Rick Horton Posted February 14, 2013 Posted February 14, 2013 This is an interesting video. I'm wondering what your thoughts are. I'm still parsing through mine. This video discusses probabilities of life happening randomly, and I'm not sure how or if it's using some sort of misdirection or distraction that's easy to dismiss, so I wanted you guys to watch it, too, and tell me if I'm missing something. It seems to make a strong case.
TheRobin Posted February 14, 2013 Posted February 14, 2013 haven't watched further than 15 mins: in regards to the idea that DNA conatains information: interstingly enough I just stumbled upon this one a few hours before (around 8 mins iirc a caller calls in with the same "justification")Aside from that, the probability math doesn't really mean much. If one wants to claim that the probability is impossibly low, then one'd need also a precise number of how many tries per second there are to form those proteins (else it's just a big number without any meaning in terms of claiming any likelyhood of proteins forming. Plus who sais it's all pure random anyway, I'm not sure that's even true)I think if one would want to go the probability-route, then rather say how unlikely it is that the laws of physics are exactly as they are and take the "impossibility"-claim from there. Of course there's nothing to compare so you can't really make any claims about possibility there, but just the sheer idea that matter behaves exactly like it does and not a slight bit different is staggering in and of itself.Furthermore I don't see any possibility to ever arrive at a final explanation as to why matter would behave the way it does. But that still doesn't mean that claims of deities hold any truth. Because if an explanation is impossible and thus unknowable then any knowledge-claims about a (final) explanation is also unknowable (and that obviously includes any claims of deities).Btw this is not the same as to say things can't be known or empirical facts can't be known or that reason doesn't hold or anything like that (as reason and empirics is used to make the claim in the first place anyway )
Rick Horton Posted February 15, 2013 Author Posted February 15, 2013 haven't watched further than 15 mins: in regards to the idea that DNA conatains information: interstingly enough I just stumbled upon this one a few hours before (around 8 mins iirc a caller calls in with the same "justification")Aside from that, the probability math doesn't really mean much. If one wants to claim that the probability is impossibly low, then one'd need also a precise number of how many tries per second there are to form those proteins (else it's just a big number without any meaning in terms of claiming any likelyhood of proteins forming. Plus who sais it's all pure random anyway, I'm not sure that's even true)I think if one would want to go the probability-route, then rather say how unlikely it is that the laws of physics are exactly as they are and take the "impossibility"-claim from there. Of course there's nothing to compare so you can't really make any claims about possibility there, but just the sheer idea that matter behaves exactly like it does and not a slight bit different is staggering in and of itself.Furthermore I don't see any possibility to ever arrive at a final explanation as to why matter would behave the way it does. But that still doesn't mean that claims of deities hold any truth. Because if an explanation is impossible and thus unknowable then any knowledge-claims about a (final) explanation is also unknowable (and that obviously includes any claims of deities).Btw this is not the same as to say things can't be known or empirical facts can't be known or that reason doesn't hold or anything like that (as reason and empirics is used to make the claim in the first place anyway ) Thanks. I agree with all of what you said. I had the same thoughts about frequency, which they completely left out. Speed of attempts is REALLY important, and they never estimate the speed of attempts, the number of attempts, and the number of failed attempts within the speed of attempts. I'm "assuming" the speed things happen are intense and, also, this seems to be another area where creationists can jump in while we still don't have the known.... Then they'll move onto other things and unknowns when science figures this out...
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