The University of Cambridge published an article titled “‘Map Of Life’ predicts ET. (So where is he?),” Science Daily,, July 2, 2015 AD.
Firstly, I will play the PC pop-culture role and go on the attack as, like, they asked “where is he” and that’s, like, triggering-misogynistic-anti woman-intolerant-undiverse-sexist-hate speech and they should be forced to retract and rewrite it as “where is “he and/or she” or, for that matter, “she” first followed by “and/or he” and stuff.
Well, I found that such trivialities are the least of this article’s problems. The premise is evolutionary biologist Professor Simon Conway Morris (who is a Fellow at St John’s College, University of Cambridge) who is attempting to make a name for himself by promulgating, like, the 1,001 iteration of Charles Darwin’s picked over and propped up skeletal remains theory of evolution.
As Vox Day noted:
…few can manage to keep up with adaptive devo punk-echthroi neo-quasi-Darwinism, or whatever the evolutionary biologists are calling this week’s spin on St. Darwin’s dangerous idea.[1]
The claim is that the “development of life on Earth is predictable” so that “similar organisms should therefore have appeared on other, Earth-like planets by now” and thus, “Extra-terrestrials that resemble humans should have evolved on other, Earth-like planets.”
The claim is a result of that which is termed convergent evolution which, we are told, is “a widely-supported theory – although one still disputed by some biologists – that different species will independently evolve similar features.”
It is claimed that convergent evolution “has governed every aspect of life’s development on Earth. Proteins, eyes, limbs, intelligence, tool-making – even our capacity to experience orgasms – are, he argues, inevitable once life emerges.” Professor Simon Conway Morris is said to claim “that evolution is therefore far from random, but a predictable process that operates according to a fairly rigid set of rules.” Interestingly, this may be the most accurate aspect since creation via intelligent design implies that, indeed, life’s progresses is not random but follows a predictable process that operates according to a fairly rigid set of rules. For example, there is variation within animal kinds but no kind turning into another kind. I employ the term kind, roughly referring to beings that can mate with each other, rather than, say, species because there are some sixteen or so different definitions of the term and concept of species.
In any regard, Prof. Morris claims:
Convergence is one of the best arguments for Darwinian adaptation…evolution is far from a random process…if the outcomes of evolution are at least broadly predictable, then what applies on Earth will apply across the Milky Way, and beyond…in any habitable zone that doesn’t boil or freeze, intelligent life is going to emerge, because intelligence is convergent….the likelihood of something analogous to a human evolving is really pretty high…given the number of potential planets that we now have good reason to think exist, even if the dice only come up the right way every one in 100 throws, that still leads to a very large number of intelligences scattered around, that are likely to be similar to us.
In other words, since we can imagine life elsewhere, it must be and this is referred to as “The almost-certainty of ET.”
We begins to not see very clearly due to murky waters when we come to the statement that “the octopus…has evolved a camera eye that is closely similar to that of humans,” got it thus far? Octopi “evolved a camera eye that is closely similar to that of humans.” This, or so we are told, is because “octopi and humans have a common ancestor, possibly a slug-like creature,” got it thus far? It is because “octopi and humans have a common ancestor, possibly a slug-like creature.”
Now, “the octopus…has evolved a camera eye that is closely similar to that of humans” and “octopi and humans have a common ancestor, possibly a slug-like creature” which must, logically and biologically, mean that “The camera eye of each must therefore have evolved independently.”
That is correct, we are told that octopi and humans have similar eye and they have a common ancestor which obviously leads to the conclusion that their eyes “must” mind you “therefore” mind you
have evolved independently.” Too bad that evolution did not take advantage of the supposed fact that octopi and humans have a common ancestor and, like, both needed eyes and stuff.
But that is not the worst of it as we are told that “Sabre-teeth, for example, turn out to be convergent, and Conway Morris explains why it is that the clouded leopard of Asia, Neofelis nebulosa, has developed features that could, as it evolves ‘presage the emergence of a new sabre-tooth’, although sadly it looks set to become extinct before this happens.”
Take a moment to take that in as you may not be a professor so, like, you likely do not understand the erudite elucidation.
“Sabre-teeth…turn out to” by the way, “be convergent” so it is a known fact. Now, the clouded leopard “has” in fact “developed features that could” perhaps “as it evolves ‘presage…’” which is a sign or warning that something will occur and what will occur is “the emergence of a new sabre-tooth” but, well, it did not, like, really occur as “although” by the way, “sadly it looks set to become extinct before this happens.” So we know that it was supposed to happen, could happen, would happen but oopsy, it looks like the clouded leopard will go extinct before it can evolve that which it surely would—probably some of those wacky creationists are killing them off to keep evidence of evolution from manifesting.
But wait, that’s not all as we are told that “Elsewhere, the study suggests that certain prehistoric creatures other than bats and birds may have attempted to evolve flight.” Note that “suggests” means forcing a theory of evolution (version whatever) interpretation of evidence.
Overall, this is not good science, this is not even good science fiction and is not even good standup comedy but is a farce, a fraud and indicative to the devastating effect that the theory of evolution has had on science.
Oh yeah, we are also told that “fruit flies seem to get drunk in the same manner as humans” so, like, the get some hooch in brown paper bags, get in fights about girls after growing beer muscles, pray to the porcelain god, etc. Well, just kidding of course, but still!
The Map Of Life turns out to be a Map Of Lies.
~~~~~~~~~~~ Note:
[1] Vox Day, The Irrational Atheist (downloadable here), p. 225. The books contains good info on dealing with Atheists but poor theology.