Posts by cofty

405

Origin of Life

by cofty in

in recent years significant progress has been made in solving the question of how life originated on our planet.. how do you think theists will respond when it finally happens?

as a former christian i know my reaction would have been something like "well that just goes to show that it takes intelligent life to make life", but for two reasons that defense doesn't work.. firstly it would prove that life is not an ethereal force that originates with god.

there is no 'ghost in the machine', no elan vital.

cofty

Dawkins gene hypothesis for the origin of life has the most evidence at the moment - Ruby

Dawkins has no such hypothesis. The origin of genetic material is part of the process that occurred in hydrothermal vents.

The soul can't be a problem to science because science is the quest for material properties and the soul is immaterial. But we can find material interactions with the soul. - John_mann

No you can't find material interactions with the soul. You just made that up. Whether or not the "soul" interacts with material objects is 100% a question for science.

The soul is a problem of philosophy.

You still have to show why the soul belongs to the world philosophy rather than the world of make-believe.

The soul have functions without organs

What would you evidence be for that?

Are you conflating "soul" with consciousness? You still have all your work to do to show there are no naturalistic explanations for Beethoven's 9th symphony before you get to posit supernatural ones.

Occam's Razor.

405

Origin of Life

by cofty in

in recent years significant progress has been made in solving the question of how life originated on our planet.. how do you think theists will respond when it finally happens?

as a former christian i know my reaction would have been something like "well that just goes to show that it takes intelligent life to make life", but for two reasons that defense doesn't work.. firstly it would prove that life is not an ethereal force that originates with god.

there is no 'ghost in the machine', no elan vital.

cofty

Vidqun - I will do a thread in the near future to describe an interesting hypothesis for the origin of life that gets over all the objections you have raised and more.

Briefly for now - it is likely that life emerged in hydrothermal alkaline vents under the ocean.

405

Origin of Life

by cofty in

in recent years significant progress has been made in solving the question of how life originated on our planet.. how do you think theists will respond when it finally happens?

as a former christian i know my reaction would have been something like "well that just goes to show that it takes intelligent life to make life", but for two reasons that defense doesn't work.. firstly it would prove that life is not an ethereal force that originates with god.

there is no 'ghost in the machine', no elan vital.

cofty

Rebel - Personally I also with my limited research believe direct evidence for the origin of life impossible.

Cofty - Don't you think you should thoroughly investigate the evidence before you declare something impossible?

Rebel - you sound like a bully who beats kids up at school

That is pathetic. It's the sort of comment that makes conversation almost impossible.

I will reply to other qs later.

405

Origin of Life

by cofty in

in recent years significant progress has been made in solving the question of how life originated on our planet.. how do you think theists will respond when it finally happens?

as a former christian i know my reaction would have been something like "well that just goes to show that it takes intelligent life to make life", but for two reasons that defense doesn't work.. firstly it would prove that life is not an ethereal force that originates with god.

there is no 'ghost in the machine', no elan vital.

cofty

John Mann. The idea that the first "real human" lived just 6000 years ago is risible.

What is this thing you call a soul?

Does the bible not say that animals are also souls? Anyway this thread is about origin of life.

405

Origin of Life

by cofty in

in recent years significant progress has been made in solving the question of how life originated on our planet.. how do you think theists will respond when it finally happens?

as a former christian i know my reaction would have been something like "well that just goes to show that it takes intelligent life to make life", but for two reasons that defense doesn't work.. firstly it would prove that life is not an ethereal force that originates with god.

there is no 'ghost in the machine', no elan vital.

cofty

Dont you think you should thoroughly investigate the evidence before you declare something impossible?

What do you mean by "direct evidence"?

33

What's Is The Goal Of This Religion?

by pale.emperor in

what's is the goal of this religion?.

i mean, if it's for money they could do a lot more like other religions do: tithing, paying for prayers from the gb, selling "miracles", selling "blessed" items, selling courses.. if its for power then what are they hoping to do with that power?

they dont seem to do anything.

cofty

I think it began with genuine belief. Now the organisation has a momentum and life of its own that even the GB can hardly control.

Individually they probably worry about loyalty to the "organisation" as much as the average loyal JW does.

They have created a monster with a history and self-importance that nobody is in control of.

405

Origin of Life

by cofty in

in recent years significant progress has been made in solving the question of how life originated on our planet.. how do you think theists will respond when it finally happens?

as a former christian i know my reaction would have been something like "well that just goes to show that it takes intelligent life to make life", but for two reasons that defense doesn't work.. firstly it would prove that life is not an ethereal force that originates with god.

there is no 'ghost in the machine', no elan vital.

cofty

a) would most agree that the origin of life began over 3 billion years ago?

Newly discovered stromatolites in Greenland have been dated to 3.7 billions years ago. Since these are evidence of the diversity of life at that period it proves that life began around 4 billion years ago. That's just a few hundred million years after the formation of planet earth.

It suggests that life is not a random event. It is probably inevitable on a geologically active planet.

b) if so then would we agree direct evidence for the origin of life impossible?

It depends on what you mean by "direct evidence". I think it will be shown step-by-step how life can emerge from geochemistry through unguided naturalistic means.

C) However am I correct in assuming the first cause of life had to be living?

No. Absolutely not. There is a continuum from geochemistry to biochemistry.

405

Origin of Life

by cofty in

in recent years significant progress has been made in solving the question of how life originated on our planet.. how do you think theists will respond when it finally happens?

as a former christian i know my reaction would have been something like "well that just goes to show that it takes intelligent life to make life", but for two reasons that defense doesn't work.. firstly it would prove that life is not an ethereal force that originates with god.

there is no 'ghost in the machine', no elan vital.

cofty

the 'atheistic counterpart to jehovahs witnesses' makes as many assertions that evidence from science does not support - Ruby

Who is this straw-man and what does it have to do with the topic?

the science in cofty's op actually supports vidqun's view - Ruby

You could not be more wrong. Literally it would be impossible to be more wrong.

From previous experience you did not understand a single sentence in Lane's book. I doubt if you did more than speed-read the first few pages.

Cofty do you believe in the possibility of aliens.Disclosure is not far away.Lets face it if humans exist why not other life forms from other planets - Automant

I think that bacterial life is probably very common. It is far less likely that complex multicellular life exists elsewhere.

405

Origin of Life

by cofty in

in recent years significant progress has been made in solving the question of how life originated on our planet.. how do you think theists will respond when it finally happens?

as a former christian i know my reaction would have been something like "well that just goes to show that it takes intelligent life to make life", but for two reasons that defense doesn't work.. firstly it would prove that life is not an ethereal force that originates with god.

there is no 'ghost in the machine', no elan vital.

cofty

What exactly sounds insane to you? The time (6,000)?

Modern humans with intelligence and hopes and fears and self-awareness just like ours have been around for approximately 100,000 years.

405

Origin of Life

by cofty in

in recent years significant progress has been made in solving the question of how life originated on our planet.. how do you think theists will respond when it finally happens?

as a former christian i know my reaction would have been something like "well that just goes to show that it takes intelligent life to make life", but for two reasons that defense doesn't work.. firstly it would prove that life is not an ethereal force that originates with god.

there is no 'ghost in the machine', no elan vital.

cofty

This is entertainment to SBF.

Lying about what others have said, posting impossibly obtuse statements and generally behaving like a drunk at a dinner party.

Three hundred posts on what should have been a simple and interesting topic about origin-of-life research and what it might say about theism. Probably 250 of those posts off-topic.