RE: fine tuning

From: Debbie Mann (deborahjmann@insightbb.com)
Date: Fri Apr 11 2003 - 18:47:28 EDT

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    Re: fine tuningTo Mike Roberts:
    See notes below.
    “All the terrestrial planets, except Earth, show huge multiring scars that
    testify to past cataclysmic impacts. But they also show another strange
    feature that may have resulted from mighty blows: most have spin axies that
    are tilted relative to the ecliptic plane. Uranus, lying on its side, is the
    most dramatic example, but it is not alone. All of the planets, except
    Mercury and Jupiter, have a spin angle of at least 24 degrees. …Venus
    rotates slowly backward.”

    P179 Carbn dioxide acts as a temperature regulator. “When the Earth is
    warmer, due to high atmospheric carbon dioxide, rock weathering reactions
    are faster because of increased rainfall. Thus, carbon dioxide is
    incorporated into limestones in the ocean floor more rapidly. The rate of
    return is unaffected…temp is lowered.” (some paraphrasing.)

    Carbon:nitrogen:phosphorous in all living things is 105:15:1. All life forms
    only use left-handed amino acid isomers. Light rotation cancels when one
    left and one right. DNA is architect, RNA is contractor.

    Fanfare for Earth Harry McSween 1997

    WHy is Earth the only planet without huge cataclysmic scars? Venus is
    farther from Jupiter, our great protector, others are closer. Why do we have
    the tilt that we have and not some dramatic tilt that would make much of the
    earth uninhabitable?

    Is that geology? Or still cosmology?

    I don't know much about glaciers accomplishing divine designs - unless it
    was God's way of keeping man from having to deal with dinosaurs. A thought
    that I find interesting though, is a quote I just copied from a book
    yesterday:

    Chet Raymo, in Skeptics and True Believers, has a discussion with a friend
    in Ireland about science and mythologies relative accounts of a mountain. He
    quotes the friend as saying, "It's easier to believe in fairies under the
    hill than in ice on top."
    Not my favorite book. I am liking Is the Bible True? by Sheler much better.
    Lots of archeology.

    Do glaciers have a fractal nature? Are fractals the doodles of God?

      -----Original Message-----
      From: Michael Roberts [mailto:michael.andrea.r@ukonline.co.uk]
      Sent: Friday, April 11, 2003 1:16 PM
      To: Howard J. Van Till; Debbie Mann; Asa
      Subject: Re: fine tuning

      A serious question. What is the evidence for ID in the geological sphere
    which is of course neither cosmological or biological?

      Those who have read my PSCF article of Dec 1999 will know I want to know
    in what way a glacier is designed. After all glacial scenery is very
    aesthetic whether one goes to the British mountains, the Alps or Yosemite.

      To be flippant . is the chaotic and random nature of glaciers a sign of
    ID?

       Michael

        ----- Original Message -----
        From: Howard J. Van Till
        To: Debbie Mann ; Asa
        Sent: Friday, April 11, 2003 4:46 PM
        Subject: Re: fine tuning

        From: "Debbie Mann" <deborahjmann@insightbb.com>

    > ... There is also the biological argument from the web page. Robert
    Shapiro
    > has several books touting the same thing. The simplest life that we
    know
    > requires a complex series of events each of which should take
    millenia to
    > occur. However, several of them must occur within the same sphere in
    a
    > period of a couple of months. And, they each have different
    biological
    > requirements in order to evolve. That first strand of DNA, or even
    RNA, is a
    > mighty big task.

        I'm not sure what your intended point is here, but what you say does
    help to illustrate the point I made in my earlier post regarding the
    inconsistency of ID's strategies in cosmology and biology.

        Cosmology: The PRESENCE of cosmological fine-tuning is declared to be
    evidence for ID.

        Biology: The LACK of biological fine-tuning is declared to be evidence
    for ID.

        Howard Van Till



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