To the best of my knowledge, there is absolutely no proof of evolution occuring at the macro- level. We have observed it at the micro- level, as some species have undergone slight changes in color or size, but in the entire history of our observation of nature we have never ever witnessed, nor have evidence, one species completely changing into another.
The entire history of our (carefully recorded and scientifically analyzed) observation of nature has lasted, at the outside, 500 years (that's being generous). The sort of speciation to which you refer takes place over thousands or tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands (or more) of years (except at the microbial level).
Time is the key.
Hey, how's things? We never finished our Peirceian discussion. Maybe some other time.
Isn't this "We can only observe things over an extended period of time," just too convenient an out?
If Christians were to pose (as some do) that you'll only know the truth of God over an extended period of time (beyond the limits of one's lifetime), anti-religionists would decry them as charlatans.
What makes my 'faith' any less 'faith' than your 'faith'?
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The entire history of our (carefully recorded and scientifically analyzed) observation of nature has lasted, at the outside, 500 years (that's being generous). The sort of speciation to which you refer takes place over thousands or tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands (or more) of years (except at the microbial level).
Time is the key.
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This is simply incorrect. In a steady-state, constant process, time cancels out of the equations. The math clearly states that you should be able to take a representative population sample and see a 'snapshot' of every point in the process.
Biologists use this mathematical prinicple to study life cycles of bacteria, physicists use it to study stellar life cycles and radioactive decay, chemists use it to study the stages of a chemical reaction, etc.
If evolution were truly occuring on the macro scale in a continual process, we wouldn't have to be digging through the fossil record, we could study it happening in the biosphere today.