Explaining natural wonders: bacterial intelligence (Animals)

by David Turell , Tuesday, June 06, 2017, 17:50 (2726 days ago) @ dhw

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DAVID's comment: It stands to reason these chemical warfare antibiotics go back to the beginning of life. Beta lactamase is the chemical enzyme that fights penicillin and its relatives. It is not intelligence, it is the weapons they have at their command.

dhw: I am not disputing the history of bacterial warfare, and although eventually this discussion does link up with bacterial intelligence, the dispute here is over my suggestion that your God preprogrammed bacteria to create disease. You responded that disease was accidental. This therefore raises the vital question of your God’s control. You appear to be saying God didn’t know bacteria would cause disease (it was accidental), and yet he inserted programmes (“alternative pathways”) that some lucky bacteria accidentally switch on today in order to counter the programmes humans design to counter the diseases. I must confess, I rather like your theory that God leaves all these things to luck and accident, but that creates huge problems for your other theory that God is always in control.

I still think accidental fits. It gets back to my view of theodicy. Evil disease exists when bacteria and viruses end up in the wrong places, just as evil people with free will and a dangerous universe exist. Part of an evolving reality. But God gave us a big brain and the challenge to solve the problems and we are doing a good job. We learn to kill bacteria. We track asteroids. We have ethical (sort of) societies to handle evil people.