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Evidences of Rubūbiyyah: Bioengineers Create Circuit Board Modelled on Human Brain
Posted by Abu.Iyaad, Editor in Articles


The Circuit Board Modelled on the Human Brain

To the right is recent science news article from Stanford University (original) and it is one of thousands of such reports that expose the fallacious, arrogant declaration of amateur atheist Richard Dawkins that biological systems only give the "appearance" of "design for purpose" (see some other examples: see here, here, here, here, and here). This conclusion is arrived only by the prior (unproven) metaphysical assertion (belief) that naturalism (materialism) is true. When you start out with such an assumption, the only possible explanation you can come up with for the existence of the universe and life is the laughable one that matter self-creates and self-organizes intelligently to invent and create life, plants, animals, arrogant humans, washing machines, automobiles, the space-shuttle and the Internet. A number of pertinent points in relation to the article on the right:

First: A matter raised in this article (Humans may be primed to believe in creation - see here) that it is impossible to avoid teleological language, and even an atheist cannot avoid this necessity. It is deeply-rooted in the soul and is something innate. This is because science, for it to operate, has to assume design in life and the universe. As a small exercise, read the article and pick out every single word, phrase or sentence that screams out teleology (purposeful design) in the brain. bioengineers, developed, designed, more energy-efficient microchips, advances in robotics, a new way of understanding the brain, new frontiers in robotics and computing, for all their sophistication, computers pale in comparison to the brain... etc. Ibn Taymiyyah said, "The basic foundation of the knowledge of a maker is innate and necessary. It is more deeply rooted in the souls than elementary knowledge of math such as our saying 'one is half of two' and elementary knowledge of natural reality such as our saying 'a body cannot be in two places at the same time'." (Majmu' al-Fatawa 2/15-16), and also "He (Allaah) made the innate dispositions of his servants prepared (with the capacity) to know and perceive realities, and had there not been such preparedness in the hearts to know realities, then there would be no observation and inference and nor (any) speech and discourse (with respect to that)." (Dar al-Ta'arud 5/62). This second statement indicates that rational sciences and the scientific method (observation and inference) and reporting of that through speech and discourse would not be possible had the faculties not been predisposed to perceiving realities upon a deeply-rooted foundational conviction of their being law, order, regularity and uniformity in the universe through design and purpose. Hence, all scientific activity is a proof of design in universe and life.

Second: It is precisely such a deeply-rooted conviction, (that life and the universe are designed for them to be rationally investigable at all) which gives rise to science, in other words, science is a by-product of the design in life and the universe and its laws. What you see in the article to the right, and in fact in every single scientific paper ever written and in every textbook and in every speech or discourse or analysis of the universe, life and biological systems, you will see teleological language forming the backbone of it all. This is compelling and undeniable, and it is why sustained brainwashing with materialist philosophy (in educational institutions) still does not remove what the innate disposition recognizes (see article). This is the reason why there is such arrogant dismissal, disdain and mockery of design-type arguments (because they are so compelling and powerful). The attempt of the atheists to undermine this compelling argument and the innate, intuitive, perceivable rational reality is similar to when a man holds out a card which is white and another which is black and says about the former "this is white" and about the latter "this is black" and then a group of people start mocking him and deriding him and questioning his intelligence, hoping that the more noise they make and the more sarcasm and mockery they make, the more the people will be convinced that they are speaking sense and that the man is speaking nonsense. Whilst this is just a crude example, it is in fact the actual reality of the attempts of the atheists to cover and conceal what is a self-evident reality and thus the spate of books such as "The God Delusion" and what is similar to them which collectively amount to a mockery of intellect in their claim that asserting the presence of an agent with knowledge, will, power, wisdom as an explanation of the design in life and the universe is less rational than matter self-creating and self-organizing intelligently to give an "illusion of design". On the contrary, if an atheist can accept matter self-creating and self-organizing intelligently, then what prevents the idiot from accepting that life and the universe can be explained through an agent (possessing knowledge, will, power). This is closer to reason and the sum of human experience in industrial and technological enterprise proves this. If one is believable (materialist religion), then the other is more believable by any rational standard.

Third: These are interesting excerpts from the article:

Stanford bioengineers have developed faster, more energy-efficient microchips based on the human brain - 9,000 times faster and using significantly less power than a typical PC. This offers greater possibilities for advances in robotics and a new way of understanding the brain. For instance, a chip as fast and efficient as the human brain could drive prosthetic limbs with the speed and complexity of our own actions.

For all their sophistication, computers pale in comparison to the brain. The modest cortex of the mouse, for instance, operates 9,000 times faster than a personal computer simulation of its functions. Not only is the PC slower, it takes 40,000 times more power to run, writes Kwabena Boahen, associate professor of bioengineering at Stanford, in an article for the Proceedings of the IEEE. "From a pure energy perspective, the brain is hard to match," says Boahen, whose article surveys how "neuromorphic" researchers in the United States and Europe are using silicon and software to build electronic systems that mimic neurons and synapses.

"Right now, you have to know how the brain works to program one of these," said Boahen, gesturing at the $40,000 prototype board on the desk of his Stanford office.

In his article, Boahen notes the larger context of neuromorphic research, including the European Union's Human Brain Project, which aims to simulate a human brain on a supercomputer.

In his article, Boahen notes that Neurogrid is about 100,000 times more energy efficient than a personal computer simulation of 1 million neurons. Yet it is an energy hog compared to our biological CPU. "The human brain, with 80,000 times more neurons than Neurogrid, consumes only three times as much power," Boahen writes. "Achieving this level of energy efficiency while offering greater configurability and scale is the ultimate challenge neuromorphic engineers face."

All biological systems are designed to behave and operate the way they do. It is pure arrogance to deny this. However, this undeniable self-evident reality is challenged - not through sound reason or the scientific method - but through a prior metaphysical assertion of naturalism (matter self-creates and self-organizes intelligently). This prior assertion has not been arrived at by the scientific method (it is assumed) - and it is an insult to sensory perception and intelligence. The scientific method proves the exact opposite (which is what this example illustrates) - that designed things require knowledge, will, power and wisdom - the sum of human technological and industrial enterprise is the experimental proof of that. To challenge this, is simply a display of pure arrogance in the face of the obvious and it is in this vain that we read the statement of Dawkins and what is similar to them, "Biology is the study of complicated things that give the appearance of having been designed for a purpose." (The Blind Watchmaker, 1996).

Written by Abū ʿIyād on 05/Rajab/1435H (04/05/2014CE) in al-Haram al-Makkee.


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