More miscellany Parts One & Two (Evolution)

by David Turell , Tuesday, August 27, 2024, 19:04 (86 days ago) @ dhw

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!

dhw: 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.

Subdue your wishes. The universe is defined as fine-tuned everywhere from the Big Bang producing physical constants (at least 18+ of them).

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.

dhw: 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.

Why do you constantly invoke Shapiro's theory, with its simple basis that bacteria edit their own DNA?

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."

dhw: 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?

dhw: 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)?

The designer is just IS, no designer required.