Natures wonders: ants and other insects farm (Introduction)

by dhw, Tuesday, April 28, 2020, 10:51 (1668 days ago) @ David Turell

DAVID: The rest of this enormous review article takes up individual examples and is worth reading. As usual I favor help from God in these complex instinctual behaviors.

dhw: Your “help” apparently consists of preprogramming ant farming 3.8 billion years ago (along with the millions and millions of other life forms, strategies and natural wonders for the rest of life's history) or direct dabbling (special farming courses for ants?). Currently you favour preprogramming. Or can you think of any other type of help? I would suggest, yet again, that ants, like all other life forms, have the ability (perhaps God-given) to figure out their own methods of survival. And please don't come up with your "guidelines" again unless you can offer guidelines that are not preprogrammed or directly dabbled.

DAVID: As usual we are far apart. God helps and the animals do it.

dhw: How do you think God “helps”?

DAVID: Programs their onboard information.

dhw: That’s not “help”, that’s programming, as above in bold.

DAVID: DNA contains information. much of which is God-given.

So the ants’ invention of farming was thanks to God planting an ant farming programme in their DNA 3.8 billion years ago, alongside the programme for all future life forms and their lifestyles and strategies and natural wonders – but that is called “helping”. Or (there's always hope) do you mean God planted the information which made ants into ants, but he left them to work out their own means of survival, including farming?