"Play Denton's directed "tape of life" and something very much like
us is sure to arrive."
Pim asked:
"Is this what Denton argues ? A system 'directional due to the properties
of atoms etc" can still be unpredictable. Just not necessarily totally
random but restricted to the laws of physics."
Yes, that's what he argues. His rationale is modest. It is presented as a
plausible extrapolation from the more familiar appeal to what are often
called 'anthropic cosmological concidences' that make carbon-based life
possible in the first place. One representative quotation:
"And if the origin of life, that is the transition from chemistry to the
cell (biochemical evolution) is programmed into the laws of nature, then
why not also the transition from cell to man (biological evolution) as
well. The deduction seems eminently plausible" p. 271.
Howard Van Till