Immunity system complexity: how T cells are triggered (Introduction)

by dhw, Saturday, April 06, 2019, 13:20 (1841 days ago) @ David Turell

DAVID: Thank you for returning to the original quote, in which he obviously used the word 'think' allegorically. How do you know how the 'majority of scientists' would interpret his statement? My guess is they would use my interpretation.

dhw: I am not talking about how they would interpret his statement! I am talking about your own authoritative declaration that “cells do not think”, and you have called on Groves’ statement to support you. By your own admission, your rejection of the concept of cellular intelligence puts you in a minority among the scientific community. That does not mean you are wrong, but even if Groves were to agree with you, and even if he were to embrace your belief in a divine 3.8-billion-year-old immunity programme for every disease in the history of life, or in divine dabbling with the cells of billions of organisms whenever the system he created throws up new diseases, I’m afraid your belief and his would still not give you the authority to inform us that “cells do not think”.

DAVID: But I still can voice my opinion and believe in it.

Of course you can, but firstly opinions should not be stated as if they were facts, and secondly focusing on automatic behaviour does not explain how that behaviour arose in the first place, or how cell communities make decisions when new conditions demand new behaviour.

DAVID (under “Big brain evolution”): As far as cells are concerned we both recognize they act intelligently, which swell may be due to intelligent instructions from God.

“Intelligent instructions” means a 3.8-billion-year-old programme for every single undabbled cellular action in the history of life. I find that considerably less likely than cells acting with an intelligence given to them by your God.