"Atheist, how ya feel about former Atheist Fred Hoyle's claims about life..." Mon Jul-25-16 09:30 AM by Case_One
Let's get this convo going. I was listening to my dude Ravi Zacharias and he mentioned Fred Hoyle. So I looked dude up and was pretty impressed and amazed about this theories.
Published in his 1982/1984 books Evolution from Space (co-authored with Chandra Wickramasinghe), Hoyle calculated that the chance of obtaining the required set of enzymes for even the simplest living cell without panspermia was one in 1040,000. Since the number of atoms in the known universe is infinitesimally tiny by comparison (1080), he argued that Earth as life's place of origin could be ruled out. He claimed:
The notion that not only the biopolymer but the operating program of a living cell could be arrived at by chance in a primordial organic soup here on the Earth is evidently nonsense of a high order.
Though Hoyle had previously declared himself an atheist,this apparent suggestion of a guiding hand led him to the conclusion that "a superintellect has monkeyed with physics, as well as with chemistry and biology, and ... there are no blind forces worth speaking about in nature." He would go on to compare the random emergence of even the simplest cell without panspermia to the likelihood that "a tornado sweeping through a junk-yard might assemble a Boeing 747 from the materials therein" and to compare the chance of obtaining even a single functioning protein by chance combination of amino acids to a solar system full of blind men solving Rubik's Cubes simultaneously. Those who advocate the intelligent design (ID) belief sometimes cite Hoyle's work in this area to support the claim that the universe was fine tuned in order to allow intelligent life to be possible. Alfred Russel of the Uncommon Descent community has even gone so far as labeling Hoyle "an atheist for ID".
stravinskian Member since Feb 24th 2003 12698 posts
Mon Jul-25-16 10:15 AM
4. "He's the poster boy for failed schemes to evade the hot big bang model." In response to Reply # 0 Mon Jul-25-16 10:18 AM by stravinskian
I think he's unfairly maligned in the public consciousness. But it's odd how creationists so often latch on to him.
Theories aren't just ideas. They aren't there to be impressive or amazing. They're either true or false. And Hoyle, in his best known work, the work that's so impressive to you, had a track record of near zero.
6. "I don't know anything about any other atheist" In response to Reply # 0
once it made sense to me, from my own understanding, that was it. I didn't have to or have the desire to seek anyone else's understanding. i have no idea who this guy is and no intentions on finding out.
19. "There is no one way of thinking for an athiest" In response to Reply # 0
We don't follow some doctrine or scripture. We just don't believe in an external entity creating the planet/universe, protecting the planet, requiring worship, etc. We don't need that for our daily lives.
I let all my christian friends cook. If I'm with a group of them at a restaurant and they want to pray. I don't make a big deal about, I just bow my head and try not to feel stupid. I accept their prayers graciously. I endure their never ending talk about how good their god is, and so on.
The only time I challenge them is when they ask me directly how I feel.
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