Detecting design or intent in nature

[Chas]

Without reproduction there can be no evolution. If you are concentrating on the inception, then you are arguing abiogenesis vs. creation - not evolution.

If we accept your argument then consider this: The first Mycoplasma Laboratorium was not the product of reproduction and therefore it was not the product of the system of biological evolution which is responsible for you and me. Each subsequent generation of Mycoplasma Laboratorium conforms to your definition of evolution and must then be considered part of a completely different system of evolution then the one which is responsible for you and me. If we accept your definition of evolution, then Rasetsu's premise three is false. It is false because we have a Heywood system which required intellect to implement but that operates exactly like the biological evolutionary system which is responsible for you and me.

If we consider Mycoplasma Laboratorium as man-made, then it is in a different tree of life than all other living things on earth. If it will be subject to reproductive error and selection, then evolution will occur.

The fact that Mycoplasma Laboratorium was invented says precisely nothing about how life came about on Earth. The fact that it may evolve simply shows that my definition is correct.