David's theory of evolution: James A. Shapiro's view (Evolution)

by dhw, Monday, December 09, 2019, 09:50 (1809 days ago) @ David Turell

dhw: So (a) I have not misused or bastardized his theories, and you can’t think of any of my conclusions that he would disagree with, and b) since he uses current research on multicellularity to support his theory of speciation, it is not true to say that his theory of speciation is based solely on his research into bacteria.

DAVID: If Shapiro tries to use his findings on bacteria to look for some way for speciation to occur, he is attaching his findings to current research he has not done. Of course you have bastardized his theories by deciding cells are so intelligent they can invent new species.

dhw: It is not a decision but a theory. And why do you persist in ignoring what he wrote? “Living cells and organisms are cognitive (sentient) entities that act and interact purposefully [..] They possess sensory, communication, information-processing and decision-making capabilities. […] Evolutionary novelty arises from the production of new cell and multicellular structures as a result of cellular self-modification functions and cell fusions.” Put the two together and you have Shapiro’s theory and mine that cells are so intelligent that they can invent new species. And of course he is attaching his own findings to research done by others. Studying other scientists’ findings is also research (look at your own books), and that is normal practice when scientists form a theory!

DAVID: All it is is a hopeful theory. It can still all be just programmed automatic responses.

Just to set the record straight, then: I have not misused or bastardized his theory, there is nothing for him to disagree with in my own conclusions, and it is not true that his theory is based only on his bacterial research. And yes, it is a theory. Why “hopeful”? And why “all it is”? Your fixed belief that God exists, and that he preprogrammed or dabbled every single evolutionary innovation for thousands of millions of years solely in order to produce H. sapiens,is also a theory. If “all it is is a hopeful theory” applies to Shapiro’s theory, it also applies to yours.