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

by David Turell , Tuesday, January 14, 2020, 15:20 (1773 days ago) @ dhw

DAVID: He produced a proper scientific presentation of a review at the Royal society without the stretched theory.

dhw: So, to repeat the comment you were answering, please provide evidence that his theory is confined to bacteria, that I have distorted his theory, and that he has changed his mind. And please explain how “Living Organisms Regularly Facilitate Their Own Evolution” can mean anything other than the proposal that the cell communities of which living organisms are composed facilitate their own evolution. That IS his theory, except that he doesn’t use the term “cell communities”!

Agreed. I know his theory as extrapolated from his very thorough bacterial studies. I've repeated it over and over. I know you have accepted it as it avoids God.

dhw: Under "Nature’s Wonders":
DAVID: In thinking about evolution of a three-way symbiosis, it is much more difficult to imagine its evolution than a two-way. Design?

dhw: Every multicellular body is an example of multiple symbiosis, as different types of cell cooperate in a community of communities, with each one playing a unique role. You will no doubt argue that all of them were preprogrammed 3.8 billion years ago or God came down and dabbled them, as presumably you think he did with the sponge, the bacterium and the virus. Another possibility is that your God gave them the wherewithal to do their own designing in the process Shapiro calls “natural genetic engineering”.

Weird comparison. Symbiosis means free-living organisms have given up some of their individuality, and have modified their genes to fit. Each individual must fit the changes exactly with the others. In this case like juggling three balls in the air by three folks to get the right result. Magically, multicellular organisms come organized that way by DNA instructions, no juggling. Designed by God.

dhw: Much of the remainder of your post is dedicated to Adler, and I will deal with anything relevant on the other thread, as this has nothing to do with Shapiro.