Modus Tollens
The Law of Modus Tollens (MT) or denying the consequent takes the following form:
If X is true then Y is true.
Y is false.
Therefore X is false.
For Relative Human Efficiency, MT is:
X = A small scale event occurs or could occur naturally.
Y = That type of event can be easily produced by human effort.
Ya = Abiogenesis
Abiogenesis cannot be easily produced by human effort.
Conclusion: Abiogenesis could not have occurred.
Definition:
Abiogenesis, biopoiesis or informally the origin of life,is the natural process by which life arises from non-living matter, such as simple organic compounds.
Definition:
A small scale event is an one which requires resources of space, time, matter and energy that are within human capabilities.
Claim:
There is no small scale natural event that is observed to occur that cannot easily be produced by human effort. Neither can any such event be reasonably hypothesized . The superior ability of human effort is universal.
Criticism of the claim:
Since it is not known how abiogenesis occurred that process cannot be compared to human effort.
This criticism is dismissed for the following reasons:
- It takes the form, “There might be an exception to the rule that we don’t know about.” If this type of criticism is allowed it can be applied to any law or theory and nothing could be deemed valid.
- Not even the building blocks of life can be easily produced by human effort.
- A reasonable deductive proposition cannot be falsified by an unknown, an exception must be shown.
An additional relevant characteristic of human effort compared to unguided natural processes:
- Relative human efficiency increases exponentially as the complexity of the process increases. A simple example of this is the placing versus the dropping of coins. The ability of human effort to achieve all heads is 1 in 1 regardless of the number of coins. The chance of this occurring with a random drop is the inverse of 2^n where n is the number of coins. In an available picture of 500 coins, all heads, the difference betwen human effort and chance is 3.27^150. It is certainty versus impossibility.