance vs. design conversation here first.
For all 3 of those examples you gave you would have to pick a conclusion of chance or design. Can you explain how any of those 3 could be conceived of as both chance and design at the same time? The only third option is to simply say I dont know.
All three of those options involve structures determined by “chance” (which is itself a more complicated idea than the simple word suggests, but that doesn’t really matter at the level we’re operating on right now), operating within a designed structure that constrains the possible range that chance can operate on. The end result is in fact determined by both design and chance, operating at the same time. A different design would create different results, even if “chance” operated the same way. The same design might create different results, if “chance” operated differently.
Does the structure of a crystal come about by chance, or by design?
Does the demographic distribution of visibly identifiable subcultures within a diverse population come about by chance, or by design?
If I reroll stats for my D&D character until I get one I like, does the resulting set of numbers come about by chance, or by design?
Which is to say: I reject your assertion that the middle is excluded here.
With respect to evolution in particular, there have been many “less extreme hits” on the prevailing theory of evolution over the last hundred years or so, and they have resulted in changes to the prevailing theory of evolution. It happens all the time.
That said, if (hypothetically) someone is looking for is a “hit” large enough to necessitate a change to the theory on the order of positing a goal-seeking selection process, then yeah, that would involve a pretty extreme outlier. Which is to be expected, as it would result in a pretty extreme change.
It usually takes a large “hit” to cause a large change, in any field, be it science or theology.
Lets focus on the chance vs. design conversation here first.
For all 3 of those examples you gave you would have to pick a conclusion of chance or design. Can you explain how any of those 3 could be conceived of as both chance and design at the same time? The only third option is to simply say I dont know.
All three of those options involve structures determined by “chance” (which is itself a more complicated idea than the simple word suggests, but that doesn’t really matter at the level we’re operating on right now), operating within a designed structure that constrains the possible range that chance can operate on. The end result is in fact determined by both design and chance, operating at the same time. A different design would create different results, even if “chance” operated the same way. The same design might create different results, if “chance” operated differently.