[Avodah] Evolution, Hashgachah and Tehillah

[Micha Berger]

On Mon, Oct 03, 2011 at 07:21:55PM -0500, Lisa Liel wrote:
>> Is "mazal" chance? We know that belief in astrology and knowledge that
>> the stars move in predictable ways, and in particular, that the
>> mazalos move together, coexisted. I would therefore think that the concept
>> of "mazal" is more tied to fate and predestination, a mechanical and
>> deterministic view of the forces of the universe.

> I don't see a distinction, really.  Whatever the mechanics of the  
> universe itself are.  If it's chance, if it's fate... whichever it is  
> without hashgacha pratit.

We were discussing the randomness of evolution. If mazal isn't random,
it's less of a precedent concept.

In particular, I was arguing that "random" means that you can't predict
any particular instance's outcome based solely on empirical causality.
And thus, if HQBH were to guide evolution through deciding when and which
mutations occur, as long as they conformed to the overall statistics
science can predict, they would still be "random" in any scientific
usage of the term.

But if mazal meant "random", then "ein mazalos leYisrael" presents mazal
as an alternative to hashgachah. Which wouldn't fit my above model.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             People were created to be loved.
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