Saturday 31 August 2013

Why I think biological macroevolution is a practical impossibility

Notwithstanding the correctness of using statistical reasoning [Abel 2009, Durston et. al. 2007] when dealing with the organisation and functioning of biological systems, the strength of statistical statements falls short of what is needed in order to demonstrate the practical impossibility of spontaneous/necessary emergence and subsequent evolutionary development of life. There will always be individuals wishing to believe in a slimmest chance of something happening. You can't do anything about it because such is human psychology. The missing persuasive power can be found in considering the cybernetic foundations of biology. Here I will use ideas from personal communications and from [Abel 2011]. These ideas are not mine. I am just mulling them over here.

Biological evolution is (а) differential survival and (b) reproduction of already existing biological forms. In the modern synthesis both (а) and (b) which boil down to stochastics (random variation) and deterministic law (selection) are considered sufficient for the emergence of new functionality and, consequently, of all observed biodiversity.

Thursday 29 August 2013

A challenge for evolutionists

Dear Colleagues,

Can anyone of you who believe in the power of undirected evolution (excuse my tautology) experimentally demonstrate the emergence of working code from a blank sheet only by chance and/or necessity? In your experiments you can use stochastic processes and deterministic law. You are not allowed to use any guidance/choices stemming from agency.