Miscellany (General)

by David Turell , Tuesday, March 23, 2021, 18:06 (1339 days ago) @ dhw

Possums
DAVID: The bold still has possums talking. Dead possum trick still has to be taught by demonstration.

dhw: I’m quite happy to include demonstration as one means of communication whereby the trick eventually became standard practice. So why do you think your God had to preprogramme the trick or teach it?

Individual demonstration takes time and is dangerous to the teacher wo has to time it just right..

Bird migration
QUOTE: "Many birds routinely migrate across half the globe or more. Godwits, for instance, can fly up to 7,200 miles nonstop from Alaska to New Zealand."

DAVID: […] how do birds learn how to do this? The first bird to try any of this had no idea of his destination if nature is the only source of guidance. I would offer God's instructions.

dhw: You asked how birds learned to migrate, and concluded “I would offer God’s instructions”. My proposal for all these wonders is that once they had been initiated (whether by luck or skill), the respective organisms were able to communicate the strategy to others of their species. Now all of a sudden you have fixed on one mode of communication – demonstration - as if somehow that negated birds’ ability to teach their young! You apply the same weird comment to spider nets:

dhw: Demonstration is just one of many forms of communication used by us and our fellow organisms. Spiders have offspring, you know, and they’ve been around for well over 300 million years, so who knows how many other tricks they might have invented and passed on?

DAVID: Finally, yes demonstration is required if speech doesn't exist. Apply to possums.

dhw: Of course they use demonstration. Our fellow animals also use other forms of communication, including sounds. The point here is you now agree that once the first wonder has been performed – whether through intelligence, luck, new discovery, experimentation etc. – the information will be passed on. So why does your God have to preprogramme the wonders, or give instructions?

A very poor answer. Just what info do animal sounds really convey? We have sounds of alarm, attention, bird mating calls, pheromones' scents, but instructional sounds? Language helps us. God provides instincts.