causation (Introduction)

by dhw, Wednesday, June 11, 2014, 19:01 (3818 days ago) @ David Turell

Dhw: Here's an alternative. Evolution has progressed from simple to complex with a vast variety of life forms because organisms have mechanisms (origin unknown) that allow them to adapt and innovate in response to random changes in the environment. Some do so successfully, and survive. Some do not, and perish.
-DAVID: A perfect neutral view of evolution, which leaves out any philosophic or theologic consideration of the issue of the appearance of humans, Fine for agnostics or atheists.-But as you have shown repeatedly, any attempt to impose your particular theological pattern on evolution results in a philosophic shambles of pre-planning and randomness, preprogramming and independence, strict order and almighty higgledy-piggledy. All of these contradictions disappear if you remove the philosophical shackles of evolutionary anthropocentrism, or alternatively the decisive know-it-all-from-the-beginning infallibility of your God. And neither of these solutions requires you to be an agnostic or an atheist!-*************-In response to the same post as above:-GATEKEEPER: WOW! So close. How, using what we know, can your stance work? One "word"...
-I'm afraid I don't understand your question. I can't explain how I think evolution works in just one word. People write whole books on the subject! What we think we know (nothing is absolute) is that all forms of life have descended from earlier forms, apart from the very first, whose origin is unknown. If common descent is true (it seems logical to me), then there has to be some kind of mechanism ... origin also unknown ... that has enabled organisms to adapt and innovate in accordance with environmental change. Otherwise life would not have progressed beyond the level of bacteria. How do you think it "works"?