has led to the inescapable conclusion
I think we have to be very careful in using this phrase, particularly give the position JJ is coming from. ‘Intelligent Design’ and ‘god-didit’ both offer convenient escape hatches in this matter. It might be useful to delineate four possible categories of explanation for the diversity of life:
1) an intelligent, capricious entity created all the species individually,
2) an intelligent, capricious entity created a mechanism for all species to evolve as evidenced by the fossil record, phylogenetic trees, etc.,
3) natural processes guided only by the laws of physics, chemistry, and statistics led to the evolution of all species as evidenced by the fossil record, phylogenetic trees, etc.,
- 3A) Darwin’s proposed mechanism including later enhancements (the modern synthesis, genetic drift, etc.),
- 3B) Lamark’s proposed mechanism,
- 3C) for completeness, I’ll throw in Empedocles’ mechanism, which includes random variation but not descent with modification,
4) any other scenario one can think of (I can’t think of any, but panspermia maybe).