New Miscellany 2: intelligence, savannah, the Cambrian (General)

by dhw, Wednesday, March 26, 2025, 12:18 (9 days ago) @ David Turell

Bacteria and the intelligent cell

DAVID: When in an organism, cells function differently than free-living cells. Yes, environmental change forces responses.

dhw: All agreed. This simply means that if individual cells are intelligent, they will use their intelligence in different ways when they form a community. They are still intelligent, and if they are, what makes you so certain that other cell communities, whose behaviour also appears to be intelligent, cannot possibly BE intelligent?

DAVID: All the biochemical reactions I see are automatic and designed that way.

So back we go: single-cell bacteria are autonomously intelligent, they use their intelligence in different ways when they form communities, but other single cells are automatons that have been preprogrammed or dabbled with, although your God coded them "with the equivalent of a brain that processes all the information, decides what to do with it, and passes its instructions on to the rest of the community?" Your usual volte-face, but I hadn’t expected it to be quite so immediate!

New antibiotics from frogs

DAVID: new potent antibiotics are desperately needed. That antibiotics are processed by all animals is obvious. It is part of the dog-eat-dog world.

Your comment ties in neatly with the whole concept of evolution as a free-for-all. You are willing to accept that bacteria have their own autonomous form of intelligence, but you refuse to believe that the cell communities which fight them may also have autonomy. And the battle for survival is not confined to competition between organisms; it also encompasses the battle between organisms and environmental conditions. Yesterday’s article concerning the rise and fall of oxygen levels illustrated the need not just for minor adaptations but also for changes directly leading to new species. This is the essence of Shapiro’s theory of evolution: “cells are built to evolve; they have the ability to alter their hereditary characteristics rapidly….Evolutionary novelty arises….as a result of cellular self-modification…” Only a theory, of course, but it makes perfect sense. And it should present no problem for a theist, since it allows for God as the designer of the autonomously intelligent cell.

The savannah theory

DAVID: With the new findings the savannah theory has been diluted from primary importance.

dhw: How many more times? The new findings tell us nothing about where, when or why our ancestors first descended from the trees. Who decides what is of “primary” or “secondary” importance? Do you think the savannah theory is of secondary importance compared to your belief that one fine day your God popped in to operate on the legs and pelvises of a group or groups of tree-dwellers?

DAVID: God did it is just as valid as the savannah theory.

So has your God theory been “diluted” by the new findings?

The Cambrian

Oxygen levels rising and plunging:

https://www.sciencealert.com/extreme-feast-and-famine-cycle-sparked-explosion-of-life-o...
QUOTES: "Imagine a world where the oxygen you need changes dramatically between day and night."

"Now, picture early animals trying to survive in such an extreme environment. This was the reality for early animal life in oceans and seas about half a billion years ago. This was also the time when animal diversity boomed, in what is known as the "Cambrian explosion".

"Daily swings in oxygen levels on the shallow seafloor may have stressed early animals (the ancestors of all animal life today), pushing them to adapt in ways that fuelled diversification."

DAVID: for once, a logical set of reasons for developing early life forms. Today's extremophiles show how they modify to handle stressful environments.

dhw: […] This is an explanation of the Cambrian Explosion! And it’s good to see that you accept not only the ability of extremophiles to modify themselves, but also that of the ancestors of all animal life today, which would include ourselves. The changes enabling these life forms to survive would have had to be very rapid, or they could not have survived. So for once you now you have “a logical set of reasons” for the Cambrian Explosion.

DAVID: Diurnal stress is exactly the story's point! It is no explanation for all the
Cambrian forms with eyes, brains, limbs, etc. from no precursors.

The authors say that diurnal stress IS an explanation for the Cambrian Explosion! Read the quotes! You simply disagree with them, although you thought you were agreeing with them.