[thechat] Stupidity should be cured, says DNA discoverer

David Wagner dave at worlddomination.net
Sun Mar 2 19:02:01 CST 2003


Erik wrote:
> PS: interesting trivia -> both Crick and Watson believe that DNA did
> not originate on Earth: Watson thinks it came to Earth from a meteor or
> space dust, Crick thinks that life on Earth was intentionally seeded ...
>
> Being that DNA requires RNA to replicate and RNA needs DNA to come
> about in the first place, and the chance of either one being created
> randomly, much more coming together randomly are infintessimaly small,
> I tend to favor Crick: it is a system that could be designed by nothing
> other than an intelligent being, be that being God, Aliens, or whatever
> made God and aliens.

Panspermia is a cute idea that evades the question of the origin of life.
Organized complexity must come from somewhere, and to say that it originates
in another form of organized complexity is a little silly.

Since the original subject of this thread was stupidity, I shall temporarily
define it as "beating a dead horse", point the finger at myself, and once
again recommend that all thinking persons read "The Blind Watchmaker" before
citing creation myths in public.

At Amazon (using evolt.org as the referrer):
http://tinyurl.com/6qdt

I've now linked to this book enough times on this thread that the following
items are true:
1. Someone has just cursed me for bringing it up *again*.
2. It would have been easier for me to make a bookmark to it, rather than
looking it up on Amazon every time.
3. Norton (the publisher) should probably be paying me.

Honest, it's really worth reading, whatever side of the debate you happen to
be on. Check it out from your local library if you don't want to buy it.

As for eugenics vs. genetic investigation (two very different ideas),
"Genome" by Matt Ridley has an excellent chapter discussing it.

Again, at Amazon:
http://tinyurl.com/6qdb

A quote from the book (actually excerpted from a review at
http://reason.com/opeds/rb020900.shtml, since I don't have a copy of the
book here with me):

<quote>
... there is a world of difference between genetic screening ... and what
the eugenists wanted in their heyday -- and it lies in this: genetic
screening is about giving private individuals private choices on private
criteria. Eugenics was about nationalising that decision to make people
breed not for themselves but for the state.
</quote>

--

David Wagner
dave at worlddomination.net




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