Cambrian Explosion: afterthought (Introduction)

by David Turell , Sunday, September 29, 2013, 02:34 (4052 days ago) @ dhw


> dhw: I don't see how you can "firmly believe" that cells are not intelligent.-Cells operate from stimuli and responses using information given them by intelligence. They are not intelligent in the senses I have described.-> 
> dhw: Our brain also sets up automatic responses, and I'm sure there are gradations of response in us too. That does not mean that humans or cells are automata. Once again we come back to definitions, as above.-True that we have some automatic responses. We don't think to breathe. But we think to plan and respond. Cells do not think.
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> dhw: Watson and Crick knew a thing or two about cells, and they were both atheists. How do you think they would have responded to your claim that divine preprogramming "is the only conceivable way"? -Watson and Crick from so long ago had no idea what we would find out currently about the complexity of DNA and transcription, and imagine how complex it will look in 10-20 years from now. I have no idea what they would think now.
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> I'm much happier with "not likely in my opinion" than I was with "poppycock". I doubt whether the atheistic/agnostic 90% of physical scientists and the atheistic/agnostic 50% of doctors would argue that intelligence means God and his plans. Can I tell you the origin? No. No-one can. If we could, there would be no need for any of our hypotheses and we would not be having this discussion.-But the discussion is fun.