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How Complex Information Systems Point to the Existence of God
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How Complex Information Systems Point to the Existence of God

In this article I take a brief look at the origin of complex information systems. DNA is used to store information in a code that is used by a complex system that is found inside of living things.
In his letter to the believers in Rome, Paul (a leader of the early Church) talks about God’s creation as being clear evidence both of God’s existence and his power Rom 1:18 ff.
Lets take a brief look at information systems and some of the design issues that are evidence for an intelligent Designer.

The complexity of information systems

One of the ways that living things provide us with clear evidence of our Creator is through the design that we see in them. A system is a collection of parts that work together in exactly the right way to achieve the purpose for which the system was designed. On a bicycle the gears, the pedals, the chain and the back wheel are part of a system all designed to make the bicycle move forward. Most of those parts are so important that the bike cannot move very far without them. They need to be assembled together the right way for them to work. For example, the chain must be set to the right tension or else the chain will fall off. Living things are made up of several layers of complex systems; they are made up of systems built within systems that are built within more systems. Not only do all the parts within those systems work together but also the systems themselves work together to achieve specific results. You could spend a lifetime learning about the complexity of life and you would find that the more you look the more complexity you will find. As a computer programmer working on information systems that are just tinker toys in comparison to living things, I am amazed by the complexity of God’s creation. I am unashamedly “incredulous” at the idea that these systems could make themselves. I could never become an “intellectually fulfilled Atheist”. I’m incredulous in spite of the fact that I’ve read books by Richard Dawkins (an outspoken Atheist and Biologist). He feels that the complex design in living things can be explained by Darwinian evolution. Evolution is supposed to build up complexity over a long period of time but I beg to differ. I feel that the evidence points clearly to a God who is extremely intelligent. Dawkins’ books are full of just so stories, stories that sound credible and plausible mainly because of Dawkins’ gifted ability to take complex and unlikely scenarios put them into a simple analogy, dress them up with a few scientific facts and present them as if they are beyond dispute. But they are not beyond dispute, Creationists dispute much of what he puts forward and even some Evolutionists would dispute some of those stories. (For example, Dawkins is a “Gradualist”, he believes that evolution happens gradually over long periods of time but there are some Evolutionists who think that evolution happens rapidly over relatively short periods of time between long periods where virtually no evolution happens at all).
The information systems that I work on can fall apart when I make a single spelling mistake. Information systems that transfer information automatically require correct timing and they require controlled sequencing of the order in which packets of information are transferred. These systems require all the right parts to be working and when something goes wrong in an automatic information system, it must be able to make corrections automatically, it must be able to fix itself up without outside help. There are systems that perform similar tasks inside a living cell. Living cells make a complete copy of their DNA and then the two sets are pushed apart and the cell wall closes up in between the two copies. All of that happens without any downtime - with no one on call in case it fails!
If you are not a programmer then you have no idea how frustrating it can be designing an information system. One little mistake buried within your computer code can keep you guessing for hours. Answering phone calls from frustrated users who need the system working so that people can get their pays on time only adds to the guilt feelings and the frustration. While I was studying computing, the lecturers would emphasize the importance of a stage in developing computer programs that is called the “Design Phase”, they would emphasize the point that time spent designing a system more than paid for itself when you went to “code” or build the system. I’m yet to hear anyone suggest that I should not worry about designing a system but just go for it and let it evolve.
(For my thoughts on agile development see this post on Blog Yellek).
It seems ironic to me that the Computer Science departments of universities would teach Intelligent Design but across campus in the Biology department they don’t want to know about it. Information systems are too easy to break and they are not built by chance.

DNA

There is an organisation that is known as SETI. They are searching for extraterrestrial intelligence. How do they think they will know when they have found smart E.Ts? All they are looking for is a coded radio signal from outer space. So you can see that the people at SETI think that it is scientific to conclude that if you see a complex code then it must have been sent from an intelligent being.
It is a pity they are looking to the skies for coded messages from an intelligent source; they should be looking through a microscope instead because DNA contains a coded message that was designed by a very intelligent being.

How DNA is used to make proteins

There’s more to a coding system than just the code because a code is not of much use on it’s own. Whether you are talking about someone using a language to speak to someone else or if you are talking about the DNA code itself, a code has to have a meaning that is understood by both the sender and the recipient of the code. DNA contains a code that must be translated by molecules called “RNA” working together with “Ribosomes”.  Sections of DNA contain the coded instructions on how to make microscopic machines called proteins. Proteins perform various tasks inside a cell, they can be used as building blocks for structures in the cell and also to help control the shape of new proteins as they are ‘folded’ into shape and they perform a number of other tasks as well. In fact it requires many proteins to make a protein. Proteins are produced using a series of steps. First the two strands of the DNA are separated so that one side of it can be read. The DNA code is ‘transcribed’ onto another molecule called RNA. The RNA is then transported to another part of the cell. Next using a complex molecule called a “ribosome” and special RNA molecules called tRNA, the proteins are made by “translating” the code on the RNA. A special tag on the end of a protein is used to indicate where the protein is needed and then another complex system transports the protein to the required destination.

What came first, the chicken or the egg?

So there is a problem for evolution because you need several parts that “agree” on the meaning of the code before the DNA code can be used to make anything useful. A key point is that to make a copy of the DNA you need the right proteins as well as the right RNA. But to make proteins and the RNA you need the right DNA. So this is another “Chicken or the egg” type situation. That means that it is very hard to explain how DNA was supposed to have come into existence without the help of an intelligent Designer.
The Scientists who believe in evolution have conflicting ideas over whether DNA existed before RNA or whether it was the proteins that came first. Regardless of what point of view these scientists hold they can give you good reasons why all the other guys are wrong. Personally, I think they are all wrong, I think it is easier to believe that God created DNA, RNA and proteins all together at the same time.
As a programmer I look at the system that produces proteins from the DNA code and it has so many similarities to man made systems that it is screaming “design” at me.
This is a very simple explanation of a system that is far more complex than I can describe in a brief article. I highly recommend the DVD, “Unlocking the mystery of Life”. It has a more detailed explanation and animations of this process and other amazingly complex features of living things.

What is Genetic Information?

I have been talking about how complex information systems need an Intelligent Designer and now I’d like to talk about how the encoded information itself is also strong evidence for a Designer. Not only is the coding system itself very complex but the information that the system contains is also extremely complex. Our “genes” are found on sections of our DNA. Genes contain the genetic code or information on how to build the thousands of proteins that are found inside the human body. There is another problem for evolution here because we have about 100 thousand proteins but we have less than 30 thousand genes. That means that many of the genes are used to make more than one protein each. This uses an editing process that is also a complex system in itself. The way that genes affect characteristics such as eye colour and height are called traits. Just to make things even more complex, a trait can require many genes and a gene can have an effect on many traits. That’s what computer programmers call a many to many relationship. That is a very complex relationship. If you a trying to design a computer program that you would like to be able to upgrade in the future you would design it in what is called a “modular” fashion. A modular design is much simpler than a many to many design. You would split the computer program into separate modules and each module would do one thing and one thing only. You would design a computer program that way so that when you change the way that one of the modules work you will not damage the way that other parts of the program work. If the program was not modular then changing one part of the program could break other parts of the program. Computer bugs can be introduced to a computer program when you make changes to the program that affect other parts of the program in unexpected ways. The problem is that sometimes these bugs only surface under a specific set of circumstances and if you have not allowed for that set of circumstances when you test your program then you will not find the bug before people start using your software. What would happen if a living thing had a mutation that was only harmful under a specific set of circumstances? Sickle cell anaemia is an example of such a mutation. Someone who has one copy of the sickle cell gene and one copy of the healthy gene will be healthy and even have better resistance to Malaria but someone with two copies of the sickle cell gene will have a harmful disease.
It is obvious that our genes are not modular in their effect on traits. The code in our DNA is not a bad design since it would only be a bad design if you wanted to be able to change the way that genes work at some time in the future and if you were not able to predict all the consequences of such a change. To design a system like that, you would need to be a brilliant engineer who could see the entire design in parallel. You would most likely not be planning to make upgrades to such a design so you would need to be able to get the design right the first time. That means that when a mutation occurs in a gene that has an effect on more than one trait, the mutation will have an impact in more than one way on the creature’s ability to survive. Even if such a mutation could help the creature survive as far as one of the traits was concerned, it might actually be harmful or even lethal as far as the other traits are concerned. That means it is hard for a living thing to be “upgraded” by mutations, even lucky ones. The many to many relationship is a compact design. The Unix operating system now takes up more space on a computer’s hard drive than it takes to store the entire genome of one person. Of course the genome is repeated in trillions of cells in a human body, and a human body is a more complex arrangement than the Unix operating system but even so, the information required to make a human brain takes up less space than Unix!
Think about it, how brilliant is that? Can you seriously give the credit for that to blind chance?
I know that I haven’t answered all the questions that people might have about this subject so, for a more detailed articles on Creation and Evolution visit, the Creation Ministries website and use their search or info section.
The design of complex systems is just one reason that I'm convinced that there must be a God. God can be real in our lives if we want him to so how can we get to know him?

How can we get to know our Creator?

I believe that there is a God who created the Universe. I believe that he loves you and that he has a great plan for you life.
If you have become convinced that there must be a Creator but are not sure who he is and how you can know him, then I would like to suggest that you do the following things that have helped me. Ask him to reveal himself to you and to become real in your life. I believe that when it comes to finding our Creator, we need look no further than Jesus Christ and a great way to find out about him is by reading the Bible. If you have tried to read the Bible but found it hard to understand or you could not get past a long list of names, then here is a link to an article where I offer some tips on reading a part of the Bible that talks about Jesus.
On my “Evidence" page I have links to websites that provide information on the evidence that Jesus came back to life after being dead.
I also have an article that tells you how to become a Christian.