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ORIGINS WEEKLY

The Origin of Life Mystery Continues To Spark A Debate: Dave Farina Vs. Dr James Tour

Updated: Apr 29, 2023

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Youtube videos of Dr. James Tour & Dave Farina via Origins Weekly Instagram



The Origin of Life

The Origin of life has always been a topic that creates an uproar between two main groups: creationists and evolutionists.


The topic also starts debates between the most knowledgeable individuals in physics, chemistry, and biology as well. The arguments do not start directly from disagreements, rather, the arguments stem directly from a mystery that nobody seems to get right, that is exactly where we came from.


The origin of life study, also known as pre-biotic chemistry, has several theories that explain where life originated from. Here is a list of the following ideas:

  1. The "primordial soup" theory proposes that life arose from a mixture of simple organic molecules that existed on early Earth. This theory suggests that these molecules may have formed through chemical reactions driven by energy from sources such as lightning or ultraviolet radiation

  2. The "metabolism-first" theory proposes that life began with self-sustaining chemical reactions, such as those that produce energy and break down and build up organic molecules. According to this theory, the first living cells may have been simple chemical reactors that were able to maintain their own metabolism.

  3. The "RNA world" theory suggests that RNA, a molecule that can store genetic information and catalyze chemical reactions, may have played a key role in the origin of life. According to this theory, RNA may have been the first molecule capable of replicating itself and performing the functions of both DNA and proteins, allowing it to serve as the basis for the first living cells.

  4. The "hydrothermal vent" theory proposes that life may have originated at deep-sea hydrothermal vents, where hot, mineral-rich water is spewed from the Earth's crust. According to this theory, the high temperatures and chemical reactions at these vents may have provided the energy and raw materials needed for the formation of the first living cells.



How Did This All Start?

Though the ideas above are strongly supported by many origins of life scientists, there are skeptics like Dr. James Tour who believe that life could not arise simply from simple organic molecules or abiogenesis. Dave Farina took his time to challenge Dr. Tour by making a video titled: "Elucidating The Agenda of James Tour: A Defense of Abiogenesis".


In this video, Farina gives a detailed presentation of abiogenesis and the origin of life. Coupled with his impressive explanations, he also exposes Dr. Tour pushing an agenda that is very common among most academic creationists. Farina says:

But every once in a while, a hero emerges from academia to champion the cause of the creationist, and lend some illusory credence to their views. In this case, that hero is James Tour, a synthetic organic chemist who insists that abiogenesis is impossible, and he should know better than anyone, because he's a chemist. I was made aware of Dr. Tour after a couple hundred people linked me to a video of his in an empty argument from authority, insisting that because a chemist confirms their religious bias, they must be right. But is Dr. Tour a bit biased himself?

After Dave's video release, it made it to the eyes of Dr Tour, where in response he released a 14-part series on his Youtube channel. Dr. Tour explains that the purpose of the series is to address common misconceptions. The series includes an introduction and a deep dive into homochirality, carbohydrates, lipids, and cell construction & assembly problems. Both Tour and Farina offered decent scientific information, but not enough for either to agree to disagree.


The 14-part series led to Dave's most popular two-part series reaching 1.8 million views combined. The blows to Dr. Tour's credibility are thrown viciously through Farina's video. Farina mentions that Tour is "clueless" had "classic fallacious talking points, with plenty of bald-faced lies and deliberate misrepresentations of scientific research peppered in for good measure".


Snarky comments continued to spiral as more videos come out not only exposing Tour but other individuals like Michael J. Behe and Stephen Meyer.


What's Happening Now?

After the two-part series, we are now at several video releases of Dr. Tour continuing to defend his skepticism for abiogenesis in a new series, "Addressing Abiogenesis Season 02".

Dave Farina continues to create videos exposing members of the Discovery Institute and others that have doubts about principles in the origin of life study.


What are your thoughts?

 

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