Genome complexity: challenges naturalism (Introduction)

by dhw, Tuesday, September 22, 2015, 12:19 (3351 days ago) @ David Turell

“Natural selection explains not only the whole of life.....” (Dawkins, The God Delusion.)-When you read that, don't you shake your head in disbelief? The whole of life? (You will also shake your head at the rest of the sentence: “...it also raises our consciousness to the power of science to explain how organized complexity can emerge from simple beginnings without any deliberate guidance.”-(D. Turell 19 Sept.): [I wrote that] “the discoveries of increasingly complex mechanisms to create and sustain life would eventually bring an end to the acceptance of Darwin's theory of evolution.” -I shook my head in disbelief. The whole theory? An end to acceptance of common descent? Back to Creationism? But now compare that to the following statementsD. Turell, 21 September): “I'm discarding Darwin's theory as to the method of evolution.” “I accept evolution. I have my own theory as to how it works.” -Ah! That's more like it. Thank you. I would hate to have to label you as a theistic Dawkins. Here is another statement:-QUOTE: “Aside from the obvious (and intriguing) challenge of understanding the enormous complexity of life's information payload, evolution purports to explain its origins.”-I accept all your arguments about continuity etc. but your author here is also doing precisely the same as Dawkins: offering a gross misrepresentation in order to make his case sound more convincing. The theory of evolution does not purport to explain life's origins. We stalwarts of the AgnosticWeb - regardless of beliefs, disbeliefs and non-beliefs - will go on shaking our heads at all such distortions, won't we?