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Although I believe in a method of evolution...I do want to caution you...SCIENCE HAS BEEN WRONG BEFORE...and IT WILL BE AGAIN.
this is one of the beauties of the scientific method though. when new information comes about, the scientific community has usually been the first to eagerly embrace the change.
there have certainly been scientists that became dogmatically comfortable in their theories and laws, but by and large, the whole scientific process is transparent enough that it can be challenged by anyone with the proper knowledge.
and the whole premise relies on the idea that any scientific proof has to be repeatable by other scientists in other controlled experiments, or observable by others under similar conditions. if it is not, it is not science.
in fact, if you think that most biologists would not jump at the chance to be the one to discover a new system of inheritance, one that disproves evolution, then you are smoking crack.
so far though, there is not another theory that holds even one one-hundredth of the mechanical precision that evolution does. there have already been parts of the original theory that have been disproven and refined. but so far, none of these have served to discredit evolution, but have instead added to the knowledge that we have, and strengthened the theory of evolution until it is as reliable as gravity.
so, i don't think that anyone has ever argued that nothing will change, or that we should believe wholeheartedly without any question in any single scientific principle. we should continue to explore and to experiment, and through that process we will refine our knowledge of all of the sciences.
it is my belief that God gave us our awesome brains with the whole purpose of us using them, and the scientific method is one of the best ways that we can utilize our God-given intelligence.
So you don't believe in something unless you personally have time to sit down and mull over the facts, huh? Hmm..so I'm guessing that you don't believe in Eisntein's Theory of Relativity? Or Stephen Hawking's theory of Black Holes? Or Newton's Law of Gravity? Or the Three Laws of Thermodynamics? Or how about quantam physics? Because, unless you posess the Ph.D level of scientific savvy which is usaally required to digest and fully comprehend all those theories, I doubt you've sat down an mulled over those facts either, have you? But yet: News Flash! They exist!
Reality check for you--since you seem to place such important stock on reality vs. myth: Just because little ol' you doesn't deem something important, or have the time or smarts to understand it, doesn't mean it ain't so.
Peace.
Last edited by DrummerBoy; 03-12-2010 at 10:46 PM..
Drummer, I solved your dilemma just the other day in another thread. When you lack the expertise to evaluate the science behind an issue, you follow the money. You look and see which side of the controversy has a financial interest in propagating their belief. Money always talks loudest, and if people spend their money trying to make you believe something, the skeptic flag ought to go up. It's not proof of anything, but it's a leading indicator.
Not all the works of people are always the perfection of mankind. Nobel, the creator of dynamite didnt want to be remembered for being Dr. Death so he set up the prizes for peace. Just because one work is outstanding and brilliant doesn't mean everything is. Sometimes past works are hard to measure up to. ... We should all have that problem.
I don't have a problem with the skepticism of the OP but one should also be able to distinguish when to agree as well. When it comes to evolution none of us will prove for a fact which is right. We study, and ultimately speculate a position. left or right both have an equal chance of being wrong.
the only reason i bothered to bring this up is because it seems to take up some time in presidential debates and people tend to get quite hot under the collar. personally i couldn't think of anything more irrelevant but here is my take on the topic:
i don't believe in evolution like i don't believe in 99% of the subjective nonsense which was taught to me at school! let me just clarify why:
i don't believe in evolution because it is not a topic which i consider worthy enough of my time to research all the evidence for and against. unless i have personally had the time to sit down and mull over the facts, i don't really believe in anything! i just cannot take for granted what other people spout as fact. this is not to say that i disagree with darwin's theory just that i reserve the right to not have an opinion. as an atheist though i don't believe in creationism but that's a topic for another thread.
the thing i find puzzling though is how the left wing intellegentsia is uber critical of conservative politicians views on the issue. they spout out darwin's words as undeniable. they never seem to want to bring up any of his later work namely, 'the descent of man' commonly recognized to have been an instrumental idea in the Holocaust.
If you don't study it, how can you speak intelligently about it?
When evolutionary theory is properly studied by an individual capable of the contemplation necessary to properly understand it, there can be no doubt as to it's validity. In serious scientific circles evolutionary theory is no longer contested and to do so is to align oneself with the lunatic fringe. In short, only an academic crackpot would endeavor to rail against it. But that doesn't stop the "Buy Bull" thumping Luddite zombies of City Data from launching one pseudo-scientific assault after another.
the only reason i bothered to bring this up is because it seems to take up some time in presidential debates and people tend to get quite hot under the collar. personally i couldn't think of anything more irrelevant but here is my take on the topic:
i don't believe in evolution like i don't believe in 99% of the subjective nonsense which was taught to me at school! let me just clarify why:
i don't believe in evolution because it is not a topic which i consider worthy enough of my time to research all the evidence for and against. unless i have personally had the time to sit down and mull over the facts, i don't really believe in anything! i just cannot take for granted what other people spout as fact. this is not to say that i disagree with darwin's theory just that i reserve the right to not have an opinion. as an atheist though i don't believe in creationism but that's a topic for another thread.
the thing i find puzzling though is how the left wing intellegentsia is uber critical of conservative politicians views on the issue. they spout out darwin's words as undeniable. they never seem to want to bring up any of his later work namely, 'the descent of man' commonly recognized to have been an instrumental idea in the Holocaust.
I'm not sure who you mean by "the left wing intelligentsia," but I'm sure more of them have read and discussed "The Descent of Man" than have right wing anti-intellectuals.
Most people who think, left-wing and otherwise, reject as ridiculous any connection between "The Descent of Man" and social Darwinism and the Holocaust, or other holocausts, excusing genocide by blaming Darwin for it and so forth.
Maybe that's why no one except right-wingers brings it up
I think if you dont believe in evolution you must believe we are all single cell life forms living a couple billion years ago in the oceans.
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