Re: [asa] Amazing Proteins

Hi PvM,

"You could almost think of this but too bad there is no scientific
hypothesis here."

But this is not relevant. For this criticism to be relevant, I would have
to argue that I do indeed have a scientific hypothesis in hand and I don't.
Alternatively, you'd have to argue that everything other than a scientific
hypothesis is nonsense. And it isn't.

We need to remember that scientific hypotheses do not poof into existence,
but instead derive from our perceptions of the world. In fact, writing in
the journal Science in 1977, Nobel Laureate Francois Jacob once offered some
truly profound words along these lines:

"To produce a valuable observation, one has first to have an idea of what to
observe, a preconception of what is possible. Scientific advances often come
from uncovering a hitherto unseen aspect of things as a result, not so much
of using new instruments, but rather of looking at objects from a different
angle. This look is necessarily guided by a certain idea of what this
so-called reality might be. It always involves a certain conception about
the unknown, that is, about what lies beyond that which one has logical or
experimental reasons to believe."

Evolution, as a protein-dependent phenomenon, might just qualify as "a
hitherto unseen aspect of things." But it's much too early to say.

"We have two 'competing options' where one places some
form of intelligence at the initial condition and one which does not
and relies instead fully on known laws of nature. One is observed the
other one isn't."

This is not a meaningful distinction unless one is able to prove that
"intelligence at the initial condition" should necessarily be observable
today.

"As to giving the blind watchmaker a little guidance,
selection and neutrality will do that to you. Neutrality, found in the
degeneracy of the genetic code, is a selectable trait. It is not hard
to envision how such a degenerate code may have evolved under these
selective pressures."

The genetic code is embedded in a protein-dependent reality.

"Yes, we can be all amazed how the outline of the puddle exactly fits
the shape of the puddle. So what..."

At the moment, I simply enjoy marveling at Nature and asking questions I don't
see being asked. The next question to ask would seem obvious - why are
proteins so important to the blind watchmaker?

-Mike

----- Original Message -----
From: "PvM" <pvm.pandas@gmail.com>
To: "Nucacids" <nucacids@wowway.com>
Cc: <asa@calvin.edu>
Sent: Monday, May 05, 2008 1:24 AM
Subject: Re: [asa] Amazing Proteins

> On Sun, May 4, 2008 at 10:22 AM, Nucacids <nucacids@wowway.com> wrote:
>
>
>> Look at it this way. What do we need for the blind watchmaker to exist?
>> A
>> finite, changing world, something that replicates, and imperfect
>> replication. The first and the third are givens due to the nature of
>> creation. The second is more iffy. In living cells, proteins play the
>> key
>> role in replicating things (they replicate the DNA, they divide the cell,
>> and coordinate both). But if we entertain the notion of an RNA world,
>> the
>> proteins are not needed for replication (then again, proteins are not
>> needed
>> for chemical reactions to take place). But what the proteins do is
>> amplify
>> and enhance this replication property, and thus enhance the blind
>> watchmakers' abilities. What's more, the same molecule that enhances
>> replication also opens up a whole vast world of phenotypes not available
>> to
>> the blind watchmaker earlier. You can almost think of proteins are a
>> form
>> of tech material designed to exploit and prop up the blind watchmaker.
>> And
>> maybe even give the blind watchmaker a little guidance. ;)
>
>
> You could almost think of this but too bad there is no scientific
> hypothesis here. We have two 'competing options' where one places some
> form of intelligence at the initial condition and one which does not
> and relies instead fully on known laws of nature. One is observed the
> other one isn't. As to giving the blind watchmaker a little guidance,
> selection and neutrality will do that to you. Neutrality, found in the
> degeneracy of the genetic code, is a selectable trait. It is not hard
> to envision how such a degenerate code may have evolved under these
> selective pressures.
> Yes, we can be all amazed how the outline of the puddle exactly fits
> the shape of the puddle. So what...
>
>
>
> --
> No virus found in this incoming message.
> Checked by AVG.
> Version: 7.5.524 / Virus Database: 269.23.8/1413 - Release Date: 5/3/2008
> 11:22 AM
>
>

To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@calvin.edu with
"unsubscribe asa" (no quotes) as the body of the message.
Received on Tue May 6 22:26:23 2008