RE: Atheism and the existence of peanut butter
October 31, 2021 at 2:57 pm
(This post was last modified: October 31, 2021 at 3:08 pm by Jehanne.)
(October 31, 2021 at 12:07 pm)Angrboda Wrote:
What a bunch of dumbasses. Life are molecules, all containing the element carbon, sometimes individual, often collective, that replicate, that is, make copies of themselves. Given their differential reproduction ("sex is fun"), life is subject to Darwinian natural selection. As the copying mechanism in DNA/RNA is imperfect, errors occur; most are benign and inconsequential, others are harmful ("flies born with no eyes"), but some are beneficial ("better metabolism," "disease resistance", etc., etc.); these latter organisms are more likely to survive, as compared to their peers, and hence, more likely to pass their genes down to the next generation, ad infinitum, in what is a very non-random process. Evolution is not trial & error, but, error & trial. In the history of life, critters evolved that had the ability to move, which we now call insects and animals; plants can move, but, not as much as animals can. Plants came first, of course, with photosynthesis, the ability to synthesize sugars from sunlight, an involved chemical process. Later critters evolved that could eat the plants, taking their energy from them; later, bigger critters evolved that could eat the other small critters, plus the plants, at least in some cases. With penises and vaginas came even more variation and diversity, evolution in overdrive. Eventually, nervous systems, eyes, brains, and even bigger brains, and eventually, Us, with technology, civilization, religion and science, etc.
To answer the guy in the video, why does life not emerge out of a jar of peanut butter? That niche has been filled, for starters, hence, no chemical pathway exists in the jar of peanut butter for new life to emerge. For one, the jar of peanut butter is already filled with microbial life, as well as oxygen, a nasty gas that breaks down ("oxidizes") organic compounds. And, so, any new chemical molecules that could, by chance, arise in that jar of peanut butter will quickly be destroyed by the oxide compounds and other life forms that are already present in the jar. Any new life could not simply compete with the life that is already present in the jar.