I received this twice with different titles, ie. "macromutation" and
"What are Neo-Darwinian mechanisms? (was Conspiracy? (was DIFFICULTIES...)".
The first message was to me personally and the second to the Reflector. I have
combined the two titles to maintain some continuity in the thread.
There is no need to send me two messages. One to the Reflector with my name
in it is fine.
On Sun, 08 Mar 1998 17:16:01 -0800, Cliff Lundberg wrote:
[...]
>>CL>Why would a macromutation be *in principle* not natural(istic)?
>SJ> 4. While stastically macromutations are possible, they are so rare as
>>to be virtually impossible:
CL>'In principle' means 'logically', or 'by definition'. This is
>different from mere plausibility or implausibility. I think
>it's overstating to say macromutations are in principle
>impossible.
OK. I stand corrected. Macromutations in the "Boeing 747" sense
may be logically possible, just like it is logically possible for a monkey
to type Shakespeare's Hamlet. But in the real world they are virtually
impossible.
>>CL>Is it so hard to imagine a pre-Cambrian epoch, a world without
>>>well-formed predators, in which bizarre macromutations among
>>>simple organisms might be viable?
>SJ>If we want imaginary worlds, then we turn to science *fiction*
>>writers. Science is supposed to be about *testable* theories.
CL>Theories begin with imagination. To me the great puzzle is the
>rapid formation of the organisms that appear in the Cambrian. If
>one is an evolutionist, one must speculate about this process.
>If one is a creationist, there's no problem.
Disagree. I am a "creationist" and I still find it a "problem" how
to imagine how God might have brought about the emergence of
multicellular life in the Cambrian, that is consistent with all
the evidence.
A true theistic science is just as constrained by the evidence as
a non-theistic science.
Steve
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Stephen E (Steve) Jones ,--_|\ sejones@ibm.net
3 Hawker Avenue / Oz \ Steve.Jones@health.wa.gov.au
Warwick 6024 ->*_,--\_/ Phone +61 8 9448 7439
Perth, West Australia v "Test everything." (1Thess 5:21)
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