Evolution (Evolution)

by David Turell , Wednesday, January 21, 2009, 16:14 (5573 days ago) @ dhw


> There are really two problems that arise from your comment. One is linguistic, and I'm simply looking for a starting-point acceptable to all. How about: "Life is the result of a process caused by an unknown force"? You as an atheist will finish up by saying the force was chance plus the laws of Nature. A theist will finish by saying it was God. An agnostic will say it was a "Dunno". - > [/i] I take this to mean that once chance has brought about the necessary combination, the laws of nature take over. All the examples you choose ... avalanche, tsunami, hurricane, supernovas, planets ... relate to inorganic matter. - I'd like to jump in and help with the semantics. Chance is passive. It may happen or it may not. Nothing drives it. Chance is luck. Either the dice roll a 7 or they don't. Chance implies no control. There is no 'force'. When a chance event occurs, then Laws take over. Laws do not advance anything. They simply are the rules by which a chance event can proceed, an algorithm that must be rigidly followed. And that can be in inorganic chemistry or organic. Neither is chaotic, although even chaos has its own rules.