Genome complexity: new review of epigenetics studies (Introduction)

by dhw, Sunday, May 07, 2017, 13:11 (2545 days ago) @ David Turell

DAVID: The correct interpretation of what I have written is humans are here and evolution is over. Humans were the goal of evolution. Yes, all forms are descended from earlier forms by a totally unknown process.

dhw: You are of course entitled to your belief that humans were the goal of evolution and that every form (broad sense of species) that descended from earlier forms, plus every lifestyle and natural wonder extant and instinct, was specially designed by your God for that single purpose. However, I am delighted by your last sentence, as you are no longer insisting that your God either preprogrammed all those forms and lifestyles and wonders 3.8 billion years ago, or popped in to do a direct dabble. Recognition that certain things are “totally unknown” is the first step towards open-mindedness in relation to other hypotheses.

DAVID: Of course speciation is entirely unknown as a process. We all make judgments as to how it might proceed. Darwin's method of tiny progressive chance changes is obviously false. To make major body plan changes requires a complex plan before the changes can occur. Only a planning mind can do this. I've not changed my mind that it must be God.

In all our discussions on evolution, I have been putting on my theist’s hat, because I am challenging your hypothesis that your God either preprogrammed or dabbled every single species (broad sense), lifestyle and natural wonder extant and extinct throughout the history of life in order eventually to produce humans. We needn’t go over all the illogicalities yet again. My point here is that since the process is totally unknown, and nobody has ever observed speciation, you should not reject the hypothesis of a perhaps God-given AUTONOMOUS inventive mechanism (i.e. intelligence operating without divine “guidance”), as you keep doing, on the grounds that the mechanism has not been found. Your 3.8-billion-year-old computer programme has not been found, and nobody has ever seen your God dabbling.