Convergence or divergence? (Introduction)

by dhw, Thursday, September 12, 2013, 14:54 (4091 days ago) @ David Turell

dhw: ...note that you continue to ignore my questions about why one large ant decided to block the jaws of the mantis, and how other ants devised and implemented the strategy to decapitate the attacker. My point is that any organism that can solve problems, plan, innovate, adapt to different environments and situations has to be intelligent. That doesn't mean every organism has the same level or kind of intelligence as a human being!-DAVID: It doesn't mean inteligence. It means the DNA has information given to it by intelligence. the cells and the ants use information. How thatmantis scenario developed I have no idea,but it falls under the subset of Natures Wonders forwhich i have gvien many examples, but not explanation. The point is life's forms can do wonders, and we should wonder why. How did they get that smart or were they given smarts.-So ants use information intelligently, but they are not intelligent. You have no idea how ants can make decisions and plan and implement strategies, but they are not intelligent. They are just wonderful. And smart. But smart does not mean intelligent.
 
dhw: The hypothesis of the intelligent cell (whether invented by your God or not) as the driving force of evolution seems to me to explain all the problems thrown up by Darwin's theory. You yourself have actually accepted the concept several times, with the proviso that your God invented it and sometimes guided it. But although you can find no rational argument to dismiss it, you still keep trying to do so. I wonder why.-DAVID: The difference between us remains. I agree the cells act intelligently because they have been initially given information to use to solve problems. The issue is still where does the information come from? They do not develop that information on their own.-But they do have the information which gives them the ability to solve problems, plan, adapt, communicate, invent etc. (not a bad definition of intelligence, is it?). So does this mean that cells act intelligently but are not intelligent? Or are they intelligent, but we don't know where their intelligence came from? If it's the latter, please reread what I wrote above about your "proviso", and then you can stop disagreeing!