God’s free play at the quantum level

Dembski has posed the question to traditional theism of how God, who is immaterial and Spirit, can interact with the material world, imparting information into it without applying material energy. Quantum mechanics gives nondeterminism to the universe which characterizes it as being informationally open and accommodating free will, as Alvin Plantinga has pointed out. I am posting a quote from Dembski in Chapter Five of The Boundless Love of God: A Holy Spirit Story, that elaborates on this question:

“. . . in a nondeterministic universe, divine action could impart information into matter without violating any physical laws by which matter operates. . . . A deity capable of co-opting randomness would impart information by arranging outcomes [with small probabilities and specification], but do so by channeling the material energy in ways that violate no principle governing matter. If divine action takes this form, the problem of finding the missing material energy by which God introduces novel information into the world simply does not arise . . . . information is then being transferred without any transfer of material energy . . . . Quantum mechanics . . . offers such a picture of the universe, allowing God free play at the quantum level . . . . In a world of irreducibly chance or random events, as some interpretations of quantum theory allow, God can channel such events toward preordained ends.”

In Part Two of “Waves in Our Brains” we see how the specified, encoded frequencies and amplitudes of wave forms generated by the immaterial mind become synchronized with the wave frequencies and amplitudes of selected cerebral modules generated by lifelong learning and archived in memory. The synchronized wave forms in turn stimulate the synaptic transmission through coherent neural networks of the encoded meaning, purpose and intended action of the cognitive mind.

It is important to consider the relationship between information and energy and how information is transmitted through synaptic networks. I am citing the important work of Dr. William A. Dembski, whom I am blessed to consider a friend and from whom I have learned much.

Dembski has stated that information is dynamic, passing in, through and out of matter. Matter itself can be reduced to the information instantiated within its design, construction and function. “Anything that exhibits information needed at some point to be imparted with information. What causes information to undergo such dynamic transformation? . . . Energy.” Energy is always inferred from information and is the “causal glue” that connects items of information in an informational universe. Material energy is a form of energy but not the whole of energy as stated by Dembski. He asked if there are information transfers that transcend material media and take a nonmaterial form of energy for transmission. The question applies in the context of quantum tunneling which depends upon the material media of synaptic networks for transmission of information encoded with meaning and purpose within spike trains of impulses but cannot be reduced to the synaptic networks themselves. If the energy of an information relationship actualized within wave functions cannot be justified as being material then it must be nonmaterial.

January 26, 2021

Specified information that is encoded within the transmitted spike trains of action potentials emanates from the cognitive mind of a human or the Mind of God. Since humans were created with the unique capacity for advanced language the codes transmit linguistic information in multiple manifestations. These include concepts, intuition, dreams, visions, discernment, verbal communications and intentions. All are linked with cognitive or physical action. As with the Morse code, the codes must be learned over a lifetime and remembered, being archived in memory.

When reference is made to John 1: 1-3 (“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made.”) we see that the Mind of God is the ultimate Source of all information. He is the Sender of information actualized in all five levels in the creations by the Son, Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Gitt identified the one prerequisite of information, that it must be in coded form, the neural patterns described by Penfield. For human beings it is a linguistic code, and the essential aspect of all information is its mental content. The recipient evaluates the message after decoding it, and the code must be known both to the sender and the receiver if the information is to be understood. Matter cannot generate codes. A thinking being exercising free will, cognition and creativity is required. Gitt concluded that there is no known natural law by which matter can give rise to novel information. Neither can any physical process nor material phenomenon do this. Only a mind, including the Mind of God, can generate information, but in our space-time it may require material media for actualization, transmission or storage. Neurons of the human brain serve as the medium for both the transmission and storage of information.

In my books I share that Werner Gitt defined information as “a fundamental entity on equal footing with matter and energy,” though often disregarded in academic discourse. He has identified five components of information that include structure (syntax), meaning (semantics), and purpose. A fourth is the transmission of information from a sender with the expectation of a response, or intended action, in the recipient who must have the capacity to interpret the information received. Finally, the fifth component refers to the intentional selection of information to be transmitted from an essentially infinite resource so that information selected is with a small probability. The selective process consists of a statistical or probabilistic component that gives it specification.

I cited these comments of William A. Dembski in my book, Nerve Endings of the Soul: Interaction Between the Mind of God and the Mind of Man Through Neural Synaptic Networks:

“For causal, energetic relationships in information transfers to be inferred, the first thing that must be established is an information relationship. One can then establish how energy relates to that relationship. If it cannot be justified that the energy is material, then it must be nonmaterial. But the point I wish to repeat and emphasize is that, as with matter, energy is logically downstream from information. The first thing we always confront is information, and only then do we try to explain it in terms of energy. Energy is inferred from information, not vice versa.”

information has been mentioned several times in the blog posts to date. i want to offer a comment about information and its specification for assistance in understanding going forward.

consider that the source of ALL INFORMATION IS THE MIND OF GOD, THE CREATOR, THE FIRST CAUSE. THIS MEANS THAT ALL POSSIBILITIES FOR GOD’S CREATION WERE STATISTICALLY INFINITE, OR PROBABLE. BUT, GOD CREATED SPECIFIC ENTITIES, SUCH AS HUMAN BEINGS, WILLOW TREES, WOLVES, ROSES, GOLD, OXYGEN, LIGHT WAVES, PLANETS, STARS, EVER EXPANDING COSMOS AND ITS GALAXIES, ETC. BY HIS SPIRITUAL ENERGY INFORMATION FROM HIS MIND WAS ACTUALIZED INTO EACH CREATED ENTITY WITH DESIGN, STRUCTURE, PURPOSE AND MEANING. THIS IS SPECIFICATION WITH STATISTICALLY SMALL PROBABILITIES. SPECIFIC ENTITIES WERE CREATED, BOTH IMMATERIAL AND MATERIAL. AS WE CONSIDER THAT WHICH HAS BEEN CREATED AROUND US AND BEYOND WE FIND OURSELVES REALIZING JUST HOW MAJESTIC, POWERFUL, AND LOVING IS GOD! AS MERE HUMANS IT IS SO EASY FOR OUR CONCEPT OF GOD TO BE TOO SMALL.

Neural Codes and Information

Because human beings are uniquely gifted to express and understand language, neural codes transmit linguistic information (as does the genetic code) with small probabilities defining specification. The information has structure, meaning and purpose. The intention of the immaterial mind of a sender transmits information to a recipient, whether that be the mind of a person or muscles of a limb with an intended action, or result.

Information, a Fundamental Entity

John C. Lennox refers to information as a fundamental entity. Information and intelligence are fundamental to the existence of the universe and life. Lennox states that “Word” in the 4th Gospel is Logos. It is a word used by Stoic philosophers for the rational principle behind the universe. It was given additional meaning by Christians, who used it to describe the second person of the Trinity, Jesus Christ. “Word” conveys notions of command, meaning, code and communication, thus it conveys information as well as the creative power needed to realize that which is specified by the information. The Word is therefore more fundamental than mass and energy. Mass and energy belong to the category of the created, but the Word does not. Lennox identifies a basic characteristic of information, that it is invisible and immaterial. Carriers of information may be material, but information itself is not material. Since information encodes on something physical the carriers of information are subject to the laws of physics, but information itself is not a physical entity.

Thoughts of the Mind of a Sender

The thoughts of the mind of a sender formulated as specified information are transmitted to the mind of a recipient by means of words within a medium (neural synaptic networks) with structure (linguistic neural code), meaning, and purpose with the expectation to stimulate action in the recipient. The codes are interpreted by the cognitive mind learned in a lifetime of experience and archived in memory and are to be understood by both the sender and the recipient.

Communion with the Holy Spirit

It is important to understand that to be led by the Spirit it is necessary to communicate with Him, to have “spiritual ears.” It is through the Holy Spirit that Man has communion and communication with God. The spirit of Man comes in contact with and unites with the Holy Spirit as one. The Holy Spirit is divine, and the fallen human spirit is not, but the two are united as one so that the repentant human spirit is reborn to new life in Jesus Christ. The new spirit is none other than God’s indwelling Spirit Who will enable God’s people to follow His decrees. It is the presence of God Himself. The Holy Spirit is in you/us.