Return of the God Hypothesis: Breakthroughs in Physics, Cosmology, and Biology Seeking Evidence for the Existence of God

by Stephen C. Meyer

The mathematician and philosopher William Dembski (Fig. 8.3), has developed a theory about how we detect the activity of intelligent agents in the effects they leave behind. His theory helps explain why the fine tuning evidence suggests design to so many physicists. It also reinforces the conclusion that the fine tuning of the laws, constants, and initial conditions of the universe does indeed point to a designing mind. In his groundbreaking book The Design Inference, Dembski explicated the criteria by which rational agents recognize the effects of other rational agents and distinguish them from the effects of unintelligent natural causes. According to Dembski, systems, sequences, or events that exhibit two characteristics at the same time—extreme improbability and a special kind of pattern called a “specification”—indicate prior intelligent activity.