Origin of Life (Introduction)

by dhw, Thursday, December 24, 2009, 11:33 (5244 days ago) @ xeno6696

Matt: However, what are the chances for life to appear? You can't answer this question until you find a mechanism for life coming from non life.-I hesitate to enter this particular discussion, because the mathematical calculations are way over my head, but this statement and those that follow are, I think, within my compass. You go on to say that the argument "life is too complex to have arrived by chance" doesn't have much to support it. I don't like this argument either. I like the argument: "life is too complex for me to believe that it arrived by chance." And my non-belief (please distinguish this from disbelief) relates precisely to the statement I've quoted at the start. We do not know what the mechanism is. How can you even begin to make mathematical calculations about odds, probability, time divided by attempts, when you don't know what you're looking for? You use this argument ... which seems perfectly logical to me ... to counter the claim that life can't have "arrived by chance", but it is equally applicable to the claim that life did arrive by chance. (I tried in my non-scientific way to demonstrate limits to credulity with my monkeys on typewriters and my COOL machine.) David has acknowledged many times that his belief in a designer requires faith. Atheists should also acknowledge that their belief in chance origins requires faith, but they rarely do. Agnostics lack faith in either theory, and so remain open to both.-In the meantime, I am about to demonstrate total faith in my wife's design of turkey followed by Christmas pud. Once again, best wishes to everyone.