Precambrian environment (Introduction)

by dhw, Saturday, November 02, 2013, 20:09 (4016 days ago) @ David Turell

dhw: I'm not worried about Darwin's worries, I'm worried about David Turell's theories. You quite rightly refer to the Cambrian Explosion as a huge problem for the theory of random mutations. But since you believe so firmly in God's plans, and in the inability of cell communities to invent all these astonishing novelties, I can't believe you haven't got a theory to explain it.....-DAVID: I don't have a theory. All I know is it takes plan to make a kidney. It takes a mind with consciousness to make such a complicated plan. [...] I'm sticking to one fact, it takes a mind to make a plan. All the rest is speculation. -You have been telling me that God preprogrammed innovations - which must include all the Cambrian innovations - from the start (indeed, I recall you saying that was the only way), that the production of humans was his purpose from the start, and that (mysteriously) cell communities have a choice between a, b and c. Sounds like a theory to me. However, I agree that it takes intelligence to make a complicated plan, but that need not mean one mind. I've suggested the possibility that cells have an ever evolving intelligence (possibly God-given) that might have enabled them to cooperate in creating all the different branches of the evolutionary bush. As analogies I've used the emergence of consciousness from the colossal community of the brain cells, and the emergence of intelligent architecture, lifestyles and strategies from the colossal community of cooperating ants. You dismiss this speculation as poppycock, but since you acknowledge that your above suggestions (none of which have any backing from science) are also speculation, I'd say we're pretty level pegging!