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First of all you cant cite the Answers in Genesis website in a serious science discussion, as they are not a reliable source of science information. Doing so just makes you look silly, and damage your arguement rather than supports it.



Matt. Step outside your little 'intellectual' bubble for two seconds. The entire article was on the behavior of a single celled organism (that behaves like a multicellular organism). If you have a specific problem with the science in that article, please point it out. However, it was meant to illustrate a point. Apparently you're too smart to read, though.

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However, this discussion here seem to be philosophical in the main. Not being an amoeba I cant say how or why they behave how they do.



Yeah, but if you knew anything about science (something most amateur evolutionists do not ), then you would know they behave the way they do because of their genetics.

Simple as that. If you want to argue against science, please do. You'll make your theory look more ridiculous.

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But the fact is genes dont directly influence behavior.



Not in humans. At least not ALL of our behavior. But in the majority of animals (especially simple and single celled creatures) yes it does.

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Other than that I am not well-versed on genetics and molecular biology.



I know. If you were, you wouldn't believe evolution. BUT! That's just a little fun poking. No need to get into evolution here. That was just a wise crack.

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Genes dont determine sex drive. While genes can determine basic hormones level in a given indivdual, often life style or diet, exercise, and social conditioning determines an indiviudal's sexual drive.



Misuse of the phrase sex drive. Let me put it this way. If it weren't for genes we wouldn't have the desire to have sex in the first place, we wouldn't be able to have sex, and we wouldn't be designed for sex.

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This is of course a contentious issue, with no clear answers as to what guide or directs an individual's behavior.



Its pretty clear cut. Our genetics give us the desire and ability to have sex. Our consciousness gives us the choice to follow our genetics or not. Smoking pot felt pretty good. But I choose not to do that anymore. My consciousness gives me that choice to do something contrary to my programming. Get a million cats together, put catnip in front of them and see how many of them refrain from eating it.

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So clearly there is somehting in the cognitive loop that acts in some way independent of chemical drives. What might be comonly called free will, or the soul, or the conscious mind--this eneity that is the core of a human being, is so far elusive and unknowable.



Agreed. I don't even know how you could begin to study consciousness. It defies the material nature of our universe. But that's a whole other discussion.

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You seem to reject what you want to and keep what you want to. yes, all humans are about 99.98% the same genetically. This is true. Chimpanzee's, Orangutangs, and Bonobos, are about 98% the same as humans genetically, with chimpanzee's being the closest of the three and orang's being the farthest off.



Depends on who you ask. Some figures put us at 96% the same as chimpanzees. Any creationist would be remiss to ignore that. However, it proves only one thing. Our genome is 96-98% similar to a chimp's.

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Chimpanzee's, Orangutangs, and Bonobos, are about 98% the same as humans genetically, with chimpanzee's being the closest of the three and orang's being the farthest off.



As far as I last knew we weren't that close to anything but chimps. Do you have a source?

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The only real danger with this observation is the obvious implication that if the brain has a "programmed" structure, then it must have a "programmer".



I like how you find this idea dangerous. Says a bit about your reasoning.

Also, what's so problematic about this? If something looks programmed, then it probably is. If I'm a biologist, and I'm studying frogs I don't go, "Well, this specimin looks like a frog, but that's dangerous thinking." Geologists don't see mountains and say, "Well it looks like some kind of force moved these continents together, but that's dangerous thinking."

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Take the weather patterns, an "organic" system of extreme complexity, which seem to behave according to rules that can be understandable



What does weather have to do with complexity? Actually I don't even want to know, because it'll get this discussion sidetracked....

Last edited by Irish_Farmer; 06/22/06 04:33.
"The task force finds that...the unborn child is a whole human being from the moment of fertilization, that all abortions terminate the life of a human being, and that the unborn child is a separate human patient under the care of modern medicine."