RE: What is intellegent but neither supernatural nor human

Berger, Dan (bergerd@bluffton.edu)
Wed, 7 Jan 1998 12:58:54 -0500

Behe gives a possible answer: can we imagine a life-form which doesn't require
"irreducibly complex" processes to exist? This form could then be the source
of "irreducibly complex" or "designed" life. The example Behe gives (energy
beings) is not very convincing, but then panspermia may not be needed.

Has anyone else read Cairns-Smith's "Seven Clues to the Origin of Life"? He
makes a reasonable (though of course not foolproof) case for a form of life
which (a) is not irreducibly complex and (b) would reasonably lead to the
current, "irreducibly complex," organic-chemical model. The book is still in
print and reasonably-priced.

Daniel J. Berger | PH: (419) 358-3379
Associate Professor of Chemistry | FAX:(419) 358-3323
Bluffton College | bergerd@bluffton.edu
Bluffton OH 45817-1196 | http://cs.bluffton.edu/~berger/
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Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent. -- Salvor Hardin