RE: Define God (Full Version)

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tazzygirl -> RE: Define God (8/6/2009 10:30:53 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: intenze

I cannot believe evolution and God are being drawn in together. They are not mutally exclusive.  Evolution and fundamentalism are.  Show me a bunny fossil from the Precambrian age and I will dissolve my belief in evolution and renew my faith in the exact wording of the Bible, whatever the hell that is.


Um... i said the bible is a great story with some factual elements... not what i would call a history book.. gesh




Rule -> RE: Define God (8/6/2009 10:31:40 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: lynk09
he was simply talking about an argument between mathematicians regarding how long it should take for the eye to evolve.

What eye? Some bacteria have light sensitive spots; do you mean that eye? Or the eye of a slug? Or that of a mollusc? Or that of a spider? Or that of an octopus? Or that of a fly?
Evolving eyes is easy - and as all evolution processes, it is exponential.

quote:

ORIGINAL: lynk09
You can see for yourself here:
http://books.google.com/books?id=pbZT5wV_6awC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Darwin%27s+Black+Box&ei=1hB7StyXD6G8zgS6q5m8DA#v=onepage&q=eye&f=false

Could you quote the relevant excerpt please?




lynk09 -> RE: Define God (8/6/2009 10:32:49 AM)

quote:


page 29 isnt in your link


If you scroll down you 'll see it. Pun intended.

quote:


"The eye is a famous example of a supposedly irreducibly complex structure, due to its many elaborate and interlocking parts, seemingly all dependent upon one another. It is frequently cited by intelligent design and creationism advocates as an example of irreducible complexity. Behe used the "development of the eye problem" as evidence for intelligent design in Darwin's Black Box. Although Behe acknowledged that the evolution of the larger anatomical features of the eye have been well-explained, he claimed that the complexity of the minute biochemical reactions required at a molecular level for light sensitivity still defies explanation. Creationist Jonathan Sarfati has described the eye as evolutionary biologists' "greatest challenge as an example of superb 'irreducible complexity' in God's creation", specifically pointing to the supposed "vast complexity" required for transparency."


You do realize though, that that is not referring to the eye itself, but to the biochemistry of light sensitivity that lead to the development of the first proto-eye, the 11-cis-retinal, which he does say is irreducibly complex. As the quote says:

"Behe acknowledged that the evolution of the larger anatomical features of the eye have been well-explained"

The quote completely contradicts your first claim.






NihilusZero -> RE: Define God (8/6/2009 10:36:12 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: lynk09

No, he was simply talking about an argument between mathematicians regarding how long it should take for the eye to evolve. It says nothing about the eye being irreducibly complex, nor was Behe making any argument regarding the eye.

So...he just included that discussion as a humorous anecdote? It had nothing to do with using it as a reliable example of why Darwinian evolution is potentially flawed? Sure. I'll just agree that Behe needed just a few extra characters in his book to make it the appropriate length.


So, while we're still discussing the religious equivalent of whether Hank Aaron is the best non-steroidal home run hitter of all time, do you have anything of more substance to argue against it other than:

"Well, on Friday, May 17, 1968 he went 0 for 5 against a pitcher with a lifetime ERA of nearly 4. That strikes me as a good reason to discount your theory." ?




willbeurdaddy -> RE: Define God (8/6/2009 10:37:00 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: lynk09

quote:


page 29 isnt in your link


If you scroll down you 'll see it. Pun intended.

quote:


"The eye is a famous example of a supposedly irreducibly complex structure, due to its many elaborate and interlocking parts, seemingly all dependent upon one another. It is frequently cited by intelligent design and creationism advocates as an example of irreducible complexity. Behe used the "development of the eye problem" as evidence for intelligent design in Darwin's Black Box. Although Behe acknowledged that the evolution of the larger anatomical features of the eye have been well-explained, he claimed that the complexity of the minute biochemical reactions required at a molecular level for light sensitivity still defies explanation. Creationist Jonathan Sarfati has described the eye as evolutionary biologists' "greatest challenge as an example of superb 'irreducible complexity' in God's creation", specifically pointing to the supposed "vast complexity" required for transparency."


You do realize though, that that is not referring to the eye itself, but to the biochemistry of light sensitivity that lead to the development of the first proto-eye, the 11-cis-retinal, which he does say is irreducibly complex. As the quote says:

"Behe acknowledged that the evolution of the larger anatomical features of the eye have been well-explained"

The quote completely contradicts your first claim.





Stop playing semantic games. It is the FUNCTION of the eye and VISION that is at the center of his claims. That encompasses all of its anatomical and chemical features. It doesnt matter if he admits SOME of them could have evolved, he argued that SOME of them COULDNT have evolved, and he is wrong.




lynk09 -> RE: Define God (8/6/2009 10:37:08 AM)

[quote
Could you quote the relevant excerpt please?



quote:


A mathematician who claimed that there was insufficient time for the number of mutations apparently needed to make an eye was told by the biologists that his figures must be wrong.


Thats it. No mention of the eye being irreducibly complex.




Rule -> RE: Define God (8/6/2009 10:39:02 AM)

The mathematician was an idiot.




lynk09 -> RE: Define God (8/6/2009 10:39:15 AM)

quote:


Stop playing semantic games. It is the FUNCTION of the eye and VISION that is at the center of his claims. That encompasses all of its anatomical and chemical features. It doesnt matter if he admits SOME of them could have evolved, he argued that SOME of them COULDNT have evolved, and he is wrong.


No, his claim was that the biochemistry of light sensitivity is irreducibly complex. As the quote says, Behe admits that all anatomical features of the eyes, proto-eyes, camera eyes, etc, evolved.

In other words, his focus is on the molecular pathway that makes light sensitivity possible.




NihilusZero -> RE: Define God (8/6/2009 10:42:23 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: lynk09

In other words, his focus is on the molecular pathway that makes light sensitivity possible.

That's funny. He doesn't say "molecular pathway" or "light sensitivity" anywhere on that page...




willbeurdaddy -> RE: Define God (8/6/2009 10:43:56 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: lynk09

[quote
Could you quote the relevant excerpt please?



quote:


A mathematician who claimed that there was insufficient time for the number of mutations apparently needed to make an eye was told by the biologists that his figures must be wrong.


Thats it. No mention of the eye being irreducibly complex.



LMAO that is the entire basis for IC being a counterexample to evolution (incremental change through natural selection, which is achieved through genetic changes).

"The term "irreducible complexity" was originally defined by Behe as:

A single system which is composed of several interacting parts that contribute to the basic function, and where the removal of any one of the parts causes the system to effectively cease functioning. (Darwin's Black Box p39 in the 2006 edition)

Supporters of intelligent design use this term to refer to biological systems and organs that they believe could not have come about by any series of small changes. They argue that anything less than the complete form of such a system or organ would not work at all, or would in fact be a detriment to the organism, and would therefore never survive the process of natural selection.




Rule -> RE: Define God (8/6/2009 10:44:19 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: lynk09
his claim was that the biochemistry of light sensitivity is irreducibly complex.

In biology nothing is irreducibly complex.




NihilusZero -> RE: Define God (8/6/2009 10:44:21 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Rule

The mathematician was an idiot.

Or had an ulterior motive...

I guess you're just being generous. [:)]




lynk09 -> RE: Define God (8/6/2009 10:45:13 AM)

quote:


That's funny. He doesn't say "molecular pathway" or "light sensitivity" anywhere on that page...



He starts the discussion on page 18. The molecular pathway is called the 11-cis-retinal. The light sensitive spot that got the whole eye thing going needs this machinery to work.




NihilusZero -> RE: Define God (8/6/2009 10:45:29 AM)

*sigh*

At the rate of posting here my well-researched Hank Aaron analogy is gonna get lost in the whirlwind.

*sniff*

[&o]




lynk09 -> RE: Define God (8/6/2009 10:48:02 AM)

quote:


Supporters of intelligent design use this term to refer to biological systems and organs that they believe could not have come about by any series of small changes. They argue that anything less than the complete form of such a system or organ would not work at all, or would in fact be a detriment to the organism, and would therefore never survive the process of natural selection.



You got that from Wikipedia, not Behe. Behe only talked about molecular systems. He never talked about organs as examples of irrducibly complex systems. He did that for a reason, it's because evolution of organs depends on evolution of molecular systems.




FullCircle -> RE: Define God (8/6/2009 10:48:20 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: willbeurdaddy
Exactly. Far from a straw man, it is the crux of the matter. ID's claim is that evolution couldnt happen in the time frame of the existence of the earth because "random mutations" are too low probability an event.

Well they say swine flu is going to mutate and kill us all in under a year so now I don't know who to believe.[8|].
Mutations may occur quite often but because they don't suit the environment they don't have enough longevity to be recognised as distinct differences, only when you look at the process over a long period of time can you recognise such differences and how the changes in environment favoured one mutation over another.

What makes sense for me is to think a giraffe developed a long neck to reach a tall tree; in a kind of process of elimination meaning those with the shorter necks would have to just take their chances with the other animals and eat the short trees. Thus they would be competing with more creatures for food and some would naturally die out. Those with the longer necks would go on to breed with others in a kind of search for long neckedness. Having a long neck isn't my idea of intelligent design it makes you very vulnerable and given the option I’d create giraffes with wings rather than making the neck so ridiculously long. Intelligent design would be a system where a creature didn't need such a long neck to reach a tall tree. First god makes those damn giraffes have longer necks but then he also keeps making those dammed trees they eat taller and taller, seems to me intelligent design would lead to a far better solution such as each creature only having one food source that didn't kill them?

The other problem with intelligent design is that it just doesn’t work in the same way natural selection does i.e. do you favour the prey or the predator? Improving the design of one means an imbalance that must be addressed in the design of the other. Why would a designer even give one set of animals an unfair advantage over another? You see the only way forward is for the development of animals to happen by chance without design. It is the only way that would ensure all creatures didn’t instantly die out in terms of predators having an unfair advantage over the prey and then eating them all and eventually dying out through starvation. No one can decide such numbers and who should and shouldn’t die, the process has to be random and balanced not driven through sentient design choice.

And that is my unrelated opinion about that.[:D]




lynk09 -> RE: Define God (8/6/2009 10:51:59 AM)

quote:


The other problem with intelligent design is that it just doesn’t work in the same way natural selection does i.e. do you favour the prey or the predator? Improving the design of one means an imbalance that must be addressed in the design of the other. Why would a designer even give one set of animals an unfair advantage over another? You see the only way forward is for the development of animals to happen by chance without design. It is the only way that would ensure all creatures didn’t instantly die out in terms of predators having an unfair advantage over the prey and then eating them all and eventually dying out through starvation. No one can decide such numbers and who should and shouldn’t die, the process has to be random and balanced not driven through sentient design choice.



I don't think it was a coincidence that the mammalian lineage that lead to humans is not only extremely ancient (even pre-dinosaur) but that it was essentially unaffected by such catastrophies as the K-T meteor crash that killed the dinosaurs.




Rule -> RE: Define God (8/6/2009 10:54:43 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: lynk09
The molecular pathway is called the 11-cis-retinal. The light sensitive spot that got the whole eye thing going needs this machinery to work.

No, it does not. (Heck, it has been six years since I extensively studied this pathway and wrote a chapter about it. Still have to finish that book.)

I haven't studied the evolution of this pathway, but I know plenty about evolution and biochemical evolution.




willbeurdaddy -> RE: Define God (8/6/2009 10:56:44 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: lynk09

quote:


Supporters of intelligent design use this term to refer to biological systems and organs that they believe could not have come about by any series of small changes. They argue that anything less than the complete form of such a system or organ would not work at all, or would in fact be a detriment to the organism, and would therefore never survive the process of natural selection.



You got that from Wikipedia, not Behe. Behe only talked about molecular systems. He never talked about organs as examples of irrducibly complex systems. He did that for a reason, it's because evolution of organs depends on evolution of molecular systems.



ad hominen and strawman, all wrapped up in one neat package

The satement is correct regardless of the source...if it isnt then dispute it, AND it clearly isnt attributed to Behe but ID supporters in general.




lynk09 -> RE: Define God (8/6/2009 10:58:45 AM)

quote:


The satement is correct regardless of the source...if it isnt then dispute it, AND it clearly isnt attributed to Behe but ID supporters in general.


I already disputed it (and refuted it), Behe deliberately did not talk about organs because he accepts that organs evolved (he accepts universal common descent). He only talked about important molecular systems. Find me a single quote where Behe claims that any organ is irreducibly complex.




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