Cell complexity: speed of reactions (Introduction)

by dhw, Monday, October 12, 2015, 12:58 (3332 days ago) @ David Turell
edited by dhw, Monday, October 12, 2015, 13:18

dhw: Buehler thinks the cellular equivalent of the brain is the centrosphere:-QUOTE: Centrosphere: Centrioles and radial array of microtubules etc.-DAVID: Snipped out what you like in a quote mine. Not a full view of what Buehler admits:
"Yet, the vast majority of today's biologists devote their efforts to prove the opposite, namely that specific molecular interactions create the cellular functions such as cell division, directed locomotion, differentiation, design of the extracellular matrix, adhesion to materials and other cells and so forth." 
Note 'vast majority'. He is the outlier in thought, and you wish to lay with him.-I “snipped out” the quote, because you asked to be shown an “organelle” of thought. There are many eminent biologists who support the concept of the intelligent cell, and you have agreed that the chances are 50/50. I do not wish to “lay with him”, but plead for an open mind on the subject. As for the “vast majority”, how many biologists do you think would agree with you that God designed 3.8 billion years' worth of evolution in order to produce or feed humans? I suspect you don't care. Nor in respect of the “intelligent cell” do/did Buehler, McClintock, Margulis, Shapiro & Co.
 
DAVID: Note this statement of his:
"As summarized in this web site, it presents novel assays demonstrating that cells coordinate their bodies during movement and respond to physical and topological parameters which are too weak to have caused the observed reaction by force. These responses are then analyzed and used to identify the nature and location of a cellular data-integration system that may be responsible for these actions."
Of course there is a 'data integration system'. All built-in or the cells wouldn't survive. Look at the illustrated videos of cellular components in action. All from intelligent information in the genome.-The whole point of his research and his book (look at the title!) is that the data integration system is an intelligent “brain”, not a machine. In his experiments, he has observed unforced responses, which I take to mean responses that require decisions as opposed to offering only one option. That is how one can tell the difference between automatic and autonomous behaviour. 50/50?
 
DAVID: Note: He is retired honorably, and not quoted widely in all of the material I have surveyed over 30 years of reading about this. And I've read the stuff I've given you to quote against me.-The fact that like yourself he has now retired "honorably", you didn't know his work, and it is not quoted widely proves absolutely nothing. His conclusions tie in with those drawn by biologists who ARE quoted widely. And the fact that you have given me material to quote against you does not invalidate the conclusions of the scientists you took it from.