Biological complexity: feedback loops are vital (Introduction)

by dhw, Friday, September 27, 2019, 18:25 (1670 days ago) @ David Turell

dhw: Not only is information not intelligent, but information doesn’t function

DAVID: Exactly. The organism's responses are guided by the information in its genome which then induces obviously intelligent responses to stimuli by activating a proper mechanism to answer.

dhw: Thank you for once more agreeing with me, though in an extraordinarily roundabout fashion. Information is not intelligent and information is not functioning. The “proper mechanism” which provides intelligent responses to stimuli is what we call intelligence.

DAVID: I'll remind you, the intelligent responses are in my view all automatic, because of the quality of the information.

What information are you talking about? The information which you now agree is not intelligent, or the information which you now agree doesn’t function? Stop tying yourself in knots with “information” and stick to the fact that you believe every single intelligent response was either divinely preprogrammed 3.8 billion years ago to be passed on by the very first cells, or was directly dabbled by your God.

DAVID (re “stromatolites”): If it is agreed this is acceptable evidence, then life was certainly on Earth very early, considering that the Earth formed about 4.5 byo and is considered to have been too hot of life at 4 byo. These appear to be organized organisms, advanced beyond what simple early life may have looked like.

dhw: Very interesting. I like your use of the word “organized”. Here we seem to have the beginnings of the cooperation between cells which forms the whole basis of evolution.

DAVID: Each cell is alive and fully organized, no more.

If organized cells bunched together, why do you ignore cooperation?

dhw: I don’t think every “attacker” or “infection” was present at the beginning of life. Perhaps it might be more accurate to propose that the first cells were provided with the intelligence to adapt themselves to new conditions as and when they arose. Immune systems would therefore have developed enormously over time as they worked out ways to combat new threats but also preserved ways of combating old threats, just as single-celled bacteria do.

DAVID: But the immune cells have to be given a way to code future responses. They can't invent those mechanisms by themselves on the fly while being attacked as attackers evolve. They must have had the basic mechanism from the beginning of life given to them by God.

dhw: Precisely. Thank you for once more accepting the theistic version of my hypothesis. The way to respond as attackers evolve is provided by a basic mechanism which must have been there from the beginning – and possibly given to them by your God. I have called it cellular intelligence. What do you call it?

DAVID: An appropriate mechanism provided by God.

I’ve already allowed for “provided by God”. So you call the basic mechanism an appropriate mechanism. Obviously it’s appropriate since it works!