I'm sorry, but now I'm completely confused about what it is we're
discussing.
Let me lay out my position (which is not the same as Behe's), in
case it helps:
1) I don't think that the existence of IC systems necessarily
suggests that Extranatural Assembly had to occur.
2) I think that many parts of IC systems arose and were incorporated
via indirect routes. By "indirect routes" I mean that all the parts
of an IC system did not have to become incorporated under selection
for the system's current function as seen today. I certainly don't
discount indirect routes as a means of generating IC systems.
3) I think that the similarities between parts that comprise many
IC systems and other components of the cell which are not
part of the same systems suggests that these IC systems developed
from pre-existing components in the cell.
Behe would like to demonstrate that at least some IC systems could
not have evolved by indirect or gradual routes. If this is the case,
an Extranatural Assembler which made a new species containing
such an IC system would likely have to insert the new components as
a group -- After all, IC systems rely on all their components working
together in order to generate functionality.
What I am asking is that if all the components of IC systems must
be implanted at once in a new organism, is there any reason to
think that these new components would look anything like pre-
existing components in the cell? Would one expect to be able to
trace a component's lineage through common descent? Or would
it be more likely that these new systems would appear as if they
arose from somewhere else entirely? Horizontally transferred
genes often look like this, so it's not as if there isn't a
precedent for such patterns.
>I have no problem contemplating 'sudden hot-swapping' of complex
>components in the mysterious early formative phases of terrestrial
>evolution, such as the Precambrian. Nowadays we hear about genes
>being artificially 'transplanted' among disparate organisms. Why
>couldn't such things occur back when ecosystems were immature and
>(natural) experimentation was rife? 'Early experimentation, later
>standardization'.
I see no reason to think that horizontal transfer didn't occur back
with the earliest forms of life. It certainly happens now and there
is strong evidence that it has happened throughout the history of
life -- possibly before the emergence of eukaryotes.
Regards,
Tim Ikeda
tikeda@sprintmail.hormel.com (despam address before use)