How children pick up a language: new review of Wolfe (Humans)

by David Turell , Sunday, November 20, 2016, 15:10 (2923 days ago) @ dhw

DAVID: Of course I can believe in evolution and God's control. Have you forgotten our discussions about pre-planning or dabbling?

dhw: Hey, hey, stop! Please read the sentences in bold. “Control” is not separate creation! Separate creation is the exact opposite of common descent. You wrote: “there is no evidence that a series of innovations leads to new species.” Let me repeat: How else can new species arise? Even if God preprogrammes or dabbles the innovations, they must take place in existing organisms unless you believe in separate creation. Please clarify: do you or do you not think that innovations take place within existing organisms, and innovations lead to new species?

We are having semantic problems, or at least I am. By 'innovations', I meant adaptive modifications, epigenetic changes orchestrated by the organisms themselves. But that cannot reach the level of speciation by itself. New species are too complexly different for that to work. Of course, as God uses evolution as His mechanism for creation. He uses the original organismal form as the basis to create the newer form/species. I actually view this as stepwise creation. Of course this is dabbling. My other thought is preplanning for the series of creation and finally an onboard guided inventive mechanism. All this comes from a judgment that God runs evolution to reach a final human form.

dhw: If God dabbled every innovation and every natural wonder, cellular intelligence would have no part to play in any innovations or natural wonders. There would be no point in your God giving cells the intelligence to do their own designing if he did it all for them! Therefore my hypothetical cellular intelligence would preclude God having to do all the designing.

You have expanded the concept of cellular intelligence beyond anything shown so far. Of course you can claim anything in hypothesis, but you should try and base your proposals on some reasonable evidence to start with, and in my view you haven't.