cellular intelligence (Evolution)

by David Turell , Saturday, October 24, 2020, 18:27 (1280 days ago) @ dhw

DAVID: Talbott and I certainly agree bacteria act intelligently and he wonders where that intelligence came from, without answering. He does not support you by leaving the issue as an open question.

dhw: Great to hear that you now agree that bacteria act intelligently, instead of your previous belief that they merely obeyed your God’s instructions, but I’m surprised you’ve forgotten that I also agree with Talbott that bacteria are intelligent, and you’ve also forgotten that I too leave open the issue of where the intelligence came from, though I do add that it may have come from God. Please tell me where Talbott and I differ.

DAVID: We all do not differ except I believe God provided the intelligent instructions.

dhw: Then we are poles apart. Talbott and I are arguing for the autonomous intelligence of cells, not for robots obeying God’s instructions.

Talbott is not you. He has only raised the issue of how come cells act so intelligently, without answering the question!! He wants answers. I like to follow him because he so clearly defines what is missing. I fill it with God as designer.

David: [..] Grudgingly you offer God as possibly the cause because you have no other answer.

dhw: …maybe the cause of life would be the same cause of cellular intelligence: 1) God, 2) chance, 3) some form of panpsychism – all equally difficult to believe in. That is why some of us are agnostics. I may have said this before.

DAVID: I know of your struggles. Forget (1) God. Just realize a designer is required. That is how I left agnosticism.

dhw: You moaned that I had no other answer. You had forgotten the other two answers.

DAVID: I ignored chance and panpsychism as inventions not worth answering.

dhw: Not much point in telling me I have no other answer and then ignoring the other answers!

I think chance is an unreasonable theory, considering the complexity of biochemical life. As for panpsychism, it is a blown up concept only because we do have the mental capacity to invent all sorts of idiotic suggestions. Minds at invention play. Why not try on multiverses for size?