Dan said:
I don't know, Dave. I think there are observations being made that non-DNA
based lifeforms are possible: "Synthetic biologists have discovered that six
other molecules can could store genetic information and pass it on. A host of
alternative nucleic acids have been made in labs over the years, but no one has
made them work like DNA. Until now, everyone thought we were limited to RNA and
DNA. ...The finding is a proof of principle that life needn't be based on DNA
and RNA."
dmb says:
Hmmm. This certainly would defy the assertion that life MUST be based on DNA or
the idea that non-DNA forms of life are impossible. But there is one major
problem, Dan. I didn't says that it's impossible and I don't think it's
impossible either. In fact, I said it was a plausible idea. "It seems to me
that non-DNA life forms would be greeted as an exciting discovery. Sci-Fi
writers and real scientists have been dreaming about it for a while." BUT these
alternative life forms are still just speculations, abstract patterns that lots
of people desperately want to see it - but nobody ever has. People are looking
for such a fact, even trying to conjure it up, and they still can't find it.
If such an alternative life form appeared from the sky or was created in a lab,
I think the news would be on the front page of every paper in the world, etc..
To say there is presently no empirical evidence is very different from saying
that it's impossible. I'm only saying that there is no known evidence.
And the point of this was originally aimed at Ian, who claimed that the MOQ
should include these alternative life forms. Since no such thing exists (as far
as we know), I thought it was rather silly to insist on their inclusion in the
MOQ's levels.
Don't the levels just divide what's in an ideal encyclopedia, rather than
carving up a pre-exisiting physical universe? I mean, isn't there a subtle
switch back into scientific objectivity in these assertions about what may or
may not exist in the unobserved universe? I think so.
Moq_Discuss mailing list
Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc.
http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org
Archives:
http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/
http://moq.org/md/archives.html
