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I had studied prions in school, but your definition is somewhat clearer than mine, thanks.

it is not so cut and dry as the old six-criteria definition. I think my proposed definition is more appropriate, because it takes into account new things that have been learned in the last 50 years,...

you are incorrect sir, I very much have a definition for life.

I define life as being able to self-replicate and evolve. your coffee table can't make more of itself, unless it's some sort of...

hmm. well, agree to disagree. all a prion does is fold proteins, that's all it can do. it seems to me that humans do a lot more complicated things, but maybe that's just my human arrogance.

??? alright, I'll bite. how is a prion more complex than a human?

your examples indeed prove that life begets life. they do not prove that ONLY life begets life. and as my sources showed, I am not the only one who thinks we need a better definition of life.
...

Ockham's Razor, which you invoke so glibly, is sometimes stated as "When multiple competing hypotheses are equal in other respects, the principle recommends selecting the hypothesis that introduces...

but of course:
here is a good article discussing the inherent vagueness of any definition of life that we care to make up:
Psychozoan: The Definition of Life
here is another good article about the...

but of course, it's evangelism 101:

hit 'em hard up front with hellfire and damnation, then once they're terrified out of their minds, seal the deal by offering free (at first) membership to the...

fixed that for you.

yep. that's what makes science so beautiful! not afraid to admit wrongness and learn new things. a scientific theory is nothing more than "this is the best explanation we have... FOR NOW." ...

1. intentionally creating life would not be much of an experiment. re-creating various probable primordial conditions and seeing what happens when the experiment is left alone is quite another...

ah, I see what you're saying. yes, quite true. what you are referring to is abiogenesis. it was taught even as long ago as when I was in school, and has been experimented with and partially...

please clarify, I don't understand what you mean.

as far as the big bang goes, I agree, there's no proper way to study it scientifically... it's nothing more than wild speculation. kinda like I.D.

evolution can be studied, and parts of it can...

not really. true != scientific

"Science:
In its broadest sense, science (from the Latin scientia, meaning "knowledge") refers to any systematic knowledge-base or prescriptive practice which is...

Intelligent Design requires a Designer. a Designer is, a priori, unknowable. you cannot use science, ever, to address the existence or non-existence of deities. all talk of a Designer belongs in a...

a small anecdote told by Dawkins:
"I do remember one formative influence in my undergraduate life. There was an elderly professor in my department who had been passionately keen on a particular...

and yet JMS is using a strawman argument. as X pointed out, a process that takes millions of years ain't exactly springing, and didn't start with nothing.

although I admit, if you oversimplify it...

as the kids around here say,
OH SNAP!

of course not. but religion (not just Catholicism) has a solid millenium of ideological bigotry and scientific oppression to its credit. hardly a single charlatan. Also, your reference to the...

your question is very deep, and has a lot to do with how we define "species" in the first place, and when it is appropriate to distinguish between two organisms using that terminology. my view is...

but he's never wrong about anything, right? :w
Papal infallibility - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

clarify, don't know what you mean by this.

Speciation HAS been directly observed.
Observed Instances of Speciation
Slashdot | Prions Observed Jumping Species Barrier

Speciation really isn't debatable anymore. What Russel is trying to...