Quod Scripsi, Scripsi

Learning a Framework

I’ve been wantig to explore a Coldfusion framework for several years, but never managed to motivate myself. Now that I have a little time between projects, and am somewhat horrified by some of the things I had to do to the new online Computer Store code, I think I’ll learn Model-Glue. It uses the coldspring IOC system, but I’m not going to implement any scaffolding or ORM yet. Baby steps.

The problem I’ve always had (and many others have) is the overhead involved in learning the framework. Wrapping your head around someone else’s methodology in addition to the problem at hand seems like extra work. Anecdotal evidence suggests that MG will appeal to my method of working though, so we’ll see.

Great Article on Programming

This article sums up my idea of programming, and what I’ve been trying to express to many, many people around me for some time.

Masters Degree

I’ve been giving a lot of thought to pursuing a Masters degree. I thought about IST, but I’m honestly not sure what use that would be at this point in my career and it’s not something I would take for enjoyment or personal gratification. I am interested in Applied Math, but I’m not very confident in my very rusty higher math skills. I think if I could brush them up in some undergrad courses, I might be able to tackle it. Then again, it’s been a long time since I’ve tackled integrals.

Maybe I’ll look at IST again and see if there’s anything that looks promising. I wouldn’t mind getting deeper into database design and theory.

BioLogos Footnote

The next book I picked up and am now reading, The Orthodox Church has a footnote in the section on doctrine, page 218 of the new edition:

The opening chapters of Genesis are of course concerned with certain religious truths, and are not to be taken as literal history. Fifteen centuries before modern Biblical criticism, Greek Fathers were already interpreting the Creation and Paradise stories symbolically rather than literally.

Strange how things align sometimes…

On Randomness

It seems like one major point of conflict over evolution and faith is the idea of randomness. The term has many connotations, but the most common in this case is equivalence with a lack of purpose or guidance. Naturalists point to the randomness of nature as evidence against a rational God who guides His creation. Theists argue that any randomness is localized or illusory and that each creature is an act of special creation, no randomness.

My objection is over the idea of randomness itself. What we do not understand, we tend to call “random”, “chaotic” or “accidental”. I’m not a Deist, but I do believe that God generally lets His design run it’s course. Intervention isn’t necessary because it was perfectly designed in the first place. That’s not to say that He doesn’t intervene at times, just that it wasn’t required by the design. What appears random to us is really just beyond our comprehension. The roll of a die can be calculated according to the laws of physics given near perfect knowledge – without knowledge of physics and mechanics it would be impossible. Is it therefore random?

Perhaps it comes down to time and our place in the flow of it. I had a professor once who challenged my statement that God is outside of Time. I’m not sure that he was serious, but it did make me think about the implications and meaning of such a statement. I guess I don’t believe in randomness, just limits in our ability to see causes and consequences.

Also, I always hated studying probability theory. I suppose in some ways it was/is interesting, but I just couldn’t ever wrap my head around it.