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To: Michael_Michaelangelo
Again my response to bad creationist/ID arguments:

The theory of evolution is just a theory

The word theory means something different in science than it does in common usage. Theories are the result of a hypothesis, or educated suggestion, being tested and found to be consistent with observation. A theory coherently explains a large range of observations. It is in contrast to a law which simply expresses a regularity seen in observations without attempting to explain that regularity. Theories do not become laws. Laws are not somehow more certain than theories. Both are on equal footing in science.

There's no way life could have arisen from non-living chemicals/There's no way to get from the big bang to humans

Neither the origin of life nor the big bang is covered in the theory of evolution. Evolution only applies once life has begun. It makes no difference how life began.

The second law of thermodynamics makes evolution impossible

The second law of thermodynamics states that IN A CLOSED SYSTEM, entropy always increases. The earth is not a closed system. The earth receives energy from the sun. This release of energy from the surface of the sun at a temperature of 6000K to space at a temperature of ~3K represents an enormous increase in entropy. Therefore, even taking evolution into account, the entropy of the earth/sun system does indeed increase over time.

Creationism is just as valid a theory as evolution/Evolution is not really science

To qualify as a theory in science, an idea must explain observations in such a way as to be falsifiable. This means that it must predict something and finding that this prediction is not true would require abandonment or serious modification of the theory. Evolution meets this requirement. For example, evolution predicts that in billion year old rock layers, no fossils of modern humans will be found. It predicts that all organisms on earth will have nucleic acids as their genetic material. It predicts that it will be possible to observe changes in the genepool of organisms. All of these predictions have been borne out by observations. If any of them are not, then evolution would have to be seriously modified or abandoned. I am sure that someone with more knowledge of biology could provide many more such examples. Creationism, on the other hand, by its very nature can offer no such predictions. The most basic premise of creationism is that there is an omnipotent God who created the universe. By virtue of God's omnipotence, there is no possible observation that could falsify this premise. God could have made the universe appear any way He wanted it to appear.

Evolution has never been proven

Neither has quantum theory, or relativity, or any other scientific theory or law. Science never offers proof, merely strong evidence for an idea. Evolution is backed by a large amount of observational evidence.

Evolution isn't compatible with the Bible (or belief in God)

Evolution says absolutely nothing about whether or not God exists. Science in general makes no reference to God. Theories of gravity, electromagnetism, nuclear forces, quantum mechanics, and many other theories in science are make correct predictions (so far) without reference to God in any way. As covered above, God is simply not a proper subject of science. The idea that God exists (or the idea that He doesn't) is simply not falsifiable, and is therefore not scientific. There is no test or physical evidence that would be able to prove that those who believe in God are wrong. Similarly there is no test or physical evidence to show that those who don't believe in God are wrong. Both ideas are unfalsifiable and are thus outside the realm of science. I have heard arguments that "evolutionists are trying to eliminate God." This may be true, but it is beyond the scope of the theory of evolution to try to disprove the existence of God. This is the result of some subset of scientists (or non-scientific evolution supporters) trying to push their own opinions. I have also heard people who are entirely convinced that the Bible contradicts evolution entirely since evolution is not mentioned in the Bible. Such people need to remember that, while the Bible has not changed over all these millennia, our necessarily flawed human understanding of it has. We used to believe, as recently as 140 years ago, that the Bible said that the owning of another human being in a condition of slavery was acceptable, and some even went so far as to say that the Bible said that this was a desirable condition for both the master and the slave. We no longer believe this. Therefore the way we understand the Biblical word has changed. If you believe that your interpretation of the Bible is the only one that is possibly correct, then you are ignoring the fact that good people have struggled to understand the Bible for thousands of years. It is not a sign that someone is evil if he/she disagrees with your beliefs about what the Bible means.

92 posted on 12/09/2004 11:58:32 AM PST by stremba
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To: stremba
The second law of thermodynamics makes evolution impossible

I'd just like to add to that that entropy != disorder, a misunderstanding many creationists exploit. Entropy is very hard to define with a single word, but in the systems I study, (diblock-copolymers), there is a progression from a disordered state to a very regular, beautiful patterned state, even in a closed system. In fact, there are examples of "hard" systems in which entropy is the driving force behind the disorder -> order transition. That is, they become ordered because entropy drives them to become ordered.
94 posted on 12/09/2004 12:04:48 PM PST by crail (Better lives have been lost on the gallows than have ever been enshrined in the halls of palaces.)
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To: stremba

Sorry, I meant to address that to everyone, not you in particular.


101 posted on 12/09/2004 12:12:34 PM PST by stremba
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