Re: OT: Three Cheers!!!

On 11 Apr 2006 08:03:55 -0700, "bvallely@xxxxxxx" <bvallely@xxxxxxx>
wrote:

It's not a matter of what is or isn't practical - it's the search for
the truth. How, exactly, does random chance build a strand of DNA
which contains more information than everything on the internet
combined?

You need to study statistics and probability. If you don't have a
real grasp of how probability works then it can seem impossible that
complexity can arise by chance. If you do understand probability
at a fundamental level then you understand that it's impossible for
complexity NOT to arise by chance. Given enough attempts, even the
most improbable outcome will eventually be realised, and when you're
considering events on a molecular scale over an area the size of a
planetary surface that makes for a near-inconceivable number of
attempts.

It's quite simple to imagine how random molecular collisions could
create something as complex as DNA. For example, in one cm3 of water
the number of molecular collisions is somewhere in the region of 40
million million million million million per second. Scale that up
over the entire surface of the earth and allow a billion years of
trying, and the result is easily enough to create all the complexity
we see around us.

If you think complexity is too unlikely to occur by chance you just
haven't grasped the sheer immensity of the numbers involved. To put
the above numbers into perspective, if you represented every collision
by a dried pea, the number of peas you'd need to represent a billion
years of chemical activity on earth (assuming only one in a thousand
collisions results in a chamical reaction) would cover the earth to a
depth of ... well, have a guess.

S
P
O
I
L
E
R

S
P
A
C
E

The peas would form a layer around 490000 light years deep. How close
were you?

I said it was near-inconceivable.

(Far too many people are willing to say something couldn't happen by
chance, but they've no idea of the numbers involved and are basing
their opinions on nothing but gut feeling. Speaking as someone who
uses his brain rather than his gut to understand the world around him,
I find that refusal to make even the smallest effort to find out the
facts deeply puzzling. How can anyone hold an opinion based entirely
on ignorance?)

--
Matthew Winn
[If replying by mail remove the "r" from "urk"]
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: OT: Why Dont We Look Like Bacteria?
    ... "Prokaryotes never got the chance to evolve this complexity because ... Eukaryotes had several advantages for competing. ... since it has the complementary strand. ...
    (sci.anthropology.paleo)
  • Re: review: Diamond Crown Maximus Toro #4
    ... I would try it in other sizes just to give the line a chance, but the lack of complexity and depth just doesn't warrant the price tag. ...
    (alt.smokers.cigars)
  • Re: A Major Blow Dealt Against Intelligent Design/Creationism Doctrine (Again)
    ... Do you understand the complexity of molecular biology? ... existence simply by the right combination and simply by chance. ... logic is that you are dealt a bridge hand of 13 cards. ...
    (rec.sport.football.college)
  • Re: reminder
    ... you need to give it a chance -- unfortunately you can't ... appreciate the complexity of the show unless you've seen a few episodes ... Prev by Date: ...
    (rec.sport.pro-wrestling)
  • Re: Why is it impossible to account for DNA by chance ?
    ... > Why is it impossible to account for DNA by chance? ... > In the framework of that project, scientists from many countries, from ... > Francis Collins, who leads the Human Genome Project states, so far only ...
    (soc.culture.usa)
Loading