Biological complexity: understanding the ribosome (Introduction)

by dhw, Thursday, July 27, 2017, 10:32 (2677 days ago) @ David Turell

dhw: Tony’s question concerned the beginning of panpsychist “intelligence”, and my point was that it would have to begin with inorganic matter at an atomic level. In other words, we are talking about the time when the Earth was formed, not the time when conditions became suitable for life. Even today there are bacteria that live in the most hostile conditions, but they mark the beginning of intelligent life. You left out my important third sentence, which offers an analogy. If matter has some rudimentary form of intelligence, it will make no difference whether conditions are suitable for life or not. This would apply to all matter throughout the universe, most of which as far as we know is totally unsuitable for life but which panpsychists still believe to be possessed of some kind of intelligence. As I keep saying, it’s hard to believe. So is a single mind that is big and powerful and knowledgeable enough to create and encompass possible infinity and eternity.

DAVID: If matter has intelligence that fits my proposal that the universe is a part of God's consciousness

Why are you trying to pretend that my alternative hypothesis is the same as yours? You insist on a single, all-knowing mind, a “person like no other”, who created matter. My (atheistic) panpsychist alternative is zillions of blobs of matter with the most rudimentary of minds which, in the course of time, as matter and energy constantly transform themselves into an infinite number of combinations and forms, increase their knowledge until eventually one product among zillions is the living cell. And the living cell continues the process of combining and increasing knowledge and variety of forms. Bottom up atheistic evolution as opposed to top down theistic evolution. Two equally incredible hypotheses, one of which must be closer to the truth than the other.