(August 14, 2017 at 8:21 pm)rjh4 is back Wrote:(August 14, 2017 at 7:02 pm)Khemikal Wrote: I'm really trying to wrap my head around this. So far as we can tell, chemistry works like so;
-If substance a and substance b are subjected to condition c, then reaction d occurs.
most emphatically -not- like so;
-If substance a and substance b are subjected to condition c, then reaction d occurs...but only if sally is the one mixing them. If john, then reaction e. If no one, then no reaction.
I am not trying to say that there are different reactions depending on who or what is doing the mixing. I'm saying even the simplest cell is really complicated. To reproduce, many specific materials and conditions must be met. It requires various proteins, DNA, RNA, certain cellular machinery made up of various materials. Each of the proteins is made up of twenty amino acids that are only in the L form (not D). So the probabilities of the specific sequences needed is along the lines of 1/20 to the nth power where n is the length of the protein. The DNA and RNA are each made of specific sequences of 4 nucleotides or ribonucleotides. So the probabilities of the specific sequences needed is along the lines of 1/4 to the nth power where N is the length of the DNA and RNA respectively. The lengths of DNA, RNA, and protein sequences are quite long so the denominator gets huge really quickly. Consequently, the probabilities of all those materials and conditions coming together via random mixing of the matter of the universe is extremely small even given billions of years.
So my objection would be a probabilistic one.
How many reactions are happening at once? Are you "computing" your odds serially or in parallel? How many molecules might have been reacting across the surface of the Earth?
If it were only one one molecule interacting with another, then you would sure have a point. But with trillions of molecules going at it, I'd think your numbers would change significantly.
