Miscellany (General)

by David Turell , Saturday, February 27, 2021, 21:20 (1153 days ago) @ dhw

Extreme extremophiles

DAVID: Survival is a foundation stone in your Darwin approach. I don't think it is a proven concept at all. Survival of the fittest is circular reasoning. Sounds good. Very weak.

dhw: I have just said that it is a truism, and I agree that it is circular reasoning, If you do not agree that organisms adapt in order to survive, please tell us what other reason you think they have for adapting.

Life (your preferred, living forms) has the built in ability from God to adapt. We agree. God has seen to it that life/living forms can always adapt to survive and maintain a living population. That is different nuanced position that you avoid answering.

Dualism (Swinburne)

DAVID: I pick and choose with Swinburne. My statement above stands.

dhw: And your statement above confirms that in direct contrast to Swinburne, you believe that what happens in your brain affects what happens in your conscious life (“creates a sick consciousness”). Why don’t you just say you agree with me, as you did on the “theodicy” thread?

I agreed with you. What else do you want?

How algae find light

DAVID: We both know organisms can make minor adaptation. I don't follow your imagined theories.

dhw: Why “imagined”? If my theories are “imagined”, so are they all, including your own. If, as you agree, your God gave organisms the autonomous ability to make “minor” decisions, why do you consider it to be beyond your God’s powers to enable them to make “major” decisions?

We will always disagree as to God's role in major design changes. God designs/runs evolution.

cetaceans get much less cancer

dhw: […] I am left wondering why, if humans were his only purpose, [your God] would design special cancer protection for cetaceans and not for us. In fact, it makes me wonder whether we were not his only purpose, or whether he actually didn’t design special cancer protection, but like most other individual characteristics of individual species, this feature was simply the result of decisions taken by the cell communities of different life forms as they sought to improve their chances of survival.

DAVID: You just can't help attacking Adler and me. Your cell committees (note, it's my term) are trained by God to adapt in minor ways.

dhw: He popped in to give cetaceans courses on how to prevent cancer? All because their immunity was essential to his pursuit of his one and only goal, which was to directly design us? I am not attacking Adler. You have told us repeatedly that he does not deal with your theory of evolution.

Adler and I agree humans were the goal of evolution. Adler never go into the nuts and bolts of biochemistry.

Extinction

QUOTE: "[…] its discovery proves the bird was only thought to be extinct because people were looking for it in the wrong place. Its existence also raises the question of how many of its species are living in Borneo, and whether it is at risk." (David’s bold)

DAVID: 'At risk' is based only upon human judgement, which is this case is obviously faulty. With 99% extinct, why should we fight to save species other than the ones humans are known to be currently damaging??

dhw: I don’t understand your comment. Of course only humans can judge if it’s at risk. And what is wrong with trying to save a species? If those that we are damaging deserve our efforts to preserve them, why shouldn’t we try to preserve other species as well?

I would send time and money only on stopping human damage. Natural extinctions should be ignored.