Now it's not just chimps (link), but dogs are making choices too. (link) And, interestingly, dogs are behaving more the way humans should (sometimes even than humans do)!
The articles are interesting from another point of view, though, than just as evidence that "free will" (if you simply mean the ability to make choices) is present in other creatures besides man. The articles are also an interesting form of opposition to evolutionism. How so? Dogs apparently have a choice mechanism that is more similar to humans than the choice mechanism of chimps. This means that evolutionism has to make yet another appeal to parallel ("convergent") evolution or re-nest the hierarchy. Either way, the special pleading becomes more evident.
-Turretinfan
Sunday, October 14, 2007
1 comment:
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Interestingly also... some might argue as follows:
ReplyDelete"Chimps and dogs do not have the ability to choose between Good and Evil. That's the difference."
After thinking on your post and Todd's, get this... Dogs (at least) ARE choosing between Good and Evil in the sense that they are choosing to obey their Master or not. The parallel is striking. What is "Good" but that which God declares is Good-- namely, obedience to God? And what is Evil, but disobedience to God?
In the same way, dogs choose to either obey or disobey their "god" (their master/owner). We owners define what is "good" and "evil" with respect to the dog... even as God defines the terms in the absolute sense, but with particular reference to us humans.
hmm...