Science a GoGo's Home Page Forums General Discussion Not-Quite-Science Forum Philosophy of Religions--all religions, including,

Not in any way vaguely similar to humans. I'm a cellular/molecular biologist, and let me tell you; there are no similarity in the way people vs cells interact. A closer approximation would be how humans and baking bread interact...



My emergent properties are not dependent on anything other than my biology. Society itself is an emergent property of humans; but not vice-versa. Perhaps you should learn a little about emergence before pontificating on it.


Ahh, the good ol' red herrings of randomness and the need for supernaturalism to somehow give our lives value.

Firstly, randomness has little to do with it. Emergent (biological) properties are a product of chemical interactions, which in turn are predicated on physical properties driven by concrete and immutable 'laws'. There is no randomness to that; just stochasticism. Indeed, these processes are as directional and immutable as gravity. The only thing random in our biology (aside from certain environmental factors) is mutation - everything else abides by the distinctly non-random 'laws' of physics.

As for needing supernaturalism (i.e. a 'soul') to have self-value, or to value human life, is a myth created by the religieux to validate their beliefs and to maintain their self-sense of moral superiority. The fact you need some supernatural aspect to feel self-worth and/or see worth in others says far more about you than it does about those of us who value people for no reason other than they in-and-of-themselves have value.

Bryan