Origin of Life: new commentaries (Introduction)

by David Turell , Sunday, February 06, 2011, 14:22 (5018 days ago) @ xeno6696


> He actually wrote a book about it. (Which I still need to read.) But over the last 3 years of discussion, here's a brief summary: -You need to read it. You left out some things in your analysis of me.
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> Basically he's making a decision right now based on the evidence we have, partially because our society pressures us to make a choice. He infers an intelligence; it's a much more sophisticated watchmaker argument, but it is a good analogy. He however does not posit beyond that inference. He observes that Natural Selection itself doesn't seem to be rapid enough (as did Gould) and believes a UI is the agent of rapid change. He fully acknowledges that none of this is testable and that it is ultimately a position of faith, but, relying on Thomist/Aristotelian logic, believes that reason alone is sufficient to make his claim. He's not a traditional theist, he just takes a philosophical position based on the evidence at hand. -Gould was on to something. Punctuated equilibrium is a better fit for the fossil record than gradual Darwinism. Increasingly complex epigenetic discoveries will allow me to straighten my inference that DNA is coded for increasing complexity and the advancement to the human species. I am a theistic evolutionist. It is in the book.-This is all right on. Since you know me so well, if I lie on your couch, can I bounce some psychological thoughts off you? 
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> He resists making claims against the UI, but I don't see why not... if reason alone is enough... (dhw and I have used David's UI model to talk a bit about this UI's nature.)-This is not true. There is a whole area in the book on theodicy. I present God as a 'tough-love God for good reason. If He were ever-loving,caring and protective, we would never learn to face challenges and develop properly. After all, we have a piece of His brain to work with. We can open up the subject of the problem of evil on this site, and dig deeper, if you wish.