>LH> Even more specifically, if scientific research eventually shows that
> > "naturalistic" abiogenesis could NOT have succeeded on early earth, it
> > would (IMO) be "science" to believe that life began by
> > "Intelligent-Design-AND-ASSEMBLY-of-certain-key-components." (*)
AC> Just how would you envision scientists reaching the conclusion that
> "abiogenesis could NOT have succeeded on earth".
Well --- keep in mind I'm speculating here --- it seems to me that there
are a large but FINITE number of chemical reactions which could have
occurred on the early earth. They can be checked out systematically. So
I might IMAGINE that _Nature_ and _Science_ would eventually stop
publishing articles from abiogenesis researchers who've discovered new
reactions (something which they currently are doing on a fairly regular
basis).
(I'd like to toss in a minor complaint here, directed at no one in
particular. After a decade of reading books and articles on creation and
evolution, I somehow gained the impression, from many authors, that every
abiogenesis experiment since the 1950's had been a bust and that no
progress at all had been made. Perhaps that's mostly my fault. But now
that I've started skimming _Nature_ and _Science_ regularly, I've gained a
somewhat different impression of the field.)
AC> Just how would you envision scientists reaching the conclusion that
> "abiogenesis could NOT have succeeded on earth". Do you think more evidence
> than they have now would convince them? Never! because their belief in
> abiogenesis flies in the face of every tenet of logic. It is a religious
> persuasion that defies logic. It is an established fact for those adhering
> to the religion of Naturalism. It is established by fiat (but not Fiat)
> and therefore cannot be falsified.
Well, you're right. A commitment to Naturalism cannot be falsified.
But it can be backed into a corner. Confronted with enough of the right
kind of data, it could be forced into choosing one of the following:
--An immensely improbable coincidence occurred.
--Some natural mechanism which no one has yet seen hints of occurred.
--Extra-terrestrials.
--Supernatural.
That is how I would envision scientists changing their minds.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"There's nothing more exciting than science. You get |
all the fun of sitting still, being quiet, writing | Loren Haarsma
down numbers, paying attention. Science has it all!" | lhaarsma@opal.tufts.edu
--Principal Skinner (_The_Simpsons_) |