Miscellany (General)

by dhw, Sunday, April 25, 2021, 09:32 (1098 days ago) @ David Turell

Homo luzonensis
DAVID: Of course, your analysis of God's purposes and goals may not fit your human logic, because you are human and He isn't.

dhw: It is YOUR analysis of your God’s purposes and goals that do not fit my human logic. Even you have agreed that my alternatives are logical, and you yourself have no idea why your God would have chosen your version of his method (designing 99% of life forms unconnected to humans) in order to achieve your version of his sole purpose (to design humans).

DAVID: Your humanized God fits your theories, and as I've previously pointed out, given the personality your God seems to have, are then logical within that context.

Thank you. That logic is in stark contrast to your own theory, in which you have no idea why your own humanized God….see the bold above.

DAVID: […] Based on past history there is no reason we should be here.

dhw: Based on past history, there is no reason why any multicellular organism should be here, since bacteria have survived very nicely.

DAVID: Bacteria were required/allowed survival because they are still actively helpful to all others.

Why were all the others “required”? Please don’t tell me that the 99% of “branches and twigs” unconnected with humans were required so that God could specially design the brain of H. sapiens!

DAVID: […] Origin of life is still a miracle and must be part of the debate.

I agree. Chapter One is the origin of life, and that boils down to a designing God or a huge stroke of luck, or some form of panpsychism in which all matter has some form of consciousness. We can’t go any further than that. However, we can and do go a lot further (a) when discussing Chapter Two of life, evolution, and (b) the nature, purposes and methods of a God if such a being exists.

Some ant brains shrink and grow
dhw: The one example is enough to show that our brains are not unique in having the ability to RESPOND to different requirements. Do you think that 3.8 billion years ago your God preprogrammed this special ability in a particular form of ant, or that he popped in to do a dabble? Any alternative explanation?

DAVID: Not all ants do this. Using my thoughts about how God does it, dabble.

dhw: Wow! I wonder why he specially chose this one species of ant to use its brain in this way. Based on past history, there is no reason why such ants should be here. So are we to conclude that God’s one and only purpose was to produce the Indian jumping ant? Or is the Indian jumping ant’s special brain a vital ingredient of our food supply?

DAVID: Usual reply. They play a role in their own ecosystem.

Of course. So does every life form. But you seem to have forgotten that according to you, God deliberately designed this particular brain, and according to you, all his designs were “part of the goal of evolving [=specially designing] humans” (and their food supply). Please tell us the connection.

Carbon cycle bacterial contribution
DAVID: ninety-nine percent of evolved organisms might be gone, but bacteria are still here because they are important for Earth's continuing warm life-friendly climate. So logical it means a designing mind must be running things. The 99% were not needed and necessarily discarded. Life started with Archaea bacteria and remain to help out in whatever process needs them. dhw can't see the clever planning mind running the show.

dhw: This must be one of your wackiest ever conclusions. According to you, your God’s one and only purpose was to specially design H. sapiens. And according to you, your God specially designed every one of the 99% that were not needed. If they were not needed, why did he bother to specially design them?

DAVID: Same gaping hole in your logic: all steps in increasingly complex evolving forms.

Same gaping hole in your logic: why was the complex form of our new friend azhdarchid pterosaur “not needed and necessarily discarded” but needed “as part of the goal of evolving [= specially designing”] humans”?

dhw: I find the above quote [concerning the way bacteria emit carbon] a little perplexing. I thought that one of the major problems world leaders were currently grappling with was something called “global warming”, Please tell us what clever plan you think your God is hatching.

DAVID: Changes in Earth temperature is part of a never ending cycle. In a freezing universe, warm is better. God planned well for a warm Earth.

So a) why did he subject it to periods of freezing – or do you think he lost control? – and b) why is better for life to be destroyed by excess heat than by excess cold?

Introducing the brain: all human brains don't react the same
DAVID: A new careful study of frontal lobe reactions in a group of folks all watching the same movie:
https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/7/17/eabf7129?utm_campaign=toc_advances_2021-04...

DAVID: Our plastic brain allows us to not be cutout copies of each other.

No doubt the same applies to many of our fellow creatures. Why single out humans?