Origin of Life: early land life (Introduction)

by dhw, Saturday, August 10, 2013, 08:46 (4125 days ago) @ David Turell

dhw: 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.-DAVID: I feel sorry for poor Darwin. He took what he observed in breeding, his knowledge of species and of the layers of geology, and developed a logical theory for his level of knowledge etc. etc.
 
I used your first attack on Darwin to illustrate the difference between built-in and imposed patterns, since you believe that your patterns are built-in and other people's are imposed. However, you have switched the subject to yet another attack on Darwin! Not necessary. The two of us have long since agreed on which aspects of Darwin's theory we accept and reject. This poor dead horse needs no more flogging. -dhw: 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. -DAVID: According to Ruth's presentation first cause is confusing quantum energy, filled with chaotic smudges of energy bits running around in fields that bump into each other, and create potentialities and somehow or other cause an organized universe to appear, allow life and consciousness to appear. All by chance? Not logically. Mix chaos theory and QM without an organizing principal and you get what? Nothing. There had to have been intelligence at the beginning if the underlying basis of our reality is quantum quicksand.-I don't know what Ruth's first cause is, but the above description is no different from what we have already discussed many times, except that it has been garnished with blobs of quantum terminology. First cause energy produces matter that somehow produces a universe and life. Alternative explanations:
1) chance, 2) divine intelligence, 3) panpsychist evolution. Some of us find it impossible to believe in any of these. You go for 2). That's faith. And that's our second dead horse flogged again!-Perhaps Ruth will tell us which pattern she imposes (if any) on "first cause" and end the suspense!