[MD] Dawkins a Materialist (is watching?)

[ARLO J BENSINGER JR]

[Platt]
At least you might quote me correctly. I said the purpose of life is to live,
not exist. To live is to act, even if it's getting in line for a handout. 
 
[Arlo had said previously]
By the way, you never answered this one either. Does a firefighter who
sacrifices his life in an attempt to save another violate his "purpose"? If our
"purpose" is simply "to live", then his actions are immoral, as the violate his
very purpose. If not, why not?

[Arlo]
You gonna answer that?

[Platt]
And you've never explained how a universe emerges from nothing at all, and how
consciousness emerges from a lump of meat other than "We got lucky." 

[Arlo]
Um, I believe Case has posted several lengthy posts to this effect, and I have
given you brief answers in several recent posts.

As for our consciousness being "lucky", assuming you mean the breadth and depth
of human consciousness, I'd say we are incredible "lucky". Imagine how many
biological patterns, from fish to dinosaurs, lived on this earth for millions
and millions of years, and would still were it not for some random
climatological and environmental events, and even afterwards how many different
creatures came and went, and still the biosphere exhibits such diversity... and
in all this "consciousness" (meaning "consciousness as humans have") has only
been able to emerge from one particular biological pattern, the biological
pattern of the human brain, which like all other biological patterns was itself
the result of a long period of evolution and growth in complexity BEFORE any
type of consciousness could emerge from its fabric.

[Platt]
So what's your reason for the universe and consciousness?

[Arlo]
Quality. (And not "Quality plus a transcendent intelligence")

[Platt]
Yes, I'd say we are lucky to be here. If billions of years ago, the one chunk of
planetary debris went on a slightly different trajectory, and never hit the
earth, there could very well be no people. Go figure.

[Platt]
Yep. Just dumb luck.

[Arlo]
So you're saying the meteor was sent by a God to deliberately destroy the
dinosaurs and bring climate change, with the intent of making people?

[Platt]
Positing that God created the natural laws that resulted in rabbits, hats and a
million and one other patterns of existence at least makes sense based on
experience of how things are made.  

[Arlo]
Who made God? How does a God, whose always existed, jibe with our "experience of
how things are made"?