Blog #4 "Conceptual Clarifications"

Topic: God and the Origin of the Universe


Intelligent Design
is the assertion that "certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process such as natural selection".

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Intelligent Design is one common belief, among religious people, about the origin of the universe. The intelligent designer is most often thought of as “God.”

"Intelligent design." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 3 Jun 2008, 04:02 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 4 Jun 2008 <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Intelligent_design&oldid=216775926>.


The Big Bang
The Big Bang is a cosmological model of the universe that has become well supported by several independent observations. If the universe is seen to be expanding today, then it must have been smaller, denser, and hotter in the past. This idea has been considered in detail all the way back to extreme densities and temperatures, and the resulting conclusions have been found to conform very closely to what is observed.

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The Big Bang is the opposing common belief, popular amongst scientific people, about the origin of the universe.

"Big Bang." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 31 May 2008, 08:04 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 4 Jun 2008 <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Big_Bang&oldid=216146065>.


Darwin
an English naturalist,[I] eminent as a collector and geologist, who proposed and provided scientific evidence that all species of life have evolved over time from common ancestors through the process he called natural selection.

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Darwin developed theories explaining the development of the universe through natural selection. Which differed from the theories of “ by chance,” and that of “itelligent design.”
Until the time of Darwin these were the only two options providing an explanation of the universe.

"Charles Darwin." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 3 Jun 2008, 22:06 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 4 Jun 2008 <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Charles_Darwin&oldid=216937910>.


Natural Selection
Natural selection is the process by which favorable heritable traits become more common in successive generations of a population of reproducing organisms, and unfavorable heritable traits become less common.

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Darwin invented the term “natural selection” to explain his process of evolution, leading back to the origin of the universe.

"Natural selection." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 3 Jun 2008, 20:50 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 4 Jun 2008 <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Natural_selection&oldid=216923220>.


The Size of the Universe
The Universe is most commonly defined as everything that physically exists: the entirety of space and time, all forms of matter, energy and momentum, and the physical laws and constants that govern them. Astronomical observations indicate that the universe is 13.73 ± 0.12 billion years old and at least 93 billion light years across.

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I feel that understanding the size of the universe will help support or oppose the popular theories concerning the origin of the universe. Understanding the size of the universe and what it consists of will provide a better understanding of it’s origin.

"Universe." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 3 Jun 2008, 23:37 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 4 Jun 2008 <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Universe&oldid=216954830>.