I see evolution as nothing but the simple process of learning. How do you learn? You try different things and find out what works. In the past people have mistakenly thought that this requires consciousness and sophisticated intelligence. But we have now conclusively established that it does not. We can put together computer algorithms (evolutionary algorithms and learning systems) which use this process not only to design things far better than we can but to play our most difficult strategy games better than our best professionals. Thus showing that there is no consciousness or intelligence required. All it requires is something that can follow a simple set of rules. This is all that is required for rationality. Thus, rather than being highest achievement of the most sophisticated lifeforms, rationality is the substance of the simplest building blocks of the physical universe – all of them follow a set of mathematical rules. And we have shown that a simple set of such rules can generate infinite unending complexity.
Such system/algorithms are not even that difficult to make. Look up the so called “game of life” (i.e. cellular automata) Thus if complexity and intricate design is where people have looked for awe and a sense of the divine or ultimate being, then they have been looking in the wrong place. And yes they have been looking from the time of the ancient Greeks in the wrong place for a very long time. This is not to say that such things are of no importance. On the contrary, by mastering our understanding of these things, we have come to an understanding of much of the basis of our own existence and our power to accomplish things has been greatly magnified.
But what about life and consciousness? These have been considerably more difficult to understand. Intuitively the very essence of them would seem to be free will. But when we look at them under a microscope we see only the mechanical systems of rationality. Not only that, but when we look at free will with the methods of rationality, it tends to evaporate into magical nonsense – so much so that some who give rationality more credit than intuition have even decided there is no such thing. But I would suggest that in the aspiration to pure rationality we have aimed at very lowest levels of existence and marched on a path that would reduce ourselves to nothing but mindless machines. My implication and premise here is that the mind consists of a great deal more than mere rationality.
To lead us out of this dead end of rationality I would suggest the following question:
If you were an all powerful, all knowing being, then how would you make something that you do not control? How would you make something that makes its own choices and does things for its own reasons? How would you make someone who is truly other than yourself?
A premise in this question is that you do not accomplish things by making wishes – as if you you had some magical genie to do things for you. Thus if you were to accomplish something you would actually have to know how to do it, and could not rely on some imaginary being who had the know-how which yourself lacked. It is my suggestion that the whole notion of magic comes from our experience of infancy when we know nothing and all it takes is a cry to the world when we know nothing of what is wrong or how do anything and beings more knowledgeable and powerful than ourselves know or figure out what it takes to make us more comfortable and happy.
Leaving the exploration of possible answers to this question to further discussion, I would nevertheless suggest that the greater cause for awe and sense of the divine is found here in the answers to this question and such things as life and consciousness rather than in things like rationality, evolution, and the learning processes we have duplicated rather well in computer algorithms.
P.S. I did not come to the site because I read Collins book and was somehow converted by it. I came here looking for a discussion forum where Christians could move on from accepting evolution to looking at the consequences for Christian theology. I read the book afterwards and put my commentary on the book here.