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Mystic I have a question for you. I think that you know enough about me to know that I have a pretty good understanding of where you are coming from. One thing I want to know is this. How do you know that the other that you perceive in your meditations is actually external, or why do you feel a need to externalise it? How are you so sure that it is not simply a part of your own psyche, a higher minded (for want of better terminology) part of yourself that you hold separate and call God? How can you be sure that the answers you have said were revealed to you were not actually answers that you found for yourself to fill in the gaps (so to speak)? This is why I will always remain open minded on the issue, there is no way to be 100% sure of anything in that regard.
Sense he insist on an appeal to authority, I would like to know this as well.
Was his PhD from an accredited institution? Did it include a rigorous quantitative research methods requirement? What discipline? Can he give us any cites to peer reviewed journals he's authored?
He holds himself out to be a scientist with a PhD, and uses that as a basis for his credibility. So lets see some more details.
And He Said...... Let There Be Logic! And There Was, and It Was Good!
By the way, Mystic; this may be of use to you as regards my particular thinking:
I'm a "lefty" in every respect; hands, eye dominance, perhaps thinking?
I agree that we are exposed to all manner of inputs, of thoughts, intuitions, etc. different people utilize such information differently; some, obviously, not at all.
I just cannot bring myself to assigning those wonder-inducing feelings, that inner peace, those "ah-hah" moments, to a single untiary "sentity" (I like it. Can I claim it?). Rather, I find true amazement in the fact (to me, at any rate) that the chance occurrence of DNA and it's necessary assistants (tRNA, for example)* came along. I have seen with my own eyes (much as you did with yours, or with your inner mind) that this was all that was required for the Universe of living organisms to arise. The rest has, by the "design" of DNA etc., thus assembled itself unfailingly into the sea of life about us. I found no need to go on a vision quest to explain it in some spiritual terms. I found the rationality of logical science sufficient for my inner happiness and fulfillment.
The wonder of that has led me to a great sense of inner peace, of having arrived at an epiphany and a confluence of logic and some more enveloping knowledge that glues the logic and my observations together.
But no lingering white beared guys (sorry; that's "bearded". Maybe he is "beered"..). No voices in my head, ever.
So, to say there are fatal flaws in the theory of Evolution is, to my interpretation, to say that it, having accomplished so much, will now fail in some way, leading to some regressive state. Like an inherited fatal genetic codon.
By the same means that you "know" of your spiritual entity, I "know" that Evolution is exactly how we all got here. (BTW, That's what this thread's about, right?) There is ample evidence for it, you know that, and probably even agree on the process. We do disagree on the originator or designer or whatever, but the arguments of some of the posters here? Against simple logical discovery and conclusions? God help us all from this level of counter-productive, dis-inquisitive hostile & combative thought!
Biologists working with the most sophisticated genetic tools are demonstrating that natural selection plays a greater role in the evolution of genes than even most evolutionists had thought.
Mystic I have a question for you. I think that you know enough about me to know that I have a pretty good understanding of where you are coming from. One thing I want to know is this. How do you know that the other that you perceive in your meditations is actually external, or why do you feel a need to externalise it? How are you so sure that it is not simply a part of your own psyche, a higher minded (for want of better terminology) part of yourself that you hold separate and call God? How can you be sure that the answers you have said were revealed to you were not actually answers that you found for yourself to fill in the gaps (so to speak)? This is why I will always remain open minded on the issue, there is no way to be 100% sure of anything in that regard.
I have explained my methods in other posts here . . . I just don't recall which threads. After so many years of meditation and control of the experiences (like lucid dreaming) and trying to control the "transients" that randomly occur, the experiences in twilight sleep (just prior to awakening or just before dropping off to sleep,), the dream state under subconscious control, and the end state consistency and resistance to ANY control . . . I am familiar enough with what my subconscious controls and I "know" what is NOT of my mind . . . the direct form of "knowing" I've discussed at length elsewhere. Sorry I can't be more helpful . . . it is really not transferable . . . it has to be directly experienced.
I'm going to paint a picture of my room. It's going to have my TV, computer, couch, and so on. It's going to have millions of colors and of course be painted with paint. I am not going to use paint, a paint brush, or paper to paint it though. It's just magically going to paint itself. Overtime, this picture is just magically, out of nothing - no paint, no person, no nothing - just going to evolve to a picture of my room. This is evolution.
I'm going to paint a picture of my room. It's going to have my TV, computer, couch, and so on. It's going to have millions of colors and of course be painted with paint. I am not going to use paint, a paint brush, or paper to paint it though. It's just magically going to paint itself. Overtime, this picture is just magically, out of nothing - no paint, no person, no nothing - just going to evolve to a picture of my room. This is evolution.
Didn't click my link did you? Afraid?....Here is another.
Charles Darwin saw that random variations in organisms provide fodder for evolution. Modern scientists are revealing how that diversity arises from changes to DNA and can add up to complex creatures or even cultures. http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=...toms-to-traits
I'm going to paint a picture of my room. It's going to have my TV, computer, couch, and so on. It's going to have millions of colors and of course be painted with paint. I am not going to use paint, a paint brush, or paper to paint it though. It's just magically going to paint itself. Overtime, this picture is just magically, out of nothing - no paint, no person, no nothing - just going to evolve to a picture of my room. This is evolution.
Seeing that we are still discovering new species of animals in the 21st century, the only site I found with an approximate number was ±1.5M here
Were god to have really gotten Adam to name them all (taking the 1.5 million) how long would that process have taken?
Gen 2:19 And out of the ground Jehovah God formed every animal of the field and every fowl of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name.
OK if we remove mushrooms etc, we are still at ±1.2M
Let us assume there was time for contemplation, say 1 minute per species as presented by god to Adam
((1,200,000 x 1)/60)/24 = 833 (24 hour days)
Remember that all happened on the sixth day
So how do the YEC folk explain a literal 6 day creation when naming the critters took 2-1/4 years 24/7?
Please do not cite Peter and the all too famous "day = 1000 = day" It is the claim that the creation took 6 literal 24 hour days.
This of course depends on which version of creation you take as literal. There are two accounts.
Seeing that we are still discovering new species of animals in the 21st century, the only site I found with an approximate number was ±1.5M here
Were god to have really gotten Adam to name them all (taking the 1.5 million) how long would that process have taken?
Gen 2:19 And out of the ground Jehovah God formed every animal of the field and every fowl of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name.
OK if we remove mushrooms etc, we are still at ±1.2M
Let us assume there was time for contemplation, say 1 minute per species as presented by god to Adam
((1,200,000 x 1)/60)/24 = 833 (24 hour days)
Remember that all happened on the sixth day
So how do the YEC folk explain a literal 6 day creation when naming the critters took 2-1/4 years 24/7?
Please do not cite Peter and the all too famous "day = 1000 = day" It is the claim that the creation took 6 literal 24 hour days.
This of course depends on which version of creation you take as literal. There are two accounts.
And if you assume that the critters are standing in line single file, and allow an average of say 3 feet per critter, you would have a line stretching from New York City to Chicago. So, 2-1/4 years standing a line almost 700 miles long....utter chaos. I can just see the opossum asking the jackal to hold his place for him so he can take a potty break. Of course tensions would be high and the urge to "line jump" overwhelming, creating total havoc.
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And He Said...... Let There Be Logic! And There Was, and It Was Good!
