Posted by Daniel on February 10, 19101 at 18:21:18:
In Reply to: Conversations with Bazarov... posted by Peregrine Guardian on February 10, 19101 at 17:45:38:
I strongly believe this discussion should stop right now. This post is what Ayn Rand referred to when she spoke of people evading reality. If you continue to evade reality, I will no longer respond. This time, however, I will attempt to respond more completely.
You seem to agree that there is no atomic difference between matter that possesses life and matter that does not. What else is there besides matter and energy? What has given you cause to ascribe life to something you cannot observe? You are basically saying a man is matter, but the life in man is only there because he has a soul. That is what you're talking about, if I'm not mistaken. You have not said why a soul is needed for life, but some other supernatural quality is not needed for the watery part of water, the hardness of rock, the lightness of light, the sweetness of perfume.
I am frankly astonished at your claims that it is I who must supply the evidence. Even if my metaphysical claims were in the minority (and among the educated, I don't believe they are), the majority of people once believed the world was flat. I do not debate based on what other people have said, and neither should you. Both sides have a more or less equal responsibility for supplying hard evidence. My side, of course, has a difficult time disproving things that have been molded into something that cannot be disproven.
If you would like evidence for my argument, I refer you to the theories of Charles Darwin and his followers. I refer you to all of the scientifically based books about how the first life began. I refer you to your own body, and I challenge you to show me your soul. I refer you to the Atlantic Ocean, and I challenge you to show me what makes it watery besides the arrangement of its atoms. My argument, like yours, is difficult to disprove, because it is impossible to disprove what is.
You ask, "Do you believe that the similarity of the particles which go into making a human being and a stone summarize the whole of each?" The atoms are different, but they both contain atoms with the same basic structure: a nucleus, protons, neutrons, electrons, quarks, etc. But the part never means much in regard to the whole. A chlorine atom can be harmful. Add a sodium atom, and you get table salt. Only atomically do you see the properties of the indiviual atoms.
You ask, "Can the secret of man be found within a stone?" There is no secret of man, just as there is no secret of dogs, cats, rocks, trees, and cement. Man is special because he is concious and rational, or should I say capable of rationality.