The first sentence of Carl Sagan's book, COSMOS,
states, "The cosmos is all that is or ever was or ever will
be."[1] In fact, this was a trademark statement for him--he made the
same statement in his opening lines in the COSMOS[2]
documentary series by NOVA. In Sagan's view, "The cosmos is all there
is..." means there is only matter and energy in the universe. There is
no God and there is no intelligent design to the universe. If he is correct,
then where did information come from?
Stephen C. Meyer of the Discovery Institute explains the nature of
information in a video clip, "Extras," from the Unlocking
the Mystery of Life DVD.[3] Meyer describes teaching his
students about information by holding up two computer disks. One disk is
blank while the other is full of information. He asks, "What's the
difference in mass between these two computer disks, as a result of the
difference in the information content that they possess?" The answer is
a resounding, "Zero, zilch, nada," because information is as Meyer
says, "a massless quantity". Meyer then concludes, " Now if
information is not a material entity, then how can any materialistic
explanation explain its origin?" Therefore, if a material or natural
cause cannot explain the origin of information then all that is left is a
supernatural cause. But what is information?
If
one was to happen upon a sign that says, "Do Not Enter", no one
would wonder if the information from the sign might have arrived by natural
causes. Also, if while walking on the beach one sees a large heart with the
words, "I love you" written in the center of it, the observer
would never conclude that those words had been formed by waves, wind or some
other natural source. Any time we see information, we know that it comes
from an intelligent source. What about the information found in DNA?
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a set of assembly instructions for the rest of the
cell, organism or being. Dr. Warner Gitt, the author of In the
Beginning Was Information writes, "DNA molecules contain
the highest-known packing density of information. This exceedingly brilliant
storage method reaches the limit of the physically possible, namely down to
the level of single molecules."[4] Therefore, biological information
provides the most complex and dense information known. In addition, Richard
Dawkins, in The Blind Watchmaker writes,
"There is enough storage capacity in the DNA of a single lily seed or a
single salamander sperm to store the Encyclopedia Britannica 60 times
over."[5] We see that DNA is not a concatenation of random letters, but
is ordered, complex, dense and contains a huge volume of information.
Gitt provides a detailed look at information, dividing it into five levels.
Wherever information is found, it fits these five levels. These can be
illustrated with a STOP sign. The first level, statistics, tells us the STOP
sign is one word and has four letters. The second level, syntax, requires
the information to fall within the rules of grammar such as correct
spelling, word and sentence usage. The word STOP is spelled correctly. The
third level, semantics, provides meaning and implications. The STOP sign
means that when we walk or drive and approach the sign we are to stop
moving, look for traffic and proceed when it is safe. The fourth level,
pragmatics, is the application of the coded message. It is not enough to
simply recognize the word STOP and understand what it means; we must
actually stop when we approach the sign. The fifth level, apobetics, is the
overall purpose of the message. The STOP signs are placed by our local
government to provide safety and traffic control. The code in DNA completely
conforms to all five of these levels of information.
DNA is made up of a code of 4 letters (statistics). The four DNA letters,
like the 26 letters of the English alphabet, are arranged into a code
(syntax). The DNA code is a form of language that communicates with RNA
(semantics). Not only are instructions communicated, but they are carried
out in the cell, creating various organelles (pragmatics). The DNA provides
the instructions to build the various organelles in order to maintain the
cell (apobetics). This brief summary of Gitt’s five levels demonstrates
the depth of the information in DNA as being dependent upon an intelligent
source.
If Sagan was alive today and was challenged with the information argument,
he would probably give a response like, “Scientists have not discovered
the answers to ultimate questions, but given time they will.” This is what
one of my readers says to the ultimate irreducible complexity argument.
However, there are only two possible explanations for the existence of the
universe and life. One is a natural cause and the other is a supernatural
cause. Evolutionists eliminate the supernatural cause as being
scientifically invalid; therefore, they dismiss any arguments in favor of a
supernatural cause as being religious. However, creationists offer both the
natural cause and the supernatural cause and then ask, "Where does the
evidence lead?" Meanwhile, evolutionists, instead of following the
evidence, force the evidence into a naturalistic explanation of the
universe. Logically, when given both options, a natural cause for the origin
of DNA or a supernatural cause, the logical and scientific choice is the
supernatural cause. Indeed, information as seen in DNA, comes as close to
proving God’s existence as I think one can get.
[1] Sagan, C. (1960). Cosmos (p. 1) New York: Simon & Schuster, Inc.
[2] Cosmos Boxed Set [Film Series]. (2002). Cosmos Studios
[3] Unlocking the Mystery of Life [Film]. (2002). La Habra, CA: Illustra
Media.
[4] Gitt, W. (1997). In the Beginning Was Information (p. 195). Bielefeld,
Germany: Christliche Literatur-Verbreitung.
[5] Dawkins, R. (1986). The Blind Watchmaker (pp. 115-116). New York: W.W.
Norton.
