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Fri 16 May, 2014 07:16 pm
Does "are up there in 747 territory" mean "happen in the field of manufacturing Boeing 747"?
Context:
The name comes from Fred Hoyle's amusing image of the Boeing
747 and the scrapyard. I am not sure whether Hoyle ever wrote it
down himself, but it was attributed to him by his close colleague
58
Chandra Wickramasinghe and is presumably authentic. Hoyle
said that the probability of life originating on Earth is no greater
than the chance that a hurricane, sweeping through a scrapyard,
would have the luck to assemble a Boeing 747. Others have
borrowed the metaphor to refer to the later evolution of complex
living bodies, where it has a spurious plausibility. The odds against
assembling a fully functioning horse, beetle or ostrich by randomly
shuffling its parts are up there in 747 territory. This, in a nutshell,
is the creationist's favourite argument - an argument that could be
made only by somebody who doesn't understand the first thing
about natural selection: somebody who thinks natural selection is a
theory of chance whereas - in the relevant sense of chance - it is the
opposite.
@oristarA,
"Are up there in 747 territory" speaks to probability. In that, the probability of random mutations creating a beetle, horse, etc. are as small as the probability of a hurricane in a junk yard creating a 747 jet. At least according to this author.
@Zarathustra,
Zarathustra wrote:
"Are up there in 747 territory" speaks to probability. In that, the probability of random mutations creating a beetle, horse, etc. are as small as the probability of a hurricane in a junk yard creating a 747 jet. At least according to this author.
Thanks.
But the meaning of the word territory is not clear for me.
Does it mean field?
@oristarA,
It means the probability level.
The random-based creation of aminals is at the same level of probability (the same territory) as the hurricane-based creation of a jet.
@oristarA,
Maybe a better way to look at it is that, in general, territory means "in relatively close proximity", by what ever measure is implied or stated, in this case "level of probability". Neighborhood would be a synonymy.
@Zarathustra,
Zarathustra wrote:
It means the probability level.
The random-based creation of aminals is at the same level of probability (the same territory) as the hurricane-based creation of a jet.
Cool. Thanks.
Any one would like explain what is
the first thing in " the first thing
about natural selection" in the context?
@oristarA,
oristarA wrote:Any one would like explain what is the first thing in " the first thing about natural selection" in the context?
You need to consider the whole phrase:
Quote:somebody who doesn't understand the first thing about natural selection
If somebody does not know (or understand) the 'first thing' about something or someone, then they they do not know (or understand) anything about that thing or person. The "first thing about" something is the very small initial piece of knowledge or understanding that an absolute novice in the subject would have.
@oristarA,
Quote:But the meaning of the word territory is not clear for me. Does it mean field?
Field and territory both have more than one meaning, including the one we need here.
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