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Denton’s prior fitness argument: Everything seems to have come together to produce humans

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One of the arguments in Michael Denton’s new book, The Miracle of Man (2022), arguing that nature is fine-tuned for human life, is the
prior fitness argument. In a podcast, Denton, who is also an MD, “marvels at the engineering sophistication of the human heart and hands.”

But the remarkable thing is prior fitness:

One or two such examples are interesting. But where the argument gains dramatic force is in the accumulation of many examples, stretching from physics and the characteristics of our sun to chemistry and the ensemble of unique characteristics of planet Earth, water, carbon, and the transition metals.

Evolution News, “Miracle of Man: Denton’s Prior Fitness Argument” at Evolution News (May 12, 2022)

Didn’t Freeman Dyson (1923–2020) say, “The more I examine the universe and the details of its architecture, the more evidence I find that the universe in some sense must have known we were coming.” The idea isn’t new; there’s just much more evidence for it.

You may also wish to read: Michael Denton’s new book: Nature is fine-tuned for human existence – check the stats Publisher: Drawing on discoveries from a myriad of scientific fields, Denton masterfully documents how contemporary science has revived humanity’s special place in nature.

The book is still doing well at Amazon:

#19 in Cosmology (Books)
#36 in Anatomy (Books)
#89 in Earth Sciences (Books)

Best Sellers Rank: #10,335 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Comments
"clearly a lot of people disagree with you" Appeal to authority doesn't resolve any scientific question. Andrewasauber
June 6, 2022
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JVL:
Anyway, clearly a lot of people disagree with you on those points which is why unguided evolution has such wide support amongst working scientists especially biologists.
What type of support? They can't formulate a scientific theory of evolution. They don't know what determines biological form. They don't have a mechanism capable of producing the diversity of life. They can't even tell us how to test the claim that blind and mindless processes did it! So, again, what type of support are they providing?ET
June 6, 2022
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It is obvious, therefore, that the earth and the universe had the prior fitness to allow me to exist
But why did these circumstances exist? Why does such a seemingly impossible event exist? It is unlikely that they could have existed through happenstance. That is the issue.jerry
June 6, 2022
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I exist. It is obvious, therefore, that the earth and the universe had the prior fitness to allow me to exist, and both my parents before me, and my four grandparents before and my eight grandparents before that.DeclanChandler
June 6, 2022
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"Aren’t you claiming to have proven a negative?" JVL, Not at all. Is a snake capable of building a nicely-stained wooden dresser? Just wait long enough, right? "wide support amongst working scientists especially biologists." Ah, the old appeal to authority. Who cares? Andrewasauber
May 16, 2022
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Asuaber: Ah, but Evolution has been shown to have limitations. It cant account for all the attributes we require. How can you 'show' that something which you didn't witness didn't happen? Aren't you claiming to have proven a negative? Anyway, clearly a lot of people disagree with you on those points which is why unguided evolution has such wide support amongst working scientists especially biologists.JVL
May 16, 2022
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"Why couldn’t it have been the other way around? We’re here, well suited to this collection of environments because evolution favoured life forms which were better suited?" JVL, Ah, but Evolution has been shown to have limitations. It cant account for all the attributes we require. Which is why you resort to pushing the problems into Preferred Imaginary Narratives. Andrewasauber
May 16, 2022
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Asuaber: it’s obvious the Earth (our niche environment) was specially made for us to live in or we wouldn’t be thriving here. Why couldn't it have been the other way around? We're here, well suited to this collection of environments because evolution favoured life forms which were better suited?JVL
May 16, 2022
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I think people are suffering from the game/pretense of expectations or preconceptions being met/not met. Upon detached examination (see Michael Denton's new book), it's obvious the Earth (our niche environment) was specially made for us to live in or we wouldn't be thriving here. Either you are capable of recognizing and acknowledging design or you deny it exists. It's that simple. Andrewasauber
May 16, 2022
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No one says the universe was designed just for us. Given an intelligently Designed universe I would expect more habitable and inhabited planets. And more beings capable of scientific discovery.ET
May 15, 2022
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This world, even our small piece of it, is like a complicated 4 dimensional jigsaw puzzle.
One dimension is cosmology and the characteristics of elements and basic molecules and planet formation in addition to the four forces and cosmological constants. The second dimension is bio complexity. The third dimension is terrestrial characteristics or the unique characteristics of Earth and our solar system. This has been covered before in several places but Denton expands on it in ways I have not seen before. The fourth dimension is time as dimensions two and three develop over time to form the amazing now. Of course since this has a long way to go, it is not clear what time will do with the other three dimensions.
https://uncommondescent.com/intelligent-design/michael-dentons-new-book-nature-is-fine-tuned-for-human-existence/#comment-754794jerry
May 15, 2022
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The more we learn about the unimaginable scale of the bit of the Universe we can actually see, the more absurd it sounds to claim that it was all designed just for us. And that's quite apart from the fact that conditions in the vast majority of that Universe are lethal to human life. I don't think so.Seversky
May 15, 2022
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"The Fitness of the Environment" was a key idea that got Michael Denton working on his 1986 masterpiece - and that influenced Behe for DBB in 1994. Awaiting The Miracle of Man - and only regretting that I used Amazon. But habit and convenience won out.Silver Asiatic
May 15, 2022
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It sounds like Einsteins continued belief of God by studying the universe.BobRyan
May 15, 2022
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