One class of tool molecules built by biological organisms that we discussed are "catalysts." Which of the following is the most accurate and complete statement about such biogenic catalysts?
a. Biogenic catalysts allow reactions that could never occur (even occasionally) in their absence; thus, biological chemistry is qualitatively different than all non-biological chemistry.
b. Biogenic catalysts dramatically accelerate a tiny subset of all possible chemical reactions that specifically serve the replication of the organism's design information; biological chemistry is, thus, far simpler (and much faster) than random non-biological chemistry.
c. Biogenic catalysts are among the components of organisms that allow them to invent new fundamental physical laws; thus, biological chemistry is qualitatively different than all non-biological chemistry.
d. Biogenic catalysts dramatically accelerate all possible chemical reactions in support of replication of the organism's design information; biological chemistry is, thus, much faster, but just as complex as non-biological chemistry.
7. We developed a simple, front of the tee shirt definition that describes any and all organisms (from a bacterium to a blue whale, an oak tree, or a human being). Which of the following statements is most consistent with that definition?
a. An organism consists of design information and a series of tools built by that information that allows the organism to become impervious to the Second Law of Thermodynamics.
b. An organism is a vehicle that has acquired access to new biology-specific fundamental physical laws, allowing it to behave as a "vital" biological entity.
c. An organism consists of design information and a series of tools built by that information to support the replication of that information.
d. An organism is a vehicle that natural selection has shaped to allow it to evade an entire set of universal chemical laws, thereby becoming capable of behavior and reproduction.
8. Which of the following is (are) an accurate statement about one of the causes of evolution by natural selection?
a. Because the sequence of replicating design information controls anatomy and behavior
b. Because the biological world is usually crowded, making reproduction competitive
c. Because replication of design information is imperfectly accurate, by design
d. Because replication of design information is imperfectly accurate, unavoidably
e. a., b., c.
f. a., b., d
9. We humans recognize that non-human animal behavior is often predictable and that animals appear to have clearly defined goals and purposes in their behaviors. Which of the following is the most accurate and complete statement about this "purposefulness?"
a. Purposeful behavior represents the strategies that are most successful in replicating the design information that builds those behaviors, arising in deliberate pursuit of biological reproduction.
b. Purposeful behavior reflects the inherent purposefulness of the entire universe, representing the drive by the universe to understand itself.
c. Purposeful behavior simply represents the strategies that are most successful in replicating the design information that builds those behaviors, blindly arrived at by natural selection.
d. Purposeful behavior reflects the inherent purposefulness of biology, with biology having arisen in order to bring purpose into the universe.
e. Organisms do not behave purposefully; our human minds are vulnerable to the illusion of purposeful behavior where none exists.
10. One feature of large animals that might worry us is their spectacular complexity (think of their minds and organ systems, for example). Perhaps this means that organisms are so complicated that we have no chance of understanding the origins and logic of their behaviors. Which of the following is the most accurate and complete resolution of this conundrum as discussed in TOPIC 3?
a. The apparent complexity of animals is produced by simple interaction, a long sequence of macromolecules, each building the next.
b. We do not understand the complexity of animals; thus, our ability to understand their behavior is sharply limited.
c. The apparent complexity of animals is produced by simple interaction, hierarchically nested combinatorial deployment of diverse classes of structural elements.
d. We do not understand the complexity of animals; however, we don't need to understand these features in order to understand the logic of their behavior.