Archive for September, 2009

Optical Illusions

Sunday, September 20th, 2009
This optical illusion should squirm under your gaze.

This optical illusion should squirm under your gaze.

Friday I was looking for 3D optical illusions for an art class. I found a web full of wonderful 2D illusions in the process. The ones that intrigued me the most were those that appear in motion because of the automatic responses of the brain.

To know theoretically that the brain is constantly making calculations unnoticed in the background to process the input of my eyes is one thing, but to see its actual attempts to adjust to the impossible—the illusions wiggling and squirming—is another. It points up what an amazing organ we are dealing with.

The system is so complex it begs for a designer. What is more, it serves a higher purpose, giving fair warning that not everything is as we see. Now why should nature build a metaphysical lesson into our seeing process for us?

P.S. If you know who deserves credit for the illusion above, let me know.

Posted in Biology, Brain | No Comments »

Group Well-Being

Sunday, September 13th, 2009

Small group in a church.

Small group in a church.

Jesus, by his teachings and by the training he gave his disciples, created the church. The writer of the New Testament letter to the Hebrews urged Christians not to quit assembling together. Paul’s letters contain many descriptions and admonitions regarding “the body of Christ.” The history of the early church shows that the practical application of these principles was an energetic and indestructible social group which at various times came to dominate the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe.

Where Christianity has gone, associations and organizations, often loosely modeled on the church, have abounded and flourished—for evidence, see the Encyclopedia of Associations and the International Encyclopedia of Associations. (As an aside, it is notable that some of the governments within the United States were based on organizational structures derived from various Protestant churches.)

Recent work by Australian and British sociologists at the University of Queensland and the University of Exeter has documented that belonging to good groups tends to improve mental and physical health. A number of studies shows that participation in groups is a higher factor in a favorable health prognosis than is the actual progress of a disease.

Among the researchers were Professors Alex Haslam and Dr. Catherine Haslam of the University of Exeter and Professor Jolanda Jetten of the University of Queensland. Not surprisingly, given the interlocking nature of truth, their findings tend to confirm the wisdom of the Bible.

Posted in Sociology | No Comments »

Biological Wisdom

Monday, September 7th, 2009

The design of DNA from the U.S. government's genome project.

The design of DNA from the U.S. government's genome project.

Gerald L. Schroeder, in The Hidden Face of God, discusses the wisdom scientists are finding as they dig into the hidden workings of biology (and other sciences). For example, a few strands of DNA, invisible to the eye, carry sufficient information that a complete human being, with all its different cells and capabilities, can form from their blueprint. Or consider our thinking process and the working of nerves which carry information to the brain, a system which is exquisitely simple on one level but extraordinarily complex on another, and certainly indicative of brilliant design to anyone without a closed mind.

I find intriguing Schroeder’s continual references to the wisdom of nature which reminds him of Old Testament wisdom references, including Proverbs 3:19—”With wisdom God founded the world.”

I would take it a step farther, however, and say that the most sensible explanation of everything that exists (including Christian history, the cross, and the resurrection), is found in the writings of Paul, who says that Christ is the wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:22-24) and that it was through him and for him all things were created, visible and invisible (Colossians 1:16ff).

Posted in Biology | No Comments »