Tired of the Nonsense wrote:
Volbrigade wrote:
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Replying to post 45 by Tired of the Nonsense]
Volbrigade wrote:
My point is, that when you start attributing such things as the development of major organ systems, and light sensitive cells turning into the eyes of eagles, and all the rest of it, to some mindless, random writhing of energy, carving paths - not of destruction, but creation! And not just of simple patterns, but detailed, interconnected, interwoven design -- as it makes its inexorable cascade "down the hillside";
when you do that, you have gone beyond the frontier of "everything that occurs does so for entirely natural reasons." You have entered territory that is at least "psuedo" or "quasi" or "proto" mystical. At least.
IMHO.
So, in your HO, light sensitive cells which serve to give a specific beastie a survival edge over its competitors, a competitive edge which would inevitably allowed it to successfully survive and out reproduce beasties which did not have this particular advantage, would NOT necessarily tend to select for offspring which had this same advantage to an even greater degree over time? A process known as natural selection, the concept of which you apparently consider to be mystical in nature? Have you ever HAD any classes in biology?
Nope. Never been to school at all. They make you read and stuff there -- listen to boring lectures and suchlike. If you want a REAL education, try growing up in a brothel, like I did.
Because if you have, I guarantee you that the subject of natural selection has come up.
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Oh! I know about that. One of the ladies had an interest in it, and she used to tell me bedtime stories.
Now -- these "light sensitive cells" -- that's a "genetic mutation" right? An alteration of the DNA code, through a "copying error", often produced by radiation, or even just mechanical breakdowns in the cell?
So, what you're telling me is that Energy -- which is not a "god", because it's mindless and random (but certainly tireless and industrious, I think we can agree) -- took advantage of one of these copying errors, which was beneficial -- though the vast numbers of them are either neutral (so far as we can tell, given our limited time range to view them), or, obviously, harmful -- leading to diseases and malformation and so forth (I refer you to your earlier picture).
That occurred in a worm. But that worm's descendants just kept on getting these copying errors, which just kept on producing improvements. Not just to its light sensitive cells; but Energy was WAY more ambitious than that (except it wasn't, of course -- if it was ambitious, or had any other quality besides mindless randomness, it would be a "god" -- right?), as it "flowed down the hillside". It carved nervous and skeletal and circulatory and respiratory systems; all by random, mindless processes. Mistake by fortuitous mistake.
No. Nothing mystical there, my friend.
No superstitious assigning of qualities to "Energy" that sure seem a little...
Godlike.
It's not nearly as magical and mystical, but it may interest you to know that the only OBSERVED natural selection involves a
selecting out of existing genetic information -- not the magical mystical creation of new information.
For instance, a genetically diverse population, driven by environmental pressure, will tend to select for specific traits, at the expense of diversity.
For instance, let's take a genetically diverse mid-brown population of humans, containing the information for a number of skin tones within its genome -- from "lily white" to ebony.
And let's say that circumstances -- oh, I don't know; a political/cultural refugee type of situation -- necessitate that population flee to sub-Sharan Africa. There, it quickly becomes apparent that offspring blessed with a genetically high melanin content, and thus darker skin, fare far better than those with lighter shades, who are susceptible to burns and skin cancers under the blazing equatorial sun. This does not go unnoticed, of course, and within a remarkably few generations, sexual selection has made the production of light skinned babies nil; and produced a less genetically diverse population, all ebony, in which the gene for light skin has been "edited out".
Thats what my friend, the lady at the brothel, told me anyway.
It's not as "sexy" as your version, I'll admit. That "microbes became men" thing -- it's like Harry Potter or something!
Tired of the Nonsense wrote:
I will also admit to having considerable disdain for Donald Trump...
Volbrigade wrote:
While remaining silent in regard to the rest?
No, I actually included the rest of the remark.
Included. But remained silent with regard to.
"His election has convinced me that there still remain far too many individuals who have managed to retain a view of reality which is based entirely on make believe and ignorance."
Volbrigade wrote:
That, sadly, is a quality in abundance on both sides in the recent election.
FWIW, here is the preamble to my commentary, from yesterday, made on a site where the mentality that led to his election is well represented (surprisingly, I am not the most popular poster there Cool ):
"Well boys, you did it.
You took your lifelong immersion in the culture of liberal relativism; and your lack of faith, or even interest, in your Creator, and His written message system to us; and you managed to succeed in getting the biggest embarrassment to the proud heritage of this country ever to run for its highest office, officially perched there.
Quite an accomplishment..."
Black clouds often hide silver linings. The assumption that many liberals now hold is that the Trump administration will prove to be such an obvious and monumental disaster that conservatism will be indelibly tarnished for generations to come. But I am sure many conservatives have felt the same way about liberal administrations in the past.
So Trump's blunders will lead to liberal ascendency once again?
That would be no surprise. History certainly has a cyclical quality.
As a Christian, I believe it is also linear, and rushing to a fore-written conclusion. Not as a stream down a rock; more like water blasting out of a fire hose. And Trump's victory is a part of that process -- in precisely what way, remains to be seen.
"When you see the fig tree putting forth its leaves..."
Another discussion for another time, perhaps.