The “God of the Gaps” fallacy and the Koran
THE WAYS OF EXPLAINING AN EVENT
There are 3 ways of explaining an event:
1. Necessity
2. Chance
3. Design
Necessity: These are the events which can be explained by the laws of nature. For instance, standing of cloud in the air... Since cloud is lighter than air, in a more clear way, since its specific weight is below that of the air, it stands in the air.
Chance: This is the way of explaining the occurrences which cannot be explained directly by a law of nature. E.g. “turning about winds”... Turning about the winds is a completely chaotic process. Winds may blow almost in every direction and at different intensities depending on numerous conditions.
Based upon the words “chaotic” and “chance”, we do not imply that these types of systems completely stands for chaos and are independent from the laws of nature. Chaotic systems are those “extremely sensitive to the initial conditions” and therefore, estimation of their results is, even though not impossible, very difficult. This is known as “butterfly effect”. Butterfly effect denotes that flapping of a butterfly causes minor changes in the atmosphere and afterwards may (or may not) result in the emergence of a tornado.
Here, the flapping of butterfly stands for a minor change in the initial conditions of the system (atmosphere). Even this minor change may create great impact on the result of the system by causing a series of events.
These types of systems include atmospheric events, movement of earth plates and the solar system.
Of course, it can be said that presenting these events as signs/lessons means falling into a kind of “God of the Gaps” fallacy, based upon the association of “chaotic” systems with the laws of nature. However, the interesting point here is that the Koran presents solely the chaotic systems as signs/lessons and attentively avoids by not mentioning “God does it” when it is to present things, which are directly laws of nature, as signs/lessons.
Design: Occurrences which cannot be explained both by the laws of nature and by chance are included in this category. The differentiating point with chance is that the probability of realization is incredibly small and a “purpose” is observed in the event.
For example, birds’ body structure suitable for flying...
After “much ado about nothing”, we can say the followings in order to clearly express the difference between necessity and chance/design: “If we cannot completely exclude the chance from our explanation related to an event, that event should be perceived as chance/design”.
Indeed, chance can never be excluded completely from explanation of an event. However, humans are used to conceive by making abstraction. When we see a cause/effect relationship, we call it necessity by ignoring all other parameters which create the cause. By chasing the cause/effect relationships back to the big-bang, scientists are eager to find a single parameter which explains everything. But, what will they do when they find it? Presumably, they will become obliged to explain that single parameter with chance.
In this article, we will see that the Koran also makes abstractions. For instance, when referring to “bringing down water from the sky”, the Koran presents “rain”, the last step, as a necessity after a certain point. Therefore, in fact, do not confuse your mind by thinking what is necessity, chance or design. Only remember this: The Koran is a holy book inspired for humans and when the Koran would address humans, it exactly follows the abstraction principles human beings use and presents an event as necessity if a definite cause/effect relationship exists. When doing this, it assumes the parameters which create that cause as “given”.