Critics
Hoyle
Sir Fred Hoyle with Chandra Wickramasinghe was a proponent of Panspermia,
first proposed by the Greek philosopher Anaxagoras. Hoyle became a staunch
critic of hypotheses of chemical evolution to explain the naturalistic
Origin of life.
Panspermia, per se, is not actually in conflict with the idea of abiogenesis,
though Hoyle's interpretation of panspermia clearly does conflict. Panspermia
simply moves the origin of life elsewhere in the universe.
[edit]
Yockey
Information theorist Hubert Yockey argued that chemical evolutionary research
raises the question:
Research on the origin of life seems to be unique in that the conclusion
has already been authoritatively accepted … . What remains to be
done is to find the scenarios which describe the detailed mechanisms and
processes by which this happened.
One must conclude that, contrary to the established and current wisdom
a scenario describing the genesis of life on earth by chance and natural
causes which can be accepted on the basis of fact and not faith has not
yet been written. (Yockey, 1977. A calculation of the probability of spontaneous
biogenesis by information theory, Journal of Theoretical Biology 67:377–398,
quotes from pp. 379, 396.)
In a book he wrote 15 years later, Yockey argued that the idea of abiogenesis
from a primordial soup is a failed paradigm:
Although at the beginning the paradigm was worth consideration, now the
entire effort in the primeval soup paradigm is self-deception on the ideology
of its champions. …
The history of science shows that a paradigm, once it has achieved the
status of acceptance (and is incorporated in textbooks) and regardless
of its failures, is declared invalid only when a new paradigm is available
to replace it. Nevertheless, in order to make progress in science, it
is necessary to clear the decks, so to speak, of failed paradigms. This
must be done even if this leaves the decks entirely clear and no paradigms
survive. It is a characteristic of the true believer in religion, philosophy
and ideology that he must have a set of beliefs, come what may (Hoffer,
1951). Belief in a primeval soup on the grounds that no other paradigm
is available is an example of the logical fallacy of the false alternative.
In science it is a virtue to acknowledge ignorance. This has been universally
the case in the history of science as Kuhn (1970) has discussed in detail.
There is no reason that this should be different in the research on the
origin of life. (Yockey, 1992. Information Theory and Molecular Biology,
p. 336, Cambridge University Press, UK, ISBN 0-521-80293-8).
Yockey, in general, possesses a highly critical attitude toward people
who give credence toward natural origins of life, often invoking words
like "faith" and "ideology". Yockey's publications
have become favorites to quote among creationists, though he is not a
creationist himself (as noted in this 1995 email [1]).
Main Nighet1 Nighet2 abiogen1 abiogen2 abiogen3 abiogen4 abiogen5
membrane
filtration water distillers
| yacht charter |
oil painting reproductions | Safety
Glasses | Night Vision | hawaiian
music aloha shirts | Health Care
| football shirts | oil
paintings | Nashville Real Estate
free credit report | Dental Care
| caribbean yacht charter
| south pacific yacht
charter | Kit Car
|