More miscellany Parts One & Two (Evolution)

by dhw, Tuesday, August 27, 2024, 09:57 (20 days ago) @ David Turell

99.9% versus 0.1%

Your continued disagreement with yourself is dealt with in detail on the “evolution” thread.

The universe

DAVID: We can agree a mind is required. We see a fine-tuned-for-life universe, an organism with a deeply thinking brain.

dhw: The universe we know of consists of billions of galaxies which – as far as we know - are not finely tuned for life. That is one of the problems for us agnostics. The atheist would say the greater the number of heavenly bodies, the greater the odds in favour of a chance beginning.

DAVID: The universe is fine-tuned, which means EVERY galaxy is!

We don’t even know the whole universe, and we haven’t even explored all those parts of the universe that we do know. Unless every galaxy contains life, how can you claim that every galaxy is fine-tuned for life? Please stop making authoritative statements out of your wishes.

How mosquitoes find dinner

QUOTE: "'Despite their diminutive size, mosquitoes are responsible for more human deaths than any other animal."

dhw: Thank you again, David, for another extraordinary article. I’m surprised, though, that you didn’t add your usual comment that this extremely complex mechanism must have been designed. As such, it provides yet another question under the subject of theodicy. Why would an all-good God design such a lethal weapon against humanity?

DAVID: You might add why the deadly parasites?

dhw: I do.

DAVID: The mosquito is an innocent carrier. The article quote is wrong.

dhw: I have no idea about the statistics, but of course we can’t blame the mosquito. The question is why an all-good God would have designed it in the first place.

DAVID: I don't know in this instance.

Thank you for your honesty. On March 27, you were very direct: "What is fair is to blame God for natural disasters: earthquakes, terrible storms, and bugs causing diseases, non-human parts of his creations." But the fact is that you don’t and indeed can’t know the answers to any of the major questions concerning your unknowable God’s existence, purpose, methods or nature. Nobody knows. But the moment you advance a theory, it would help your cause if it made sense to you. (See the schizophrenic contradictions listed on the “evolution” thread.)

Our heart differs from great apes

QUOTE: Our research suggests that the human heart has adapted to support our upright stance, movement and larger brain.

DAVID: we evolved away from other mammals because of our unusual mobility and exercise capacity.

dhw: Yes, it seems to be a clear case of a cell community (organ) adapting to new conditions.

DAVID: Yes, the heart may have created the adaptation.

Thank you. As before, you are edging closer to an acceptance that Shapiro’s theory is at least a possible explanation for many of the developments throughout evolution.

The vagus nerve

QUOTE: "The supreme organ gives most people a vivid sensory perception of the world. […]How is this crucial brain-body connection orchestrated? The answer involves the very unusual vagus nerve."

Just in case anyone should get a wrong impression, it’s not just people who have a brain and a vagus nerve. All our fellow animals have the same mechanisms.

DAVID: […] After seeing this arrangement can one doubt design?

As always, many thanks for yet another fascinating insight into the complexities of living things. And I agree: they can only be there by design. The wide open questions remain: what did the designing (your God? The cells themselves?) and what designed the designer(s)?