On Wed, 20 Sep 2000, Andy wrote: > In order to make an accurate calculation of the probability of a self > replicating system emerging from the primal soup, it is nessesary to have a > complete knowledge of physics, to know all of the boundary conditions existing > at the time, and to have access to immense computing resources. As none of these > things were available at the time, and still aren't, their conclusion must be > viewed with great caution. Indeed. Nobody would deny that. Still, it is perfectly reasonable to say that *given what we know now*, the spontaneous emergence of self-replicating systems from prebiotic soup in the probable windows of time available is vanishingly small. I think it's understood by everyone that such claims are tentative, like all theoretical pronouncements, especially concerning remote and unobservable events. > Fractal geometry tells us that immensely complex > systems can be built from very simple rules, and that very small changes in the > initial conditions can have profound effects. Sure, and if you or anyone else has a theory of how fractal geometry can get self-replicating proto-cells out of a random soup of amino acids and nucleic acids, then that would count against the Intelligent Design theory. The mere conjecture, however, than someday someone might develop such a theory doesn't. Todd Moody [log in to unmask]