Natures wonders: trees induce ants to protect them;symbiosis (Introduction)

by dhw, Sunday, August 05, 2018, 11:55 (2300 days ago) @ David Turell

DAVID: You are right. It took time. The time interval cannot be glibly ignored. So the Acacias survived, which means the problem of providing ant protection occurred, but the issue is how. Did the acacias do it alone or were they helped? The necessary time interval suggests help was provided.

dhw: If your God provided help, why was there a time interval? Dithering? Incompetent? Looking for a solution? Couldn’t make up his mind whether to save the trees or not? Enough acacias survived for a solution to be found, and the search for a solution is a far more likely explanation of a time interval than preprogramming or intervention by your God.

DAVID: The length of time necessary for a change to survival mode is the entire issue in thinking about this. The obvious view is the change had to be immediate for survival, thus the support for design. This is the point you miss.

According to your earlier post (now bolded), it took time and the time interval cannot be glibly ignored, and the necessary time interval suggests help was provided. Now apparently it didn’t take time but was immediate. No wonder I missed your point. So what is your theory now? Your God saw that some acacias died, and immediately rushed to the rescue to provide the flowers with anti-ant protection? Or was this part of the 3.8-billion-year-old computer programme, in which he programmed the first cells to pass on anti-ant-protection-for-acacias, along with every other undabbled innovation, lifestyle and natural wonder in the history of life?
I stand by my original statement: "You seem to think that every bacterium and every tree is identical. There are thousands of cases in which a new disease strikes. Sometimes it wipes out whole species. But sometimes individuals find a solution and survive. It usually takes time. Neither you nor I know how long it took the acacias."