Reply #36: Theologians.. [View All]

[The Vinyl Ripper]

They argue about how many angels can dance on the head of a pin.. Maybe not literally but certainly figuratively.

And yes you did imply that I considered complexity as sufficient to engage in design when you said that a dog can't design an amoeba.

It is *knowledge* not storage capacity that defines the upper limit of design.

And computer scientists have been predicting intelligent machines "real soon now" for several decades.

We have not yet come anywhere near such a thing, despite what Vernor Vinge terms "the singularity".

http://mindstalk.net/vinge/vinge-sing.html

With sufficient genetic engineering, pigs could be made to fly, although probably not very well.

Conceive.. noun

1. To become pregnant with (offspring).
2. To form or develop in the mind; devise: conceive a plan to increase profits.
3. To apprehend mentally; understand: couldn't conceive the meaning of that sentence.
4. To be of the opinion that; think: didn't conceive such a tragedy could occur.
5. To begin or originate in a specific way: a political movement conceived in the ferment of the 1960s.

I can form in my mind the idea of pigs flying..

You really have no way of knowing what I know so I think perhaps you ought to keep your suggestions to yourself.

On edit: Does one "design" a fractal?

Or do you simply write the equation and see what happens?

Something infinitely complex is by definition impossible to "design".