New Miscellany (General)

by David Turell , Wednesday, February 12, 2025, 17:51 (22 days ago) @ dhw

First life

DAVID: The only times we know are historical. Only God knows the truth.

dhw: If he exists. I presume from this reply that you now accept that there are no criteria by which one can say the relevant periods are short or long.

True

Evolution

DAVID: The bold is a deliberate distortion: He is a magnificent designer, using a messy evolution system.

dhw:If he exists, he designed your messy, inefficient evolution system. And that would make him a messy, inefficient designer.

Emphatically no. He is a magnificent designer of living organisms biochemistry.

T-cells and immunity

DAVID: No, the process is identical for each different enemy.

dhw: The process of analysing and deciding how to use new information is the same, but the information is different, which means each new enemy requires new analysis and decision-making. Hence what you call the “adaptability”, which I suggest requires intelligence.

Wrong. Recognizing non-self, taking a part of it and adding a killer portion is all automatic.

dhw: […] So what instructions were given by God 3.8 billion years ago? Please answer.

DAVID: How to make antibodies against so many enemies with one simple system.

dhw: And I suggest the “simple system” is a “mechanism” (perhaps God-given) that gives cells the autonomous ability to process and decide how to use new information (= adaptability). What else could it be if your God’s 3.8-billion-year old “instructions” do not cover every new threat?

The system is built to cover all as described above.

Fine-tuning

DAVID: Fine tuning is recognizing all the physical factors that allow this universe to exist. Based on the CMB no oddball exist!!! Yes, all fine tuned to exist and allow life.

dhw: We know that life exists, and so of course the universe, no matter what it consists of, can be said to have allowed life to live. And we know that our part of the universe is “fine-tuned” for life because we live in it. But 95% per cent of the universe is not known to us, so how do you know it is “fine-tuned for life” unless we find life in those parts of the universe that we do not know?

DAVID: Do you fully understand what the CMB tells us? It is the embryo of the universe? All the same with no oddball areas. An embryo can only follow its design. When fine tuning was a hot topic thirty years ago, no expert voiced your contrary point.

dhw: Do you know the meaning of "fine tuning"? Definitions for you: “to adjust precisely so as to bring to the highest level of performance or effectiveness”. (Merriam-Webster) - or. “to make very small changes to something so that it is as good as it can possibly be.” (Oxford) No one can deny that the universe contains all the ingredients necessary for life, and it’s fair enough to point out the “constants” without which life would not be possible. But the presence of the ingredients and of the constants does not in itself create life! You are the first to lay enormous emphasis on the uniqueness of our planet and the unusualness of our galaxy. It is the “adjustments” that make life possible, and so far as we know, ours is the only planet in which all the adjustments have been made. The universe provides the basic elements, but the whole of the universe is NOT fine-tuned to support life. This is perfectly clear from our knowledge of the 5% we know. Ours is the only planet is which all the adjustments have been made. We know nothing about adjustments in the unknown 95% of the universe.

For the whole universe to exist all the factors must be fine-tuned, to exquisitely narrow points of accuracy. Earth's life allowing adjustments are a different issue entirely.