An inventive mechanism (Evolution)

by David Turell , Saturday, October 04, 2014, 19:47 (3701 days ago) @ dhw


> dhw: Thank you for this clear answer. The problems you have listed show why it is so difficult to believe in your evolutionary scenario. ...... If you believe God's programme had a purpose, why would he leave ANYTHING to chance, since he presumably has the power to control the conditions you believe he created in the first place? But that means preprogramming the challenges as well as the responses.-You are welcome. We don't know just how powerful God is. We presume it is very,very. It is therefore possible everything imaginable is pre-programmed. But perhaps not. That is why it is possible to imagine an evolutionary inventive mechanism that is sort of on its own. But if the DNA of life is viewed as a continuum, the inventive mechanism must be supplied with appropriate guidelines that are cognizant of the past construction to arrange for new speciation.
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> dhw: Perhaps for this reason you are also unsure to what extent your God may have dabbled, but dabbling would surely imply that either his programme wasn't working, or he was making it all up as he went along. And dabbling smacks of creationism rather than evolution.-Your point is exactly why dabbling bothers me. If God is that powerful, he shouldn't have to dabble. But an inventive mechanism gets around that, but introduces the issue of deism vs. theism, and I prefer theism (without proof) which, of course, means God remains interested, watching and perhaps taking part.-> dhw: I have no problem accepting your reservations about my own hypothesis regarding an autonomous inventive mechanism, but perhaps you will understand why I am seeking an alternative (even a theistic one) to what you are offering.-I fully understand your problem. But that is why I have presented you with such strong evidence of the way cells work under very full DNA controlls. The inventive mechanism must be built the same way, but with the latitude in the instructions to allow for the very inventive bush of life..
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> dhw: Apart perhaps from the word “programming” I agree. Evolution is based on the theory that new species arise out of existing organisms. It seems likely that they change when they are confronted with new experiences. Your explanation of such changes is that every single one is preprogrammed, which implies that every single new experience is also preprogrammed, as above.- I view the instructions as offering latitude with constraints. Again, think of life as a changing continuum. Under this approach, as stated above, there is not absolutely tight pre-programming, much as I reminded you, you used your architect's expertese to shape the house to your desires. 
 
> dhw: The significance of the video for me is not the automation. The vocabulary leaves me numb, but the complexity confirms just how difficult it is to put one's faith in chance.-That is my point in prestning the video. Every process in the cell is like this. Each molecule acts as if it were individualy alive and thinking, just like workers in a factory. But they are simply following biochemical instructions