More miscellany Parts One & Two (Evolution)

by David Turell , Tuesday, September 10, 2024, 20:04 (8 days ago) @ dhw

Black holes needed for life

DAVID: That is my belief in the supernatural to explain this reality.

dhw: Yes, I know. And atheists believe in chance to explain this reality. Both of you shut your eyes and take a blind leap of faith with your explanations.

Your no faith is better?

Kamikaze termites

DAVID: The biochemical complexities can only come from a designing mind.

dhw: According to you, your God’s reasoning is confined to designing whatever is needed for us and our food. This means that he had to design and cull 99.9 out of 100 species that were irrelevant to us and our food, but explosive rucksacks etc. are indispensable for us and our food. Not far-fetched?

DAVID: Only if the relationship is very direct. It isn't as you torture reality.

dhw: So when you say your God created life solely for us and our food, you actually mean he also created things that were not here for us and our food. This fits in with your theory that prior to us and our food, he designed and had to cull 99.9 out of 100 irrelevant species, and even now there are species irrelevant to us and our food. Perhaps you will tell us why you think he designed them?

All designed are here to support us. Nothing was extraneous during evolution..

Butterfly wing colors

DAVID: Does God need a human form of enjoyment? NO. Only you would make Him in that image. You invent God's needs.

dhw: And you simply ignore the fact that enjoyment does not denote need. What, in heaven’s name, is wrong with your own earlier proposal that your God might enjoy creating and be interested in his creations?

DAVID: […] God creates without self needs.

dhw: Enjoyment is not a need. What authority do you have for your belief that your God does not create things for his own enjoyment? Your “selfless” God is only your wish. What is wrong with the idea that God might enjoy creating beautiful things?

Of course, enjoyment can be a need. God might enjoy anything He creates. Only He knows.

DAVID: Our wishes for God do not dictate God's personality. We can accept He creates as a starting point. After that it is all speculation.

dhw: Spot on. And your speculations, mingled with your wishes and the long list of self-contradictions (see the “evolution” thread), have led you to describe your speculations as “schizophrenic”.

No one knows.

Surviving deep sea pressure

QUOTES: At the deepest point, the pressure of 36,200 feet of seawater is greater than the weight of an elephant on every square inch of your body. Yet Earth’s deepest places are home to lifeuniquely suited to these challenging conditions.

[…] the research unveils a new way that life has adapted to the most extreme conditions of the deep ocean.

DAVID: the precise structure of plasmalogens to fit the requirements of deep-sea high pressures is a strict example of the need for design.

dhw: Thank you for these highly educational articles, which provide more and more evidence of the way cells adapt to conditions. They do so even if they have no relevance whatsoever to us and our food. The greater the variety of organisms, the more likely it seems that life is a gigantic free-for-all, as cells combine and adapt to changing conditions in the struggle for survival, though eventually the vast majority become extinct. But I agree with you: the complexity of a mechanism that can produce this almost infinite variety seems impossible without a designer.

Thank you.

NDEs and out of body experiences

QUOTE: this state can be brought on by near-death experiences, hallucinogenic drugs and other causes. But people who undergo it often report that their viewpoint on the world, and their place in it, is radically changed. Experiencers often become more compassionate, more patient, more understanding. More than half in one study described their relationships with others as more peaceful and harmonious. Many become more spiritual and more convinced of the possibility of life after death.

dhw: This ties in with Matt’s experiences of Buddhist meditation and loss of self. There are many paths to increased empathy, though the use of drugs can lead to the exact opposite! It’s a bit disappointing to hear that the percentage of beneficial OBEs and NDEs is only “more than half”, though of course NDEs will convince some folk that there’s life after death! Empathy is the main focus here, and there are any number of personal experiences that will enhance it: perhaps if our rulers were forced to experience first-hand the poverty and deprivation suffered by millions of people all over the world, they might change some of their priorities.

Wishing for the impossible.