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Originally posted by Sofa King:
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Originally posted by GSman:
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Originally posted by GSman:
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Originally posted by GSman:
Does random mutation involve free will on the part of coded clusters or are there certain ‘favorite’ genes that do not allow us to fly?
No one wants to tackle my question? Ummm?
I’m shocked to say the least. I thought ‘ask the atheist’ would be appropriate to find the answer.
This question has nothing to do with atheism but everything to do with science so I'll take a stab.
This is an incoherent question. However, if I squint my eyes to force it to make some sense, it becomes a simple logical fallacy asked out of ignorance.
The question of "free will" is a philosophical one, not a scientific one. I do not know if free will exists or not. I could argue for and against it with equal conviction.
"Favorite genes"? I don't know what that means. All genes, as far as we know, are equal in the eyes of he Creator. All are subject to random mutation from a stray nugget of uranium, gamma rays, environmental (chemical) factors and so on . Those mutations present themselves in three different ways: Those that are beneficial, those that are harmful (and the vast majority or mutation are harmful) and those that have a neutral effect.
The bad mutations do not propagate through a species since the individuals generally do not reach maturity or are otherwise unable to reproduce.
The neutral (junk) mutations have no effect so we end up with long strands of genetic code that seemingly serve no purpose.
Then there is the rare mutation that has a positive benefit (or at least no negative benefit) such as the ability to metabolize milk from another species - a singular positive survival trait that spontaneously cropped up about 10,000 years ago. Those that do not have this random mutation are called "lactose intolerant." Those mutations are passed on to the next generation and so on.
Eventually, those kinds of infinitesimally small, random beneficial mutations and environmental conditions eventually allowed us highly evolved apes to develop machinery that spectacularly allowed us to overcome the forces of lift, thrust, weight, and drag and eventually allowed us to conquer the moon.
True story.
Sofa’ thanks for making a stab.
Your first evaluation of my question is certainly what I expected.
You claim the question was incoherent. It may be incoherent to you but it is a question based on science, I understand the question very well.
You said it was ask out of ignorance. This is a true statement .I would guess the reason you made this true statement was not due to your knowledge based on the remaining content of your post.
I’ll give jank credit for saying ‘ask a biologist’ I just assumed the forum was full of them from the statements claiming , it would seem, first hand knowledge on any subject.
Yes sofa ‘The most important product of knowledge is ignorance.’ [David Gross, professor of physics]
Just as I suspected , and consistent, your answers are based ON AUTHORITY [of which you cannot recall] not on any first hand knowledge so don’t pretend to talk down to me buddy to look good in the eyes of the cackling murder of crows that have me on ignore.
The ones that have me on ignore have run their course any way as far as being credible advocates in any discipline. Just a mixture of jabberwocky.
Eric Landers , professor of evolutionary biology uses the term ‘free to’ too many times when discussing the human genome and the 21 thousand ‘favorite genes’ [out of millions] that seem to have remained consistent for millions of years.
Why do we not fly?
You say “all genes are equal in the eyes of the Creator” apparently this is not the case.