Richard,
I like to hear about people's personal history and background, especially on a forum like this with so much diversity. I wasn't bored with your post at all, thanks for writing it.
I'm afraid you misunderstood, and got upset as a result, with my statement about biological science. Let me put it another way then.
The other day I was watching this TV program showing how the brain is formed in the fetus. I was quite amazed to see the little cells moving to the places they're supposed to occupy, each cell going its own way but at the same time everything working in perfect order, so that a human being can be born. As I watched the show and saw the beautiful dance of the cells, I kept thinking to myself, "how can someone look at such an amazing phenomenon and still think it is all governed by chemical reactions? How can someone fail to see intelligence at work here? How can anyone think something as simple as a bridge needs an enormous amount of intelligence to be built, and yet something as complex as a human body gets put together by chance and blind laws?"
I don't know your answer to the question. For me, it's clear that you can only think organisms can be easily explained if you ignore the facts about them. Now that is not to say I dismiss our knowledge of genetics. You are right, that would be foolish. It's just that the idea that all life can be explained in terms of genetics is, to me, as foolish as the idea that all TV shows can be explained in terms of electronics.
When I was a young child I once dismantled a TV set expecting to find something resembling people inside it. As with everyone, it took me years to learn that what I saw on the TV set was actually located far away from it. Somehow that childhood experience had an effect on it. So if you think I'm ignorant or anti-science, now you know: as with everything that's wrong with kids today, you can blame it on TV!
Have fun,
Aurino |