The Design of Life

by Deputy Dog 49 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  Deputy Dog

  From: http://www.thedesignoflife.net

  Anyone seen this yet?

  The cover of

  The Design of Life features an artist’s portrayal of human brain circuitry as it might appear if magnified many thousands of times. The portrayal illustrates an intriguing discussion of the human brain in Chapter One, quoted here in part: During the first eighteen months from conception, the brain’s neurons are formed, deployed, and connected in a tsunami of activity, at the rate of 250,000 per minute , until 100 billion neurons are arrayed in a powerful, organized matrix. Each neuron may have tens of thousands of finger-like appendages, or dendrites, which connect with other neurons and dendrites in a bafflingly complex circuitry. No two neurons are exactly the same, with the result that the circuitry of each brain is unique. That circuitry is more complex than all the telephone circuitry on the face of the earth. Three decades ago science-writer Isaac Asimov was so impressed with the densely organized complexity of the human brain that he wrote: “In Man is a three-pound brain, which, as far as we know, is the most complex and orderly arrangement of matter in the universe.”
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  AlmostAtheist

  >> Each neuron may have tens of thousands of finger-like appendages, or dendrites, which connect with other neurons and dendrites in a bafflingly complex circuitry.

  I read this information before, but it was only recently. I wish discussions of the brain would make that point more clearly. Growing up and reading about brain neurons and "dendrites", I got the impression that there were several dendrites per cell -- you know, like 20, or maybe even 100. All the pictures are portrayed that way.

  Then to find out there are THOUSANDS of connections from each cell to other cells... wow.

  Needless to say, I don't buy the complex=intelligently-designed argument, but the brain IS most certainly complex. Thanks for bringing this up!

  Dave
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  serotonin_wraith

  Ah the classic 'it's complex so it was designed' kind of thinking.

  People forget a 'designer' would have to be even more complex, and don't realize that complexity can come about with a slow build up of smaller fragments over millions of years.
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  Satanus

  Yes, there is almost an explosion of numbers of neurons, initially, way more than the body needs. Those that connect up stay, those that don't, die off. This initial explosion in numbers is a bit like the appearance of species. During one or two of the early epoch's, the numbers of the species exploded. Then, there were dramatic die offs. Die offs continued down to the last epoch, where only around 1% of the species that ever existed, exist. This initial explosion and subsequent die off seems like a recurring pattern. Is it by design? If so, why?
  
  S
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  Deputy Dog

  Dave

  It should be a good book, I'm looking forward to reading it!
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  Deputy Dog

  s-w

  People forget a 'designer' would have to be even more complex,

  I don;t think most forget. If the 'designer' existed before time (the big bang), why would that be a problem?
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  serotonin_wraith

  If a complex designer existed before this universe came to be, one could still ask what made the designer. If it didn't exist before, then did it appear at the same time as our universe? That would be an instant complex thing just appearing from nothing. With our universe, we can see that the stars, planets and then quite possibly life came about over a long process originating from just two gases. That slow build up makes more sense than something just being complex from the get go without an explanation of how it came to be.
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  funkyderek

  Written by Dembski, recommended by Behe. Quelle surprise!

  No doubt this book will sell well in the Bible belt and among the scattered creationists who live elsewhere, but will have no significant impact in the real world. Likely, it will contain one or more descriptions of an organ (or whole organism, or biological process) for which the authors can find no possible precursors, and they will simply declare it to be "intelligently designed". This is, after all, what they have done before, with eyes, wings, bacterial flagella etc. until each of these claims of irreducible complexity was in turn thoroughly discredited.

  Deputy Dog:

  I don;t think most forget. If the 'designer' existed before time (the big bang), why would that be a problem?

  So you're saying that "before time" (whatever that may mean) it's possible for extremely complex intelligent entities to exist without being designed, but once time exists, such entities can't exist without a designer? That seems to be almost the opposite of what reason and the available evidence tells us. What we observe in nature is that any intelligence capable of design can arise only through a long process of gradual evolution - something that requires time.
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  Deputy Dog

  s_w

  If a complex designer existed before this universe came to be, one could still ask what made the designer.

  I suppose, one could ask.

  You may want to ask first if time existed before this universe came to be. You also may want to ask if natural law existed before this universe came to be.
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  Deputy Dog

  Funky

  What we observe in nature is that any intelligence capable of design can arise only through a long process of gradual evolution - something that requires time.

  And now you see your own problem. The rules don't apply in this context. Was there "Time" before the universe? Does it exist outside of the universe.