LUCA latest: Shapiro redux (Introduction)

by dhw, Monday, July 10, 2023, 13:17 (502 days ago) @ David Turell

DAVID: Just to remind the reader, all of Shapiro's studies were on the bacterian ability to edit their own DNA. Animals and plants have adaptive abilities, much short of actual speciation. [...]

dhw: Do you honestly think Shapiro knows nothing about other life forms?

DAVID: Of course he does, as we all do. He is trying to tell us theoretically speciation acts that way. You and I view Shapiro very differently while we both appreciate his work.

dhw: Yes, he has proposed a theory which you have tried to dismiss on the somewhat insulting grounds that he only knows about bacteria. We both know exactly what his theory is, and the difference between us is that I find his theory far more convincing than you do!

DAVID: Yes, it fits your preconceived bias.

I had never even heard of Shapiro until you summarized his theory in your excellent book The Atheist Delusion ten years ago. I am now revising my “brief guide” to incorporate it. Thank you so much for introducing me to it. Finding one theory more convincing than another, and explaining why one does so, is nothing like the preconceived bias which insists on a belief even though the believer himself can make no sense of it (see the thread on your theory of evolution).