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Jonathan Wells Hits an Evolutionary Nerve (over origin of functional genetic information)
Discovery Institute ^ | October 14, 2009 | Casey Luskin

Posted on 10/15/2009 8:15:58 PM PDT by GodGunsGuts

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To: betty boop
But this is not a question the Darwinist asks at all.

Looking over some of the crevo threads, I can understand why they'd want to avoid it.

61 posted on 10/20/2009 3:28:04 PM PDT by tacticalogic ("Oh bother!" said Pooh, as he chambered his last round.)
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To: betty boop
This line really drives the point:

Similarly, the true object of architecture is not bricks, mortar, or timber, but the house; and so the principal object of natural philosophy is not the material elements, but their composition, and the totality of the form, independently of which they have no existence.

Thank you so very much for sharing your insights and that wonderful excerpt, dearest sister in Christ!

But this is not a question the Darwinist asks at all.

Indeed. How sad.

62 posted on 10/20/2009 9:17:05 PM PDT by Alamo-Girl
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To: Alamo-Girl
This line really drives the point:

Similarly, the true object of architecture is not bricks, mortar, or timber, but the house; and so the principal object of natural philosophy is not the material elements, but their composition, and the totality of the form, independently of which they have no existence.

...still true, after 2,300+ years....

I'm glad Robert Rosen noticed. :^)

Thank you so much for your kind worlds of support, dearest sister in Christ!

63 posted on 10/21/2009 8:50:44 AM PDT by betty boop (Without God man neither knows which way to go, nor even understands who he is. —Pope Benedict XVI)
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To: tacticalogic; Alamo-Girl; hosepipe; xzins; GodGunsGuts; TXnMA; MHGinTN; CottShop
Looking over some of the crevo threads, I can understand why they'd want to avoid it.

For the newbie, "crevo" threads are where religious battles between theists and atheists are conducted. Science itself is rarely, if ever, discussed.

The funny thing is, both the "creationists" (theists) and the "Darwinists" (mainly atheists — though I certainly don't believe all are such, just the loud ones around here, and Richard Dawkins, of course) — are engaging in theological dispute: The 800-pound gorilla in the room is always God, not Darwin. And that on both sides.

Now the theists posit many attributes to God; such as, from my little list, Creator; Father, Son, Spirit; Logos, Alpha–Omega; Savior, Redeemer; Justice, Truth, Goodness, Beauty; among others.

The atheists also posit an attribute to God, but only one: Non-existence.

Of course, one cannot posit anything of a non-existent entity. At least, not logically. 'Nuff said.

Evidently, the atheists think Darwin helps make their case; which is why the theists mainly hate Darwin.

But it seems to me Darwin should not be held culpable for the usages to which his theory has been put by modern-day ideological entrepreneurs. I don't hold him responsible for, say, Richard Dawkins.

It would be really nice to have a bona fide discussion about a scientific topic around here. Some time.

JMHO, FWIW

64 posted on 10/21/2009 7:59:24 PM PDT by betty boop (Without God man neither knows which way to go, nor even understands who he is. —Pope Benedict XVI)
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To: betty boop
For the newbie, "crevo" threads are where religious battles between theists and atheists are conducted.

I see very few people post to the crevo threads that are self-professed atheists. Most of the theological argument seems to be among the theists, with people of different beliefs and doctrines arguing their the "true" Christians and the others guilty of various forms and degrees of heresy and apostasy, in terms that imply every imaginable evil in the process.

I can understand the scientists not wanting to be conscripted into that war.

65 posted on 10/21/2009 8:11:04 PM PDT by tacticalogic ("Oh bother!" said Pooh, as he chambered his last round.)
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To: tacticalogic; Alamo-Girl; hosepipe; xzins; GodGunsGuts; TXnMA; MHGinTN; CottShop
I can understand the scientists not wanting to be conscripted into that war.

If that's so, then why do the "scientists" keep showing up to fan the flames?

66 posted on 10/21/2009 8:47:01 PM PDT by betty boop (Without God man neither knows which way to go, nor even understands who he is. —Pope Benedict XVI)
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To: betty boop
If that's so, then why do the "scientists" keep showing up to fan the flames?

Someone works very hard at baiting them into it.

67 posted on 10/21/2009 8:51:31 PM PDT by tacticalogic ("Oh bother!" said Pooh, as he chambered his last round.)
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To: betty boop
Thank you oh so very much for sharing your insights, dearest sister in Christ!

It would be really nice to have a bona fide discussion about a scientific topic around here. Some time.

I'd like that, too!

68 posted on 10/21/2009 9:02:29 PM PDT by Alamo-Girl
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To: betty boop; tacticalogic
betty boop: If that's so, then why do the "scientists" keep showing up to fan the flames?

tacticalogic: Someone works very hard at baiting them into it.

It takes two to tango.

69 posted on 10/21/2009 9:05:46 PM PDT by Alamo-Girl
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To: Alamo-Girl
It takes two to tango.

What happens if there's a whole horde of them, and you want no part of it but they insist it has to be done in your house?

70 posted on 10/22/2009 3:33:15 AM PDT by tacticalogic ("Oh bother!" said Pooh, as he chambered his last round.)
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To: betty boop; Alamo-Girl
[ It would be really nice to have a bona fide discussion about a scientific topic around here. Some time. ]

Ok... Where did the third human on this planet come from?...

71 posted on 10/22/2009 6:00:49 AM PDT by hosepipe (This propaganda has been edited to include some fully orbed hyperbole....)
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To: tacticalogic; betty boop
There is a lesson I learned from being a mother that I think applies to any situation where someone is acting up. It would apply no matter the subject or which side of an issue they might take or the age of the person involved.

It concerns parental survival in what is called "the terrible twos" when children are fearlessly pushing the boundaries, i.e. just plain acting up.

Ignore them.

Reacting at all, whether positively or negatively, encourages a repeat performance. No reaction at all lets him know that he cannot manipulate you.

72 posted on 10/22/2009 7:55:24 AM PDT by Alamo-Girl
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To: Alamo-Girl
Reacting at all, whether positively or negatively, encourages a repeat performance. No reaction at all lets him know that he cannot manipulate you.

I understand. At the same time, I think you can understand why someone would rather not try to carry on an extended, serious conversation in a roomful of two year olds.

73 posted on 10/22/2009 8:28:12 AM PDT by tacticalogic ("Oh bother!" said Pooh, as he chambered his last round.)
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To: Alamo-Girl

I remember all the scientists that posted here on FR and they were anythign BUT civil- then they left, or were banned- formed their own site, complaining that FR tried to stymie their views- but that was a crock of crap- You go back and look over their posts, and they are just as nasty as tyhe next person- Rarely do they engage in civil debate-

I’ve been to several sites run by scientists of all pursuasions post, and even htose sites are full of petty backbiting and accusations and insults- Civil debate is not goign to happen regardless of one’s degrees, contrary to the claims of some on htis thread that they ‘wish to post civil debates, but just can’t (presumably because creationsits ‘attack them’ [Yet they ignore the fact that it was the scientists that started the crap time and time again])-

Once in a blue moon, a civil debate comes up, and yep, they are pleasant, but they are far and few between-


74 posted on 10/22/2009 9:08:59 AM PDT by CottShop (Scientific belief does not constitute scientific evidence, nor does it convey scientific knowledge)
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To: hosepipe; Alamo-Girl; tacticalogic
Where did the third human on this planet come from?

I don't think that's a scientific question, dear brother in Christ. In what way can the scientific method — direct observation, replicable experiments, falsifiability — engage it, let alone answer it?

As the novelist Robert Musil observed, "the reason God is such an embarrassment to science is that he was seen only once, before there were any trained observers around." The same situation applies to the "third human."

In short, yours is a philosophical/theological question, not a scientific one. Or so it seems to me, FWIW.

75 posted on 10/22/2009 9:20:57 AM PDT by betty boop (Without God man neither knows which way to go, nor even understands who he is. —Pope Benedict XVI)
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To: tacticalogic
Take that as an actual case-in-point. If you are in a room full of two year olds, trying to have a conversation with another adult - and the kids start acting up and you leave, the message will be, to them, that they can control the room by being disruptive. Ditto if you stop the conversation and scold them or send them outside.

But if you speak over their heads (language not volume) to the other adult letting him know that you are ignoring them so as not to reward the behavior and continue talking, the two year olds will realize acting up is not working and will return to playing with each other.

76 posted on 10/22/2009 9:59:15 AM PDT by Alamo-Girl
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To: CottShop; betty boop
Truly, when it comes to crevo debates - no side has clean hands in the acting up department. It's childish no matter who is doing it, his age, educational credentials or subject matter.

Once in a blue moon, a civil debate comes up, and yep, they are pleasant, but they are far and few between-

Agreed. That is why I seek out threads my dearest sister in Christ, betty boop, has latched onto. Even if the thread is ill-tempered, I can be sure she is not and will be able to engage in an informative discussion or debate.

77 posted on 10/22/2009 10:06:03 AM PDT by Alamo-Girl
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To: betty boop; hosepipe; tacticalogic
I very strongly agree that the question of where the third human came from is theological and not science.

The closest we came to the issue was on your Plato thread where tortoise raised his new fallacy of quantizing the continuum. The issue there was similar, for a species to propagate there would need to be more than one member.

And, as I recall, tortoise (an excellent mathematician) was pointing out the weakness of abiogenesis theory in that it would require a much large phenomena than a single common ancestor (by the numbers) to survive a prebiotic environment. But he was also arguing against himself by saying via this new fallacy that any point (quantization) in the continuum of the tree of life would be material to identify as the moment species B is no longer a member of species A.

78 posted on 10/22/2009 10:18:58 AM PDT by Alamo-Girl
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To: betty boop; hosepipe; tacticalogic
My bad.

But he was also arguing against himself by saying via this new fallacy that any point (quantization) in the continuum of the tree of life would be material to identify as the moment species B is no longer a member of species A.

should be:

But he was also arguing against himself by saying via this new fallacy that it is an error to construe that any point (quantization) in the continuum of the tree of life would be material to identify as the moment species B is no longer a member of species A.


79 posted on 10/22/2009 10:38:21 AM PDT by Alamo-Girl
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To: Alamo-Girl

If you have that conversation at a table, and the two year olds insist that they all need a place at the table and need to be included in that conversation, do you let them?


80 posted on 10/22/2009 10:53:44 AM PDT by tacticalogic ("Oh bother!" said Pooh, as he chambered his last round.)
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