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However, I suspect that most Darwinians would consider the fact that there’s an Earth at all with the requisite “Environmental REGULARITY,†to be the result, ultimately, of random or “effectively random†things. So that while you may decree that “natural selection is a NON-random force,†this so-called “force†seems to require, in addition to effectively random mutations to select from, an “Environmental REGULARITY†that is itself the result of “effectively random†things that have occurred over the last 14 billion years—ultimately, eventually, your so-called “NON-random force†of Darwinian “natural selection†ends up being the result of random or effectively random things.
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According to this logic,
everything is ultimately the result of random things . . . a quick glance at the adaptive complexity of any biological entity, or the complexity of other non-biological phenomena (earth or non-earth-bound), pretty conclusively reveals that your statement above is an absurdity.
"If you atheists think that the universe wasn't made by a Designer, then it must have been made randomly [this is false], which means that everything in the universe is also random [also false]". Seriously, Fred, that's what you sound like.
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whether selection be top down, bottom up, “natural,†“artificial,†blind, mindless, whatever, it can only select from what is already available; from, in a sense, what already has blindly, directionlessly, “effectively randomly,†changed/mutated/evolved; at least according to current Darwinian dogma.
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It can only select from what is available, yes . . . but what evolves is a product not only of what was available due to mutation, but also of what natural selection did with the variation at its disposal. Natural selection is the one and only force that leads to adaptive evolution. Without selection, there would be no elegant fit between form and function we see in the biological world - that kind of complexity doesn't just pop into existence due to mutation alone.
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And I’d add that while Penrose indicates that he himself is a strong believer in “natural selection,†I suspect that he, like I, fully realizes that “natural selection,†whether it be a top down or bottom up selection, is ultimately little more than a circular account that really doesn’t explain or predict all that much.
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Too bad you're not as good at openly reading other peoples' posts as you are at repeating yourself.