I found this wonderful live action video of white blood cells at work, showing the neutrophil, one of the most common cells in the immune system, (though if I’m not mistaken it looks more like a macrophage, but I’m no pathologist) , on the prowl hunting down the bacteria, set brilliantly to music, Perfect for Biology geeks everywhere. Enjoy!
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April 13, 2009 at 9:34 am
Dave Collingridge
Thanks, doc. A fun video to watch.
So I am curious if you think that the neutrophil’s complex behavior evidences an irreducibly complex system that could only have arisen by intelligent design? Or could it have arisen by chance processes? (Sorry, but I could not resist asking.)
April 13, 2009 at 10:25 am
Doc
Diplomatically, I think the Neutrophil’s complex behavior is a wondrous miracle either way. However, your question is a bit of a straw man.
Evolution isn’t chance processes. It is the selective pressures that determine which changes are kept and which are discarded. Theistic evolution puts God in these evolutionary pressures rather than in necessarily forming the organism by hand. The end result is the same, only one jives better with what we know about science.
April 13, 2009 at 1:53 pm
Dave Collingridge
Doc,
The issue of evolution being chance processes as a threat to theistic evolution is not a straw man; it is a legitimate argument that keeps getting brushed aside by people who cannot reconcile the two.
At is core, evolution is natural selection and random mutations. The changes you refer to (that are subject to environmental selection) are random. Random mutations is completely at odds with purposeful creation. God did not use random processes to create mankind; there are too many combinations possible for evolution to result in one desired outcome – mankind created in the image of God.
The best counter argument I’ve come across is that God managed natural selection to balance the random changes in His favor – a theoretically consistent argument, but one that lacks rigor. Why not just control the whole process, as He most certainly did?
Theistic evolutionists are operating within a theoretical framework that contradicts the random change mechanism that is fundamental to evolution. Human Genome Project chair Francis Collins even admits this concern in his book The Language of God.
April 13, 2009 at 2:34 pm
Doc
As I explained at your blog, Mutations can be random, the environmental pressures that decide if those random changes are useful and increase fitness, not random. If God were to manipulate those environments and pressures to create life, It is completely non random but appears so on the inside.
We have concrete examples of this in the game Spore. You are creating the organisms by changing the selective forces, even though the mutations are completely random. Thus, you are “playing God,” even in a game based entirely on evolution.
I don’t see the absolute necessity of conflict, you do. I think we will have to agree to disagree.
April 14, 2009 at 9:41 am
Dave Collingridge
Yes, two people who agree to disagree can still enjoy a sit down chat and a soda together.