Revisiting language and brain expansion (Evolution)

by dhw, Wednesday, February 05, 2020, 12:47 (1536 days ago) @ David Turell

DAVID: You are confusing two different events: 200 cc jumps in brain size before the new species uses them to full capacity and the completed modern brain which can enlarge small areas when necessary. Note the entry yesterday about brain complexity ( Sunday, February 02, 2020, 19:29)

dhw: There is no confusion. You are simply ignoring my explanation of the jumps, and refusing to answer my question about shrinkage.

DAVID: I totally do not accept your explanation of the gaps. I've bolded my shrinkage answer above.

My question about shrinkage concerned your view that only God could have caused the expansions, and only God could have provided the ultimate brain, so presumably God caused the shrinkage. Why? “Oops, I gave ‘em too much brain. Let’s do a shrink!” Enlarging small areas when necessary does not explain shrinkage, which I suggest is due to the efficiency of complexification. You have ignored this explanation. I know you don’t accept my explanation of the gaps as being filled by the intelligence of the cell communities. You cling to the belief that your God kept dabbling, or preprogrammed the gaps 3.8 billion years ago, along with every other evolutionary change.

DAVID: I view evolution as requiring a designer to supply new additions to organismal capabilities.

I know you do. So do I. And I suggest that the designer is the intelligent cell/cell community, which in turn may have been designed by your God. Why do we need to keep repeating this?

DAVID: I compare to our modern appliances and autos which keep evolving with new designed parts and abilities. Why don't you see that all living biological beings are simply biological machines operating a somewhat different way while alive and in reproduction. You cannot ask your auto to change to a more modern one with new abilities. You have go buy one which someone else's mind designed for you. I completely reject chance to do this and the recognized gaps in evolution cannot be explained by your thinking cells.

I don’t know how often I have to explain that I too reject chance, and NOBODY can explain the gaps but the theory of thinking cells is one possible explanation. Your analogy of modern appliances and autos is way off the mark. The analogy should be with the thinking humans who create the appliances. But instead of creating objects outside themselves, thinking cells restructure themselves. You say they can’t, but we know they can and do (through adaptation), as you acknowledge below. We just don’t know how far that ability extends.

DAVID: There is evidence they have design capacity, only epigenetic minor modifications within the same species. My firm explanation for speciation is a designer. I accept nothing else.

I know you have made up your mind. And I keep asking you questions about your explanations (not about design but about the motives, abilities and methods you impose on your designer), and the only answers I get are that you have no idea, we can’t “know”, why bother?