Meaning of the Title
Does anyone know what "The Ninth Configuration" means? I haven't seen the movie yet, that would probably help. Thanks
shareFrom the film...
In order for life to have appeared spontaneously on earth, there first had to be hundreds of millions of protein molecules of the ninth configuration. But given the size of the planet Earth, do you know how long it would have taken for just one of these protein molecules to appear entirely by chance? Roughly ten to the two hundred and forty-third power billions of years. And I find that far, far more fantastic than simply believing in God.
I studied a bit of organic chemistry back in my college years, and I'm not familiar with the term "Ninth Configuration." There are left and right configurations (chiralities) of amino acids, so all proteins in living things are of the "left configuration." Why this is remains a mystery to science and evidence that life arose only once on earth.
Perhaps in older texts "9th" was used to denote "left" or something like that (or else a mistake in translation from Blatty's source, most likely Teilhard de Chardin's writings).
I'm a scientist and I've never heard of the 'ninth configuration'. The statement is also false-amino acids would've been plentiful in the early history of the earth. It's easier to believe in life evolving from that than a God who lets people die in Tsunami's, earthquakes etc ;-) This is not the place....
I've ordered the film and look forward to it now I've read about it here!
Cry a river. You want to blame all the bad on god? How about the good? Watch the movie, and then tear it up critically like your type do.
shareIt's just funny how there's both good and bad in the world, which is exactly what you'd expect from a random universe, and exactly what you would NOT expect from a universe created by an all-good God.
Just funny, that's all.
==JJS==
Random? Not so. Most natural disasters were predicted in advance by scientists but simply ignored. God created the Universe. However he doesn't control it. Hence the concept of free will. I choose to believe. I am not made to.
There is cause and effect. It is inevitable. If a person committs a crime they are punished etc, etc.
If you belive in God then you will have the chance , but not the right, to gain eternal enlightenment. If you do not then you will only be left with an eternity of yourself. Its pretty simple.
This film basically argues that science indeed requires vastly more faith than the belief in God.
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look, there's no end to this argument in sight, so why bother perpetuating it?
but just for the record, morality is objective... people who cite "the good" in the universe as proof of God are ignorant... no offense.
i think it means the ninth configuration from church, there are 12 configurations i think each depicting a part of jesus' crucifixtion
share"but just for the record, morality is objective... people who cite "the good" in the universe as proof of God are ignorant... no offense."
So if I believe it's moral to kill you, by your logic, I have the right to have that sense of "objective" morality?
Your *beep* science hasn't done a thing to make this world a better place.
Your *beep* science hasn't done a thing to make this world a better place.
It's ironic that you're using a electricity-powered computer and a phone line to write that.
_______________________
'It's a mess, ain't it, sheriff?'
'If it ain't, it'll do till the mess gets here.' share
Comparing humans to animals silly.Humans have a natural sense of right and wrong.The average human would feel sorrow and anger watching an elderly lady being beaten and robbed.An animal would be indifferent.Humans definately have a sense of right and wrong.Animals have no known capacity of malevolence.
shareThen how do you explain a dog that is protective of its owner? I am inclined to believe that goes beyond instincts.
sharereally?then how 'd you call those BEATING the alleged old lady...Conveniently,"animals"?....
PPl r ppl,n animals r animals...PPl r just more "advanced" n "complex" than "animals"...Everyhting tht lies in animals,lies in humans too...only more enhanced (sometimes lol)
..And sth abt "believing" :...Its allright if one believes...I mean,thts his choice..But,"believers",tend to confuse "i believe" with "there is"...
..The way i see it,"God" looks like being more than adults' ... imaginary "friend" (actually more thn JUST a friend to them...),rather than a reality... (i didnt put "adults'" by chance,try think what a child tht grows up with no human contact at all:whts the most likely?tht it would believe in a "god" when 20,30,40 or whatever an age...doesnt strike me as a possibility...which seems to be,its PEOPLE tht teach ppl stuff...one way or the other...what those growing ppl do with the stuff they come confronted with thru life,well,thts another story,n it differs frm an individual to another...
..IN SHORT:...No problem if one believes..The problems start when this gets "too organised"(sounds like "organised crime":)....and human history was/is/will be FULL of crimes done on account of "belief"...(if one overlooks THT,well,then,"one" is simply "blind"...SO,what abt the very word...:"believe"...Dnt u forget:its only THT.
.."Believing" in a god,doesnt neccessarily make a god existing (i too believe in winning the lottery ,only this doesnt make me rich lol)
..My "relationship" with "god"?...I dunno.Never heard "HIM".When i do,i'll let u all know.But i BELIEVE, [:))]...tht if there is a "god"........he/she/it probably isnt at ALL wht all "believers" think (christians,muslims,buddists,n the list goes on...)....Chances are "he" is far beyond wht they "believed" in-should a "relevation" ever takes place...We humans dont know zip frm whts out there...we have only just begun to "understand"...and maybe we 're "top"
on the list of the ones knowing stuff abt the Cosmos...maybe we 're deep down in it too...and we'll probably will never "know" what EXACTLY "goes on"...If god(s) exist,theres a good chance we cant/wont "ever" communicate with them...or "understand" him/them...Then again,there's the chance tht the "standard western god model",is EXACTLY like its "supposed" to be....Its just tht theres no KNOWLEDGE or PROOF of it...
..ther's only "believing"...(now i dnt want any underage ppl here-of ANY age :))-probably using harsh,or at least provocative language,start "throwing" bibles-of any creed-at me,cause thts "proof" for THEM alone.....
...I myself,prefer to be humble n honest enough,and ACCEPT the fact tht the "issue of god",is "a personal matter" to each of all humans,rather than either say "oh yes there is one" or "..oh no-there ISNT" , just state tht im NOT a "believer",and tht i JUST dnt KNOW (..like everybody DOESNT...)
..anyway,i think the issue here was a film :))))
Well put, wayofthecass!
"I'll tell you something if you won't think I'm crazy...I've got grasshoppers taped to my back."
Not so much...
shareWaterloggedfrog was right, it's called the Levinthal paradox. From wikipedia:
Levinthal's paradox is a thought experiment, also constituting a self-reference in the theory of protein folding. In 1969, Cyrus Levinthal noted that, because of the very large number of degrees of freedom in an unfolded polypeptide chain, the molecule has an astronomical number of possible conformations. An estimate of 3^300 or 10^143 was made in one of his papers.
The Levinthal paradox[22] observes that if a protein were folded by sequentially sampling of all possible conformations, it would take an astronomical amount of time to do so, even if the conformations were sampled at a rapid rate (on the nanosecond or picosecond scale). Based upon the observation that proteins fold much faster than this, Levinthal then proposed that a random conformational search does not occur, and the protein must, therefore, fold through a series of meta-stable intermediate states.
The duration of the folding process varies dramatically depending on the protein of interest. When studied outside the cell, the slowest folding proteins require many minutes or hours to fold primarily due to proline isomerization, and must pass through a number of intermediate states, like checkpoints, before the process is complete.[23] On the other hand, very small single-domain proteins with lengths of up to a hundred amino acids typically fold in a single step.[24] Time scales of milliseconds are the norm and the very fastest known protein folding reactions are complete within a few microseconds.[25]
Satan is in deep $h1t! share
i think your another religious nutter.... you didnt happen to see the end, that didnt restore your faith in a *beep* god??? what are you on about. your basically destroying your own discussion admitting you want both Faith and God. Faith is having no proof of this religious *beep* and you still dont understand the last scene...... SACRIFICIAL LAMB *beep* religion can take a hike, the film is about science.... simple
shareAs a scientist, I direct your attention to your famous and prize-winning colleague LeCompte du Nuoy and his book OF HUMAN DESTINY from which the 9th configuration (actually, the protein molecule of the configuration .09) argument is derived. As compared to the film, you will find it better articulated in Blatty's novel. In the film, it occurs in Cutshaw's dream of Christ on the Moon.
shareThank you pauly-14 for actually answering the question instead of trying to prove "god's" existence on an IMDB thread.
& if there is a god may he help the rest of the posters get laid & stop regurgitating tired old conundrums about god vs science.
seconded. and here: http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Pierre_Lecomte_du_No%C3%BCy
...is some background on how the quote has been derived/used.
So, you don't believe in God because things happen in the world and people die....hmmm...
could you, perhaps, believe that death is merely a minor detail, and the soul lives on? then, knowingly, God would have people die to return to Him.
Interesting concept, I know....
The "Ninth Configuration" argument is an atheistic argument in the film - it describes how magnificent it is to believe in such great chance instead of a creator.
It is not a scientific description of anything, of course, but that's not the point.
blatty says its actually .09 config. but I guess 9th sounded like a better title
what is this?:http://www.cdbaby.com/decapolis97
Regarding the book/movie/script, we have to figure into the equation that Vincent Kane is insane. He's been reading all these books that have been left to him. And psychiatrict files. The "Ninth" Configuration could be one of the subjects under study.
shareRead all of the responses to this question and none of them actually answered it. The meaning of the title comes from the opening narrator's statement about the ODDS of creation happening by chance. Paraphrasing "The odds of the correct enzymes and amino acids lining up correctly at the proper time are one in 10 billion to the ninth configuration. Therefore, I find it easier to believe in God." So do I.
The entire movie is based on the question of whether or not there is a God, and how to prove it to a non believer. Without spoiling the movie for anyone who hasn't seen it, I will only say that Killer Kane proves it by one selfless act for his fellow man.
This has been in my top five favorites since its release, but I've never encountered anyone else who has seen it until I've shown it to them. The only advice I would give anyone who hasn't seen the movie is to tell them that it is vital they watch it from the beginning until the very end. To do otherwise is pointless since they will have no idea what the movie is truly about.
I think you got the quote wrong. Kane says of the ninth configuration refering to the type of protein, not the odds of it forming. He also follows that up by saying he finds that amazing event far more interesting than "simply believing in a God".
This movie is not a sermon trying to convert anyone. If anything it is a rumination on the plight of man, the incomprehensible vastness of all we may never understand and the reconciliation of faith in a greater good and the cold reality of science and nature.
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Yeah, I think Romer68 has it essentially correct.
I just watched the film for the first time - and replayed it to the critical point - and never heard the word "odds" used in this context...neither explicitly, nor implied.
And kudos to Romer68's second paragraph above...it's a good summation...wish I could have said it better.
Agreed, Eli.
And beautifully put, as accords this greatly underappreciated film.
Todd
He says "fantastic" not "interesting," which is odd considering there is literally no idea more fantastic than that of a god.
In any case, it still doesn't explain what is meant by "ninth configuration." Ninth from what?
Passion is just insanity in a cashmere sweater!
Originally I thought so to. But the line ends " far, far more fantastic than simply believing in God. " Fantastic meaning "unbelievable" not "greater".
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