Reply #49: the evolution of life as we know it took billions of years

[0rganism]

so yes, all the BILLIONS of Evolutionary changes that have happened through time could readily be explained by combinations of mutation (random) and natural selection (deterministic). Do you have any idea how fast these changes accumulate into measurable genetic drift when applied to microbes and insects? We're talking days or less, when significant mutagens and selective pressures are applied. Any working theory of life-as-we-know-it must be able to describe such phenomenon.

Theories of evolution must adequately explain the observed data while being capable of making accurate predictions. Occam's razor would indicate that assuming some inherent capacity for "intelligence" in "all physical matter" is above and beyond the scope of that which is necessary to support such a theory, and such assumptions should be discarded forthwith. Really, the very notion of "intelligence" as anything other than a gradually adapting set of survival-enhancing behaviors is a semantic one begging in the streets for adequate specification.

On the matter of untenability, those who dwell in stained-glass houses should be very careful when tossing about the stone known as Occam's Razor...