Glenn wrote (good to see you back!) about Bert's offhand remark "Assuming
that the variations arise from mutations." as follows:
"And assuming, of course, that we actually have DNA and that genes
actually exist, and that chemistry can actually determine anything useful
and that humans actually exist in a universe that really is here and
assuming that what we see isn't an illusion inside a decorporated brain
which resides inside a fluid-filled jar on a table in a lab on some
planet outside of our universe. One must always be clear about what
assumptions one is using! One can easily use your silly sophistical
technique to doubt anything."
In defense of Bert, who probably ought to have expanded on his one-liner,
I don't see that as a fair rebuttal. AFAIK, the concept that all
variations arise only from mutations, while a plausible mechanism for
evolutionary change, is only that, and a different mechanism is certainly
possible. At least conceptually.
John Burgeson (Burgy)
www.burgy.50megs.com
(science/theology, quantum mechanics, baseball, ethics,
humor, cars, God's intervention into natural causation, etc.)
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