Posted on 05/31/2005 4:48:54 PM PDT by RightWingAtheist
Chimpanzees are not monkeys, nitwit, they are apes. How the hell do you expect anyone to take you seriously when you don't even get first-grade zoology correct?
I'm partial to the 'Big Smoke' theory, right after the 'Big Bang'.
It's not difficult to comprehend, and just about every one does comprehend it.
... and what is it about evolution that people turn aside all reason to deny it?
The belief that humans are somehow "special".
Welcome to Crevoland.
Which version of evolution are you talking about? The one I'm familiar with is a scientific theory.
It's just the usual chest-thumping for their side. They'll scream they're winning all the way to irrelevance and oblivion.
This is a rehash of "if we evolved from monkeys why are there still monkeys" question. In the same way, if Americans came from Europe, why are there still Europeans?
they were exempted from the forces that have acted on other forms of life for billions of years--seems strange that any old form including sharks and crocks would not have had major evolutionary change when the Evolutionist tell us that Evolution is such a powerful force- why are these life forms not effected???
Ever hear of a local fitness maximum? Top-level predators don't have much pressure to change. But that notwithstanding, what makes you think evolution has no effect on sharks?
Perhaps you misapprehend what the theory of evolution actually says.
Under the external hoof, horses have 5 digits
Not only do simple cells exist, the amoeba which is a one celled animal is literally a part of the first amoeba since they reproduce by division.
... evolution seems to have weakness in explaining major new species which are not able to reproduce with progenitors. Are we to believe that such changes must produce offspring of both sexes at the same moment.
...so no I do not refute evolution I just think that it may not be the primary vehicle for major change.
Again, it appears as though you labor under a number of misconceptions regarding the theory of evolution. You may be correct in that evolution may fall by the wayside, but I find it unlikely. However, should evolution ever be falsified beyond recoverability, I will cheerfully abandon it. Just remember that ID must stand or fall on its own merits.
As for your second point, try Methods of Speciation (PDF) or ring species.
How can they still exist if they reproduce by division? Once it evolved into something else wouldn't it divide itself into what ever form it evolved into?
Or are you saying those things live forever and the very first amoeba to ever exist still exists?
No, They don't..
"The horses foot contacts the ground only with the hoof of the third digit [like our middle toe] in an almost vertical position [like a ballet dancer, en pointe]," says Gheorghe M. Constantinescu, professor of veterinary anatomy, University of Missouri-Columbia and author of the book Clinical Dissection Guide for Large Animals.
Only splint bones alongside the cannon bone remain of its second and fourth toes. [P.D. Garrett, DVD, MS]
Moreover, the so-called cannon bone is much longer proportionately than ours.
What do I mean by "cannon bone"? Look at your foot.
The five bones going from your ankle to your toes correspond to the one bone in the horses foot: the cannon bone.
But, its huge running half way up the horses leg to what looks like its knee but is actually its ankle (called the hock).
Almost all trace of its other toes has vanished. Only splint bones alongside the cannon bone remain of its second and fourth toes. Short, strong ligaments tie the splint bones to the cannon bone.
That should read:
"A horse can still produce a mule..."
I'm not sure if this is scientifically correct, but the principle involved is the "differentiation" of the species of horse and donkey..
At some point, horses and donkeys split into two different breeds or species..
For a very long time, there was plenty of interbreeding, but over eons, the two species became less and less alike..
Such matings became "accidental" until man came along and started interbreeding on purpose..
Without human interference, ( and maybe in spite of it, ) horse and donkey will eventually be unable to interbreed at all..
Result,.. No more Mules..
While still closely "related" enough to produce offspring, they are generally infertile.
Occassionally a horse/jenny or donkey/mare offspring will be fertile and able to produce offspring..
What am I missing?
I think what is missing is Time.
The Salamanders have not remained distinct for a long enough period to completely become two different "species", if that's the right word..
Something similar was reported recently concerning birds that split their migration around the Himalayan mountain range.. ( National Geographic? )
Those that went North and East can interbreed...
Those that went North and West can interbreed..
Those IN the Northeast and Northwest cannot..
The two branches even have developed different coloration, as well as mating calls and habits..
Given time, the salamanders will become distinct branches of their species, with more than mating habits to differentiate them.. physical characteristics will eventually develop as well, to make identification of qualified mating material easier to identify..
The old "It's all random" argument..
Evolution isn't random..
I beleive in God, and God's creation of the Universe..
Second, I believe God created evolution..
I have no I repeat, no problem with the existance of God and Evolution in the same universe..
I don't see evolution as an attempt to discount the existence of God, I see it as an attempt to understand how God created the universe and everything in it..
That said, let's get back to randomicity..
All life has certain priorities, the foremost are survival and reproduction..
This fact (FACT) alone precludes the idea that evolution is a "random" process..
That which survives has the (an) opportunity to determine the characteristics of the following generation(s)..by passing on it's genes...
That which has the best chances for procreation, (health, choice of mate, health of said mate) are most likely to do so, and to produce healthy offspring, with the best survival characteristics..
Often, the environment in which that life exists can have a determining effect on which characteristics are emminently "survival" and "health" characteristics, and when (not if, when) that suited life "exhibits" certain feaures which identify it as more suited to survive, said life will increase it's chances at mating, and therefore, passing on it's survivability, health, preferable mating features, etc..
This is, in essence, evolution.. in it's simplist form..
As you can plainly see, it is not random..
I have pointed out the "external factors" that influence that life, and will, in Time, differentiate it from other life forms...
It has nothing to do with monkeys on typewriters...
It is not random..
It is evolution..
And like I said at the beginning, it does Not Exclude God in any way..
A God or Being, whatever or however you wish to describe It/Him/Her that can create a Universe, create the Physical Laws that govern Mass, Energy, Gravity, the orbits of Galaxies, Stars and planets, That created Elements in solid liquid and gas, and that created Life itself, is surely intelligent enough to create an orderly way in which to do all that and more...
Look to your Bible..
Man cannot comprehend God..
I suppose, if God had "wanted" to create Man out of the blue, God could very well have done so..
But, that would be like an "afterthought" wouldn't it??
If God were to create a Universe, and a place for man to live, called Earth, and all the Cosmos, wouldn't God just "do it" ???
Wouldn't God Just Do It, All At Once, and simply let the process happen?
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