h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Matter not DNA?

This appears to read energy=higher energy.

Start with energy is an abstract conserved quantity. At the smallest scale it manifests as small vibrating strings. Matter and forces are the manifestation of energy at larger scales.

Noggin

moth
and why would we evolve to the point we have? unless there are jumps from one form to another many trait would give no advantage. if you have a jump from a to c skipping the intermediatary stages it couldn't be natural selection. we must have been either guided or preprogrammed

Which intermediary stages are we supposed to have skipped?

Noggin

On a point of interest, it is rather difficult to see the intermediary stages due to the fossil record. You tend to see "punctuated equilibrium" - long periods of no change followed by a rapid change, then no change for a while again.

most of the coplex organs aren't much good in an undeveloped form. an ear that can't hear would be no advantage. same for an eye. even more so in animals. a bats echo location wouldn't give an advatage till it worked, so did it gain the ability in one generation?

I've just discovered that this thread was started on my birthday. Yay.
It's officially 1 year, 4 months, and one week old. Yay again. That's 69 weeks. Or just 18 1/4 months. Or 483 days. Or 11592 hours.
That's a lot, but not that much.

toxx. A definition is not an assumption. It is a statement about the usage of a word. You may object to my usage if you wish; which in objecting that God is the case, but is not part of the world, is what you are in fact doing. If you prefer substitute another word for world.

If I hadn't been quoting, I would have said universe.

Noggin

The "half an eye" argument.

The idea is that it goes like this:

Species dominates area. The species spreads. As it spreads the species, in its new environment (while still being in the old one) adapts. It may then come back and supercede the original organism.

You never get organs in a half- developed form, that presupposes that evolution "knows" what they are going to turn into.

Notions like work, or advantage, are relative.

Even a light sensitive patch of skin is an advantage if your predators only come out at night. When it senses movement it can warn of danger.

Noggin

Noggin. OK, it is that but words are used in arbitrary ways which amount, if not to assumptions, then to stipulations. Hey, I've forgotten the main point now. Busy and now alchoholic day!

toxx

so if your in a new enviroment, and need, say hearing will one gneration have a drum and not else, then the next bits of the inner ear etc etc
still leaves the problem that it would not be any good till there was some functionality so do you automaticly head in that direction with no payoff? why would that creature be more sucessful in the initial stages?

and if a trait just appears that implies a guiding hand. there hasn't been enough time for utterly random evolution considering the frequncy of mutations

You don't put an inner organ together like a lego set. You've got the ear but I prefer to work with the eye, if that's ok with you.

Imagine it started off as a primitive depth gauge. A couple of light sensitive cells (due to a random mutation), lets a fish- like creature know roughly how far down it is. Then it goes into more developed, more developed. Sound sensitive cells - much like an overdeveloped sense of touch. They're

There's nowhere that evolution is "aiming" for - we humans are not necessarily the epitome of all evolution.

Ach time is too short. Where's Hoo when ya need him .

Roadkill. Noggin beat me to the 'light sensitive patch'. What about the flap of skin that enables gliding down from a tree, then from tree to tree, then assists running up a tree and ends up as a wing?

toxx

No trait can imply a 'guiding hand'. If you disagree, please explain. The rate of mutations must be into billions per day!

toxx

I don't know everything

I sense I am being got at

Yes if a trait just "appears" then that's possibly a guiding hand. But in my experience traits do not just "appear" all of a sudden. They take ages to develop.

von Daniken notwithstanding, not necessarily! God is outside the physical continuum, I believe - God is not at all or corporeal.

azahar, we *have* had both Muslims and Jews (before you came along.)
There was a Muslim here after that, Muzaakboy (waves to him - where did he go?).
Being a Christian is integral to who I am, despite that I'm currently taking a lot of stick for it from *some* here! (Ironically, many Christians would consider some of my views heretical, as Math has pointed out.)

Leave it out, azahar!
As I said just now, there have been both Muslims and Jews (muzaakboy is the Muslim Moth refreed to) and Ste is one of the Jews.