SLP
Posts: 136
Joined: Dec. 2002
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Came across this while perusing some of Floyd's past forays:
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Please read the following passage and answer the question that follows:
In the mid-1800s, Darwin showed how the concept of evolution by natural selection applies to living systems. But evolution also operates in the inanimate world, not only Earth but the universe as a whole, including all cosmic bodies (galaxies, stars, circumstellar and interstellar clouds, interstellar molecules, planetary systems, planets, comets, asteroids, meteorites) and all chemical elements. Comets transported organic molecules and water to the primitive Earth early in the planet's history, presumably over a period of several hundred million years. In the oceans that then formed, both cometary and terrestrial (those synthesized directly in the environment) organic molecules evolved by natural selection, ultimately giving rise to life - possibly in the "warm little pond" that Darwin envisioned in his famous letter to Joseph Hooker (see chapter 3). The linkage from cosmic elements to cometary molecules to primitive Earth to biological evolution ties cosmochemical evolution to the origin of life.
Does the above passage indicate to you that:
1. The author sees evolution by natural selection as a 'basic' phenomenon/concept that has applications to biology, cosmology; both animate/living and inanimate/non-living things and thus as a concept, 'evolution' ties all all these areas together
2. The author is indicating that abiogenesis/cosmochemical evolution are part of the Theory of Evolution as put forth by Darwin
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The question is asked because Floyd likes to take snippets from that quote to claim that evolution (as such) definitley includes abiogenesis, and we all know that if you can find problems with abiogenesis, therefore, you've found problems with evolution:
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He's referring to his fantasy wherein Oro's quote (Mello only ever quotes this part: "...organic molecules evolved by natural selection, ultimately giving rise to life - possibly in the "warm little pond" that Darwin envisioned in his famous letter to Joseph Hooker (see chapter 3)." except that he leaves off the ellipses in the beginning and capitalizes Organic) really means that abiogenesis is part and parcel of Biological evolution and thus if he can carry on about a bunch of 'problems' with abiogenesis, he has thus refuted evolution as well.
He insists that he is interpeteing Oro correctly when he comes to that conclusion.
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