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To: VadeRetro
"By what possible means? Please answer this question. I've asked it in three posts now."

Let me be very, very clear so you will not need to accuse me of something that isn't true. I am not suggesting an event is falsifiable. That would be tantamount to omniscience.

What I am saying is that my general statement about the origin of life (not necessarily a singular event in history but the process wherever and whenever is might occur) is testable (verifiable) and falsifiable.

The formation (i.e. assembly) of any living organism in a laboratory constitutes supporting evidence of my statement. (So far no one has backed me into a corner about what constitutes "intelligent". I think any generally accepted definition would allow that scientists intentionally forming life would meet the standard at least minimally.)

Are you asking me how it will be assembled? I cannot answer that with any degree of certainty. My best guess is that we will first be able to create life using some type of nano assembly line as envisioned by nanotech pioneers like Eric Drexler. It is unclear whether nano assembly can work as proposed, as there are reasonable critics who are also experts in this field.

I have read several detailed books on this subject and think we will see these things materialize suddenly sometime in the next ten or so years, once the foundational infrastructure is laid. New discoveries are made daily which move us closer to this becoming a reality.

Or, scientists might create life through progress in molecular biology. I have a good friend who is finishing his doctoral thesis in this field. We discuss these type of issues. I get the impression that the creation of life would require a revolutionary break through to be accomplished this way. So, if I were a betting man, I would bet on nano tech. (The lines may blur between these and other fields.)

Traditional engineering does not lend itself very well to complex systems such as living organisms because engineering deals mostly with linear systems. So this is one additional obstacle to nano tech being used.

It is feasible that as scientists attempt to create life they will uncover some simple mechanism whereby life can spontaneously self assemble from certain ingredients under certain environmental conditions. It could be that some such process will become readily apparent, or it may exist but remain quite elusive.

I think my hypothesis is more likely.

I recognize you are one of the more knowledgeable opponents of ID around here. So I appreciate your feedback and criticism of my ideas, because if they do not withstand scrutiny they have little value. So far the arguments against my proposition are weak. I could debate myself better. But I hope you can give me a run for my money.

Merry Christmas.
2,698 posted on 12/24/2005 8:20:41 PM PST by unlearner (You will never come to know that which you do not know until you first know that you do not know it.)
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To: unlearner
You have not addressed how you will support an assertion that life cannot possibly by any means have spontaneously self-assembled.
2,700 posted on 12/24/2005 8:38:32 PM PST by VadeRetro (Liberalism is a cancer on society. Creationism is a cancer on conservatism.)
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To: unlearner
So far the arguments against my proposition are weak.

As one would expect of an argument that one can barely comprehend.

2,705 posted on 12/24/2005 10:02:43 PM PST by donh
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