RESPONSE: By identifying intelligent causes, we are not disregarding the uniformity of cause-and-effect; instead, we are affirming it. Because we recognize personal causes in the present, we should be able to recognize personal causes in the past. By offering a theistic explanation, we are giving an explanation based on what we know (an intelligent cause), rather than what we do not know. Since information (i.e. specified complexity)[1] always comes from a personal and intelligent cause, we have a criterion for recognizing personal and intelligent causes in the past. In fact, this same criterion is used in many fields of study, including cryptography, SETI, forensics, archaeology, and intellectual property protection. For example, in the forensic sciences, a scientist can differentiate between a natural death and a murder. A detective might ask, “Was this person killed by natural causes, or was this poison and murder?” In the 1997 movie Contact, Jodie Foster’s character works for the SETI program (the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence). In the film, she is able to recognize an intelligent cause from outer space, because the transmission contains the first 20 prime numbers. Thus, she is able to differentiate random sequences from intelligent ones.[2]
[1] “Specified complexity” means that something is vastly improbable (complex), and it fits an independent pattern (specified). For instance, a child banging on a piano is complex, but it isn’t specified. Unless, of course, they are playing a coherent piece of music. Dembski explained that Leslie Orgel coined the term in his 1973 book The Origin of Life. Dembski, William A. The Design Revolution: Answering the Toughest Questions about Intelligent Design. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2004. 81.
[2] Dembski writes, “Specified complexity is a widely used criterion for detecting design. For instance, when researchers in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) look for signs of intelligence from outer space, they are looking for specified complexity. (Recall the movie Contact in which SETI detects an intelligent signal pattern when a long sequence of prime numbers comes in from outer space. Such a sequence exhibits specified complexity.)” Dembski, William A. The Design Revolution: Answering the Toughest Questions about Intelligent Design. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2004. 85-86.