Magic embryology: requires exact timing for every tissue (Introduction)

by David Turell , Friday, February 07, 2020, 01:27 (1752 days ago) @ dhw

QUOTE: "In all sorts of animals, from fruit flies to mice to elephants, cells follow fairly similar sets of steps to grow from embryo to adult. But while these steps follow the same order and often involve the same kinds of genes and molecular signals, they proceed at different rates from species to species.”

DAVID: Pure automaticity following a planned development. New cells respond to total controls. If this happens in embryos, as it must, it is easy to conclude all cells in fully developed organisms are are constantly following those overall instructions. No magical cell mental activity, making lone decisions by themselves when the cells turn from development to the regular activities of simply conducting the duties of living.

dhw: As usual, you leap in with your automaticity once the species is established. Of course everything has to be repeated automatically if the new species is to survive. But this does not explain how speciation – i.e. all the differences between the species – arose in the first place. Similarly, it does not explain how cells adapt to changing conditions in order that the species can remain the same. You always focus on the established “routine” and then ignore every aspect of life’s history when the routine is somehow broken (origin of species, adaptation to new conditions, and innovation – when existing cell communities produce something new).

Once again I agree with the statement that we do not know how speciation happens. I'm surprised that you do not recognize epigenetics as art of the adaptive mechanism. As for cell committees, no evidence, and extremely unlikely. I'll stick with design.

Nature’s Wonders: Ants
QUOTE: “'Put another way, ants, which have some of the most sophisticated and successful social structures in biology, do not practice a ‘shoot first and ask questions later’ social policy.'”

DAVID: Note this is very tightly controlled automatic response, no thought involved, and indicates most animal responses are quite automatic.

dhw: And again as usual, you focus on the modes of perception rather than the mental processes that follow on from the perception. How do you imagine ants created their sophisticated and successful social structures and policies in the first place? Most human responses are also quite automatic. It’s what we and our fellow animals do with the information that suggests we are intelligent.

All we know is the wrong smell makes an enemy. Since odorous compounds are complicated proteins, making them requires design, which I assume were given to the ants.