Origin of Life: early land life (Introduction)

by dhw, Friday, August 09, 2013, 09:06 (4126 days ago) @ David Turell

Dhw: Life certainly couldn't go on without balance in Nature. That's where natural selection plays a major role. And living creatures need fuel. But instead of saying "There is a purpose" (= God), one can say "That's just how it is" (= Nature). It's a similar dichotomy to that in your maths article: two say maths is an integral part of the universe, and two say it's a human imposition on the universe.-DAVID: Natural selection's role is less major than Darwin wished. And 'wished' is the correct view of his theory. Natural selection only sorts out among organisms that have the ability to change their own destiny with epigenetics.-We have always agreed on the non-creative role of natural selection, which is to ensure that whatever organs and organisms are most suited to the environment will survive. Obviously that means that there has to be a balance between the forms and numbers of organisms and whatever the environment can sustain. The rest will perish. That is why I say natural selection plays a major role in the balance of Nature.-DAVID: As for the maths of the universe, how do you explain a human consciousness that is able to describe the laws of the universe and nature through math? And propose potential discoveries through the imaginative abilities of math? Built in or imposed is just two views of the same phenomenon.-Neither you nor I can explain human consciousness, or divine consciousness if it exists. No-one can. We go back to first cause and faith. 'Built in' or 'imposed' are opposite views of the same phenomenon (see my comment on patterns under "Ruth & Rindler"). In this post, you have argued that Darwin's theory of natural selection is less major than he would have wished. You are therefore saying that his pattern is not built into reality in the way he thought it was, but that he is imposing his own (false) pattern on it.