On Fri, 19 Jul 1996 11:47:42 -0400 (EDT), lhaarsma@OPAL.TUFTS.EDU wrote:
LH>Regarding Steve's "strategic" proposal, Paul Durham asked:
>
>PD> Three questions remain... how God intervened, when God
>> intervened, and why was it necessary to do so?
>
>SJ> c) ...why was it necessary to do so?". Because natural processes
>(even with God's immanent providential governance) are inadequate to
>achieve the vertical increment of information necessary to create
>new higher taxa:
LH>I agree that this is a possibility, but,
Good. That's a start! :-)
SJ>"According to Grasse, evolving species acquire a new store of
>genetic information through "a phenomenon whose equivalent cannot be
>seen in the creatures living at the present time (either because it
>is not there or because we are unable to see it)." (Grasse P.P.,
"The Evolution of Living Organisms", 1977, p208...)
LH>Minor objection:
>Gene duplication has been seen recently. Genetic transfer between
>species have been seen recently. Viruses are inserting themselves
>into genes all over the place. Those seem like I agree, that's ONLY
>the first of several , but I just can't buy that "a phenomenon
>whose equivalent canNOT be seen ... at the present time" phrase.
>It's claiming too much.
None of this is the even the "first steps...towards new genetic
information", any more than the proverbial monkey at a typewriter can
produce a work of Shakespeare, or a tornado in a junkyard can
produce a 747. Dean Kenyon (once a leading proponent of biochemical
predestination) writes:
"As we observe how living things function, we are impressed by the
high levels of complexity and organization that are necessary. The
organization in a living creature is an expression of the information
carried in the genetic material of a cell as it directs the building
of its parts. This process is similar to the building of a house
according to an architect's plan, or the writing of a book. In 1967,
scientist Michael Polanyi said: `A book or any other object bearing
a pattern that communicates information is essentially irreducible to
physics and chemistry...We must refuse to regard the pattern by which
the DNA spreads information as part of its chemical properties.'
(Polanyi M., "Life Transcending Physics and Chemistry", Chemical &
Engineering News, August 21, 1967, p62). Today this understanding,
now shared by many scientists, can be formalized in the following
broad generalization about the behavior of matter and energy:
"INFORMATION NEVER ARISES FROM PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL
CAUSES ALONE." This is the same kind of formalized description of
the behavior of matter and energy as are the laws of thermodynamics-a
broad generalization about what matter and energy will or (in this
case) won't do. Moreover, it is subject to test in an identical
manner. The second law of thermodynamics could be overturned by the
repeated observation of exceptions to the rule. Likewise, one
repeatedly confirmed observation of physical or chemical processes
giving rise to information would disprove this generalization.
Presently, however, there are many good reasons to believe this
generalization. First, we know of no exceptions to it. Second,
accepted concepts from information theory seem to strengthen this
conclusion. We know that energy flowing through some systems may
produce highly ordered patterns. Darwinists have pointed to these
patterns as suggestive of how spontaneous generation may have
occurred. But informational sequences are different. They manifest
an irregular order; reflecting the constraints of a coded message.
Confusing the two ideas, order and information, has led many to
attribute properties to brute matter that it does not possess."
(Davis P. & Kenyon D.H., "Of Pandas and People: The Central Question
of Biological Origins", Foundation for Thought and Ethics:
Richardson TX, Second Edition, 1993, pp55-56. My emphasis).
God bless.
Steve
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