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Does "No tower of Babel was to be allowed in the language of life" mean "no exception was to be allo

 
 
Reply Wed 14 May, 2014 10:13 pm
Does "No tower of Babel was to be allowed in the language of life" mean "no exception was to be allowed in the language of life"?

Context:

Investigations of many organisms, from bacteria to humans, revealed that this "genetic code," by which information
in DNA and RNA is translated into protein, is universal in all known organisms. No tower of Babel was to be allowed in the language of life. GAG means glutamic acid in the language of soil bacteria, the mustard weed, the alligator, and your aunt Gertrude.
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Type: Question • Score: 3 • Views: 576 • Replies: 9
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View best answer, chosen by oristarA
oristarA
 
  1  
Reply Thu 15 May, 2014 12:29 am
@oristarA,
My guess is a yes.
But there seems to some nuance buried within. What is that, I wonder.
McTag
  Selected Answer
 
  2  
Reply Thu 15 May, 2014 01:47 am
@oristarA,
It's a rather far-fetched metaphor.

The Tower of Babel is mentioned in the Bible, a legendary tower where everyone spoke different languages and no-one understood what anybody else was saying.

Hence this natural system, "this genetic code, by which information
in DNA and RNA is translated into protein, is universal in all known organisms" is shown to be in contrast to that.
oristarA
 
  1  
Reply Thu 15 May, 2014 03:12 am
@McTag,
McTag wrote:

It's a rather far-fetched metaphor.

The Tower of Babel is mentioned in the Bible, a legendary tower where everyone spoke different languages and no-one understood what anybody else was saying.

Hence this natural system, "this genetic code, by which information
in DNA and RNA is translated into protein, is universal in all known organisms" is shown to be in contrast to that.


Yeah. I wonder what was in the mind of the writer (of The Language of God).
0 Replies
 
Joe Nation
 
  1  
Reply Thu 15 May, 2014 04:10 am
The real problem is that it's not a very good book.

The metaphor you quote is only one of many the author stretches around a point he is trying to make.

I'm glad he managed to get his thoughts down on paper, but I wish he hadn't bothered.

Joe(GAG is glutamic acid; it is also my reaction to his thought process.)Nation
oristarA
 
  1  
Reply Thu 15 May, 2014 07:30 am
@Joe Nation,
Joe Nation wrote:

The real problem is that it's not a very good book.

The metaphor you quote is only one of many the author stretches around a point he is trying to make.

I'm glad he managed to get his thoughts down on paper, but I wish he hadn't bothered.

Joe(GAG is glutamic acid; it is also my reaction to his thought process.)Nation


In my view that is a good book. One flaw cannot obscure the splendor of the jade.
In the same time that I read The Language of God by Francis Collins, I read The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins as well.
0 Replies
 
McTag
 
  1  
Reply Thu 15 May, 2014 05:07 pm
@Joe Nation,
Joe(he cuts to the chase)Nation gets to the nub:

"Why don't I like explaining this crap? Because it's crap!"

(Opinions expressed here are not necessarily shared by the Management)
oristarA
 
  1  
Reply Thu 15 May, 2014 10:10 pm
@McTag,
McTag wrote:

Joe(he cuts to the chase)Nation gets to the nub:

"Why don't I like explaining this crap? Because it's crap!"

(Opinions expressed here are not necessarily shared by the Management)


Do you have the impression that Joe is an atheist?
McTag
 
  2  
Reply Fri 16 May, 2014 02:56 am
@oristarA,

I could not possibly comment. I am, myself.
0 Replies
 
izzythepush
 
  2  
Reply Fri 16 May, 2014 05:58 am
Paul Auster's City Of Glass, now part of The New York Trilogy, has a good examination of The Tower Of Babel. In it some crazy old bloke theorises that if a baby is kept away from all outside stimuli he will speak the language of the angels.

John Dee reckoned he'd already communicated in the language of the angels, which he called Enochian, after the prophet Enoch.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/61/Enochian_alphabet.png/550px-Enochian_alphabet.png
0 Replies
 
 

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