Evolution: more genomic evidence of pre-planning (Evolution)

by dhw, Sunday, April 04, 2021, 10:54 (1117 days ago) @ David Turell

DAVID: The bold makes no sense. The enormous addition is not explained by the minimal new requirements as Erectus advanced to Sapiens, for the full evidence, which you ignore, is sapiens first lifestyle hardly differed from Erectus. You really can't explain the giant addition of cells in the frontal and prefrontal areas, which, we know, are later used for complex ideation.[/b]

dhw: You go on and on about the “enormous addition”. It was no more enormous than the additions throughout history. And you go on and on about the fact that there was little change in lifestyle, but you keep ignoring my answer:.... Now please tell me why you find my theory and my explanations illogical.

DAVID: You've totally missed the point so I now have it in bold. It isn't just that 200 cc was added. The key is where it was added. This is the FIRST time the main addition is entirely in the abstract and idea THINKING AREA. This is the area we had to learn to use very completely. I have no idea why you haven't understood this.

First your “point” was the enormous addition, then your “point” was no change in lifestyle, and when I’ve answered your “points”, you shift to another “point”! It also helps you to leave out certain parts of my answer, and five minutes' research on the Internet reveals a fact that you might not have known, which is that The frontal and temporal lobes of the erectus brain also expanded. Nobody knows the direct cause of ANY of the expansions, but I gave you a list of possible causes: improvements in the form of “new tools, new weapons, new ideas, clothes, use of fire, adapting to new conditions”. All of these would have applied just as much to erectus as to sapiens, and to sapiens as much as to erectus, and none of them would have been possible without a “THINKING AREA”. The erectus brain expanded by around 300 cc. during their time on earth, and there is even evidence (shell carvings) of erectus art. “I have no idea why you haven’t understood” that expansions and improvements accompanied one another all the way through homo history, they all required "thinking", and it makes more sense for brains to expand by implementing new ideas than by anticipating them – as proven by the way in which the modern brain RESPONDS to new challenges and does not change itself in anticipation of them.

Survival
I asked for the purpose of increased complexity.

DAVID: To finally reach the complexity of the human brain.

Dhw: (…) So why did your God have to design the pea-sized brain of the brontosaurus, from which we did not descend, in order to design our complex brain?

DAVID: History tells us what God decided to do, evolve step by step so life becomes an enormous bush.

Yes indeed. Whether (theistic version) your God designed it directly or designed a mechanism to produce it, life became an enormous bush. It did not consist of one straight line from bacteria to H. sapiens, but diversified into vast numbers of branches, 99% of which had no connection to humans. The brontosaurus was just one example. This does not support your theory that God’s one and only purpose was to design H. sapiens. Please stop this endless dodging.

dhw: You’ve “backed away from my real point”: whether or not your God designed adaptations and innovations, their purpose is to improve chances of survival. This discussion began with your usual attempt to denigrate Darwin. In the context of his theory that meeting the need to survive is the purpose of evolutionary change, there is no conflict between his theory and yours.

DAVID: My original point remains. Darwin thought a struggle for survival drove evolution. I say God designed evolution and guaranteed survival for each step until the next steps were achieved. Total conflict with Darwin.

So the purpose of every adaptation and innovation was to guarantee survival of every organism, until God decided to kill off the 99% of organisms that had no connection with H. sapiens. Whereas Darwin only tells us that the purpose of every adaptation and innovation was to enable every organism to survive until it died. Hardly total conflict.