Re: MD On Faith - Improbability ?

From: Ian Glendinning (ian@psybertron.org)
Date: Thu Oct 14 2004 - 23:29:33 BST

  • Next message: Ian Glendinning: "Re: MD On Faith"

    Scott,
    Natural selection - yes.
    Soleley by chance - not exclusively since humans started agriculture and
    domestication, not to mention any intelligent life started communcation and
    forms of inter-genereation memory other tha DNA.

    I understand evolution, what I didn't understand was that I'd made any
    specific mechanistic point about it.
    As I've said I'm bored with having to constantly debate it against believers
    in purposeful gods, can we move beyond the bio-level - please.

    Ian
    ----- Original Message -----
    From: "Scott Roberts" <jse885@earthlink.net>
    To: <moq_discuss@moq.org>
    Sent: Thursday, October 14, 2004 7:10 PM
    Subject: Re: MD On Faith - Improbability ?

    > Ian,
    >
    > > Sorry Scott, don't understand - what mechanistic point am I adding ?
    > > Ian
    >
    > Earlier in the thread, I made clear that by "Darwinism" I meant the theory
    > that evolution is caused solely through chance and natural selection, as
    > propounded by Dawkins, Monod, etc. If you are using Darwinism in a
    > different way, for example, not being concerned with how change comes
    > about, but only focusing on natural selection, then you are using
    > "Darwinism" differently. Since you haven't stated that you are, I have
    > assumed that you meant "solely through chance and natural selection". That
    > theory was developed in order to fit evolution into a Newtonian, that is,
    > mechanistic universe: the belief that one doesn't need anything other than
    > classical physics as an ultimate explanation for evolution. (Chaos and
    > complexity theory are still mechanistic in this sense.)
    >
    > - Scott
    >
    > >
    > > ----- Original Message -----
    > > From: "Scott Roberts" <jse885@earthlink.net>
    > > To: <moq_discuss@moq.org>
    > > Sent: Wednesday, October 13, 2004 3:30 PM
    > > Subject: Re: MD On Faith - Improbability ?
    > >
    > >
    > > > Ian,
    > > >
    > > > .
    > > > > Why bother ?
    > > > > In order to have a means of understanding, explaining and
    predicting,
    > > and
    > > > > hopefully influencing outcomes.
    > > > > (I'm no defender of science or materialism, in the real world.)
    > > >
    > > > Why bother adding the mechanistic aspect to it, is what I mean.
    > Selection,
    > > > yes, is a help to understanding: those SQ that don't work well die
    out.
    > > But
    > > > chance, no, other than the sense that we don't know all that is
    involved
    > > in
    > > > producing new SQ.
    > > >
    > > > - Scott
    >
    >
    >
    >
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