[MD] Chance

[Arlo Bensinger]

[Platt]
It fills in the knowledge gap left by appeals to "chance" which in 
effect means, "I don't know."

[Arlo]
"Chance" has nothing to do with "I don't know". Chance means without 
pre-planning, pre-ordainment or the active ordering of an 
"intelligent designer". "Chance" says that when the first two 
subatomic patterns united there was no pre-conceived "plan" or 
"purpose", they did so following only an undefined and unplanned 
"betterness". It was only AFTER the fact when the moment of "AHA!" 
hits, that these patterns become "stable".

Despite the desire to turn Quality into Quali-god, an "intelligent 
designer" who ordered the universe specifically to bring Man, 
Glorious Man into being, and then sits back and revels in the 
splendor of Man's Free Will and Independence, it just ain't so. 
"Quality" is not a consciousness that gives on whit about whether or 
not "man" ever existed. The chance event(s) that ended the millions 
of years of dino rule was not part of a "Divine Plan of Quali-god" to 
turn dinos into oil and bring about the Reign of Man. For millions of 
years biological patterns followed Quality and all was Good. Chance 
shakes things up, and after the subsequent "AHA'S!" maybe something 
new will appear, or maybe not.

Chance says there is not a "let's make a man", but rather an after 
the fact "wow! this works! let's keep it!". And should a passing 
asteroid smash into the Earth and end the Reign of Man, it will 
happen not out of Divine Plan nor will "Quality" care. Whatever 
patterns survive will continue to respond to "betterness", and maybe 
something new will appear, or maybe not. There is no plan, only after 
the fact patterns.