Logic and evolution (Introduction)

by David Turell , Tuesday, July 26, 2016, 15:11 (3044 days ago) @ dhw


> DAVID: The only consciousness we know requires neurons. Shapiro's sentient bacteria are only sentient in that they can receive stimuli and have responses to those stimuli.
> 
> dhw: I admit that's a bit of a problem when someone tells me that first cause pure energy must have been conscious. However, back to Earth: what do you think Shapiro means by cognitive and decision-making? Unconscious and obeying instructions?-Yes.
> 
> DAVID: It may be wondrous to you but I have faith in God, and you have trouble swallowing that faith.
> 
> dhw: No, I have trouble swallowing your belief that your God programmed or personally dabbled every innovation and natural wonder in the history of life, and that somehow it's all linked to “balance of nature” and the production of humans. One could still have faith in a God who endowed organisms with the intelligence to do their own thing. You should not conflate faith in God with faith in a particular interpretation of God's methods and intentions.-No, but I pick what seems most logical to me, based on reasonable assumptions about God's mental power.