Saturday, July 03, 2021
Mere machine activity may hide the structure and function beyond it .
We know our engine is running ,we don't know what for , but we know we don't want its work to go just anywhere. . The big question for many of us who did our key university studies 50 years ago (in biology, chemisty and physics) is "what have scientists learned in those 5 decades. about how it all works "-;; Following Darwin ,we learnt then that all characteristics were fixed in DNA sequences and selected via phenotype ; random genotype changes in DNA being the only key to any changes up the line .. What if we were too focused on one directional activity. when most of the internal workings are circular? It seems that researchers have learnt that phenotype is not just influenced by the random genotype machine; that there are some changes and communal orientations within cells and with RNA in particular that influence how sequences ( and perhaps other cell components?)actually effect cell function.
This scientific reality can be expected to drive a wedge between those OUTSIDE the simple mechanistic study who see on the one hand "Evolution as the answer to everything " and those who want to insist "God is not dead and still does some creating ". Why not see both evolution and intervention as joint ( partial even) rather than singularly effective forces - esp as that tension maintains the general expectation that what we live with is extremely complex and improbable" . I mean, aren't the very surprising discoveries in physics in the same period only adding to the sense of deliberate creative authorship and using a range of forces - not just one? Prominent biologist Asar Gray wasn't phased by the reality of both evolution and intervention occurring together at the time of Darwin . Why can't we ? New authors like R Kojonen , A Wagner " Arrival of the fittest "and M Denton will hopefully challenge the church to stop resisting evolution simply because it seems to threaten fixed ideas of the Creators influence.