On a new podcast episode of Great Minds with Michael Medved, Dr. Meyer, a philosopher of science, talks with Mr. Medved about the reasons that life’s origin does not seem amenable to materialist explanations, and why human technology falls so far short of being able to synthesize it. That’s one focus of a really interesting conversation.
Even if you don’t know how to define life, you know it when you see it. But how? Of course there is a rigorous scientific definition, specifying the characteristics that distinguish living from nonliving matter. And these lead to conundrums for any materialist understanding of evolution.
As Steve Meyer notes, evolution has two distinct branches. Biological evolution seeks to clarify how complex life arises from simpler antecedents. But chemical evolution considers an even more profound question, how living organisms arose in the first place from strictly chemical antecedents. Life from non-life — the mystery was too deep for Darwin to seriously consider, and science still lacks even a clue about it, if the willingness is absent to consider a hypothesis of design.
Listen now. The audio version is up at the Minds with Medved website, a production of Discovery Institute reflecting our partnership with the famed nationally syndicated radio who is also a Discovery Senior Fellow. The video will be posted later today. You can also find ways to subscribe there, including via iTunes. As always, the podcast is free to all. To keep great programming like this coming, please donate.
Photo: Stephen Meyer and Michael Medved, by Nathan Jacobson.