More Denton: Reply to David (Introduction)

by dhw, Friday, August 14, 2015, 17:07 (3180 days ago) @ David Turell

dhw: In a few thousand million years' time, it is believed that the Earth will die, just as all planets and stars eventually die. The game is probably less than halfway through, and you believe you already know the outcome. If bacteria could speak English, they would probably say something like: “He who laughs last....”

DAVID: We have no idea what God has planned next in His next universe, but he has allowed each of us to enjoy a lifetime.-My comment was in reply to your statement: “The fact that evolution appears to have stopped and humans have appeared is part of my reasoning that humans are the purpose.” I was referring, as you were, to this planet and to this evolution, and references to other universes, plus the fact that we can enjoy our lives, do not lend any support to what seems to me (and to Romansh) a pretty poor argument. -dhw: Ah BBella, blessed are the peacemakers, but you have fallen for the obfuscation. There is a colossal difference between organisms automatically obeying instructions, and organisms acting of their own accord. An automaton does not work anything out for itself. Etc. etc.
DAVID: Guidelines are not a rigid as you describe. An architect goes to school and learns guidelines of his craft. I promise you my house does not look like yours, but we both had architects using guidelines. -
The guidelines you have attributed to your God's handling of evolution have been preprogramming and personal intervention (which can only result in automatism), plus the fact that no organism can exceed its own physical limitations or those imposed by the environment. Like all other organisms, the architect has to learn about physical and environmental limitations, but then he uses his individual autonomous intelligence to build his house. Thank you for an excellent analogy.
 
Dhw: ...perhaps you only quoted Raup for fun.
DAVID: No, I've read his book thoroughly and understood that luck plays a major role. I don't know if God hurled the Chicxulub or it just happened.-So let me speculate on your evolutionary hypothesis. If God hurled Chicxulub, he must have preprogrammed the survivors to survive, knowing from the start that he was going to hurl it; or it was a sudden impulse (“Damn those dastardly dinosaurs!”) so he did a quick dabble to ensure the survivors survived. Otherwise, he'd have lost control, wouldn't he? And his control of evolution is essential to your hypothesis. But if he didn't hurl it, he had lost control anyway. Phew, lucky for the weaverbird and us that some little critter got through carrying our programmes. (See also "Reply to Tony".)