Evolution was, and is, a great notion

The Boston Globe ^ | 6/17/2003 | Chet Raymo

[Radix]

What was the greatest scientific idea of all time? The answer, I think, is clear: Evolution by natural selection, conceived more or less simultaneously by Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace in the mid-19th century. It was their genius to imagine a way diverse organisms could arise from simple ancestors by purely natural process.

[Radix]

It is now possible to create artificial organisms

Job 11:12 For vain men would be wise, though man be born like a wild ass's colt.

Creatures creating, artificial intelligence.

What will they think of next?

[Timmy]

What was not understood in their time was the genetic basis for replication and mutation, so their premises were based on a certain amount of speculation. Today, all three conditions for evolution are well understood and amply confirmed.

This statement reveals the writer to be an uninformed fool. Evolutionary theory has actually regressed over the past 100 years, as again and again their premises have been proven false, and instead of accepting the "falsification" of the theory, they simply change the theory to incorporate more and more bizarre assumptions to make it work. There is not a single piece of compelling evidence to support evolution, while there are tons of evidence (actually, the absence of evidence that would have to be there) that argues against it. Whether or not you believe in Creation, there is simply nothing out there to support evolution.

[gusopol3]

Stonehill College--that in the same league as Rockpile U.?

[Norse]

What about the legs that can be found in sea snakes and in whales? Doesn't that mean anything? I don't support evolution, by the way. Just wondering what your thoughts were.

[plain talk]

What's incredible to me is not that they pose it as a theory for further study but push it off as fact to shove down our children's throats. There's far more evidence for Jesus' resurrection (i.e., eye witness acounts) then there is for evolution or global warming.

[f.Christian]

EvoEvolution

Lying w/o shame !

ABIOGENESIS

That slow process by which living organisms were spontaneously generated from non-living matter. This scientific fact should not be confused with the old discredited myth of spontaneous generation by which it was once foolishly believed that living organisms arose from non-living matter. (see Law of Biogenesis).

A.C.L.U.

An organization that zealously protects our American civil liberties by preventing students in public schools from considering scientific evidence that is either consistent with creation or critical of evolution.

BIG BANG

The mechanism, or at least the noise, by which all matter and energy came into existence billions of years ago.

BIOLOGY

The branch of the exact sciences which is exclusively concerned with the evolution of living organisms by means of random mutations and natural selection.

DROSOPHILA

The "guinea pig" of the evolutionist to which we all owe a debt of gratitude for our understanding of the role of mutations in evolution. Trillions of generations of these rapidly breeding little flies have had their wings crumpled and their eyes damaged by strong mutagenic agents to provide us with a genetic insight into how man evolved from the prehominid brutes in a few thousand generations.

EVOLUTION

A truly perfect scientific theory which explaims in detail how everything in the universe came into being -- slowly. The theory of evolutions is so perfect and flexible in its ability to explain virtually all observable phemomena or opinions that it would be impossible to even conceive of an experiment capable of disproving it. (see Law).

GEOLOGIC COLUMN

A precise hierarchy of fossilized animals and plants of known age found in successive layers of stratified rock with the simplest and oldest at the bottom and the most highly evolved, i.e., most recent, at the top. Uninterrupted columns of this type may be found in any book of geology, paleontology or evolution. Bits and pieces of the column may even be found in the stratified rocks of the earth, but since these layers are often out of correct order and very incomplete, one should study the geologic column in books, not nature.

HOPEFUL MONSTER THEORY

A concept first introduced out of necessity by the geneticist, Richard Goldschmidt, which states that evolution occurs by sudden and large changes in the offspring of a species resulting in radically different but well adapted organisms, i.e. "hopeful monsters." After being widely discredited for many years this idea is being reintroduced, out of necessity, as a serious theory. The great leaps forward implicit in this theory entirely account for the absence of the "missing links." (See Punctuated Equilibrium)

INDEX FOSSILS

Fossils of animals whose ages are precisely known from the age of the rocks in which they are found, thus, serving as a means for accurately dating the rocks in which they are found as well as the age of any other fossils that may be contained therein.

LAW

In science, a statement of fact about a sequence or phenomenon that has been invariably observed to occur under known conditions such as, for example, the theory of evolution. (see Evolution).

LAW OF BIOGENESIS

Simply states the obvious...that all life comes from pre-existing life. This law, which was confirmed by Redi and Pasteur, permanently laid to rest the ludicrous idea of the ignorant ancients that living organisms could spring from inanimate matter. It should be emphasized that this law in no way precludes the slow origin of living organisms from inanimate matter through the process of evolution - after all, we are here, aren't we? (see Abiogenesis).

LIFE

The only term in this dictionary that defies definition since it has been said that "the division of matter into living and nonliving is perhaps an arbitrary one. It is a convenient method for distinguishing, for instance, a man from a rock." (quoted verbatim from The Origins of Life, by Cyril Ponnamperuma, 1962, H. P. Dutton, New York, p. 36).

MICROSPHERES

Primitive cells which have been artificially synthesized from simple laboratory reagents. As the name implies, the principal similarity between microspheres and living cells is that both are small and sort of round.

MISSING LINKS

An inconceivably vast assemblage of plants and animals which are intermediate in their evolutionary development between all of the discrete kinds of plants and animals one sees either alive or in the fossil record. Unfortunately as the name implies they are missing.

MUTATIONS

A change in the genetic material (DNA) of the cell induced by hazardous chemicals or radiation which in addition to killing or maiming organisms will, given enough time and enough mutations, inexorably lead some organisms on to an ever more successful and adaptive life.

NATURAL SELECTION

That miraculous process by which incredibly complex and useful structures, such as the eye or brain, are culled out from a vast array of random and purposeless mutations. In the distant past this marvelous natural artificer has produced the whole scope of existence from molecules to man but today it appears to be limiting its activities to such mundane matters as controlling the relative numbers of white and black moths in England.

NEO-DARWINIAN EVOLUTION

An embellishment of the old Darwinian theory of evolution, it states that random changes (mutations) in the genome of an organism will be selected for, and thus contribute to the evolution of the new species, only if they ultimately lead to a greater number of offspring. Thus, an ever-increasing rate of reproduction entirely accounts for the evolution from bacteria to man.

ONTOGENY RECAPITULATES PHYLOGENY

A law first discovered by Ernst Haeckel which if pronounced correctly and with conviction, impresses laymen and students of science in the elementary grades. Simply stated, and thus less convincingly, it means that the embryos of all animals bother to provide a historical review of many stages of their evolution during their embryological development. Although this type of reminiscing is touching and is taught in almost every general science and biology text book, it is no longer accepted by scientists or even evolutionists.

PHYLOGENETIC TREE

A tree that grows mainly in textbooks of biology and which has a variety of both contemporary and fossil animals perched on the tips of its branches. This tree clearly shows how all of these animals branched off from common ancestors a long time ago. For some reason the common ancestors are never shown sitting in the crotches of the tree. Plants presumably grow on different trees which are rather rare.

PILTDOWN MAN

Once known by all true scholars of human evolution to be an ancient ancestor of man. This true "ape man" had the jaw of a modern ape and the skull of a modern man. Today this ape-man is not so well known among true scholars of evolution.

PRIMITIVE

Old, inferior, poorly adapted, less evolved, shoddy, bungling.

PROOF

The assimilation of data in such a way that the desired conclusion seems to be the most plausible hypothesis.

PROTOZOA

As the name implies, these are known to be the first true animals on earth. If these primitive organisms had continued to adapt to their changing environment they might still be with us today.

PUNCTUATED EQUILIBRIUM

An ad hoc hypothesis or alibi that claims the reason there are no known transitional forms in the fossil record is because evolutionary changes occur so quickly and the reason we can't see evolutionary changes in the laboratory is because they occur so slowly. (see Hopeful Monster Theory).

RADIOCARBON DATING

A remarkably precise method of actually measuring the age of any carbon-containing sample. Except for certain spurious (young) dates, radiocarbon, like other methods involving the decay of radionuclides will, given several absolutely safe assumptions, invariably indicate a ripe old age for any specimen consistent with a slow process of evolution.

SECOND LAW OF THERMODYNAMICS

One of the most fundamental laws of science which essentially states that nothing can increase in order, complexity, or information but rather everything form the universe to the one-horse shay will in time fall apart (not assemble). We may be sure, however, that the mind-boggling increase in order, complexity and information accomplished by the evolution of chemicals to man in no way violates this law or it wouldn't have happened.

SELECTIVE PRESSURE

That natural and highly selective pressure that actually forces particularly useful structures such as brains, eyes, legs, wings and long necks on giraffes to evolve by random mutations. Unnecessary structures such as eyelids on your navel fail to evolve by chance because there is no selective pressure for this.

SPECULATION

The single most powerful tool in the hands of the evolutionists.

SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST

The most important contribution of Darwin to biological thought which states that only those organisms which are fit survive, or in other words, survival is the result of being fit. By this kind of logic it can also be proven that loss of vision is a principal cause of blindness.

THEISTIC EVOLUTION

The belief that the evolutionary account of origins (where everything ascends from a very imperfect state to a more nearly perfect state) and the Biblical account of origins (where everything descends from a perfect state to a very imperfect state) are both true.

TIME

That miracle ingredient which in sufficient quantity can give scientific credibility to any hypothesis no matter how improbable. It is a well- known axiom of science for example, that given enough time virtually anything is possible - indeed you might even say it has to happen.

TREE

That which only evolution can make. (see Phylogenetic Tree).

VESTIGIAL ORGANS

Organs or other body parts, left over from evolutionary ancestors, which are no longer used or needed by an organism that has become more highly evolved by abandoning organs and getting simpler. Seventy years ago man had nearly one hundred vestigial organs such as the parathyroid, tonsils, coccyx, etc., but today he has very few vestigial organs because a good use has been discovered for most of these organs.

XERDEMA PIGMENTOSA

A disease of man in which certain enzymes which normally repair mutations of DNA fail to do so resulting in malignant tumors of the skin which are often fatal. Since it is well known that mutations were essential for the evolution of man from primitive cells, we must assume that too much of even a good thing like mutations is bad for us.


390 posted on 06/11/2003 12:49 AM PDT by razorbak

[Jeff Gordon]

There's far more evidence for Jesus' resurrection (i.e., eye witness acounts)

Nuts

[dark_lord]

Evolutionary theory has actually regressed over the past 100 years, as again and again their premises have been proven false, and instead of accepting the "falsification" of the theory, they simply change the theory to incorporate more and more bizarre assumptions to make it work. There is not a single piece of compelling evidence to support evolution, while there are tons of evidence (actually, the absence of evidence that would have to be there) that argues against it. Whether or not you believe in Creation, there is simply nothing out there to support evolution.

You are making two points here. Your 1st point, as I understand it, is that scientists keep modifying the theory of evolution based on new evidence, and this is proof that the theory is wrong and should be discarded. Your 2nd point, if I understand you correctly, is that there is a ton of evidence against it and nothing for it.

I would respond thusly: first, there is no such thing as a "theory" of evolution, strictly speaking. A theory must be stated succinctly and in such a way that it is disprovable, and the "theory" of evolution is not. Therefore it is not a theory.

That said, your first point if valid would not be considered a criticism by scientists. The whole point of science is to modify hypothesis which do not explain enough by adding or changing them to explain the new evidence. This is science at work. If you don't understand that, you don't understand science.

As to your 2nd point, since you do not present evidence for it (the tons of evidence against evolution) I think no one can address it.

[Jeff Gordon]

Nice post. I am happy to see that all the debate on FR has helped you gain a handle on reality. There are those that say such things should not be debated here on FR. Your post is living proof that rational debate can cause the evolution of even the most primative thought.

Welcome to the 21st century and the Real World.

[gdani]

Evolutionary theory has actually regressed over the past 100 years, as again and again their premises have been proven false

You don't believe that species change over time?

[reed_inthe_wind]

You say that it doesn't matter that the proces you describe occurs virtually in a processor that is designed by an intelligent creature. The sum total of my observations and all other human observations from the beginning of time represent a computing power that far exceeds your paltry computer experiment. In all of those human observations there are no known observations of the natural world whereby physical things just animate themselves into complex organisms.

Try repeating your experiment using something natural that is closer to the basis of life. Every freshman chemistry student familiar with the second law of thermodynamics knows that any physical system will over time increase its measure of entropy and correspondingly decrease its level of free energy.

I don't know much about your experiment, but did you build in the premise of entropy.

[Prodigal Son]

LOL! That was funny!

[gdani]

There's far more evidence for Jesus' resurrection (i.e., eye witness acounts)

If you're going to try & convince people you better do better than "eye witness accounts".

[DannyTN]

What puzzles me is why if Man can create new species through the manipulation of DNA, that evolutionists are so adamant that Man himself evolved rather than was created by another being.

[ALS]

[gdani]

Atheist? Not at all. I certainly think there's more to "all of this" than we know.

I just can't comprehend when someone (Christian, Hindu, atheist, etc) or something (church, synagogue, etc) thinks that *they* have the answer.

I'm completely secure in my belief that neither I or anyone else knows what it's all about.

[AmericaUnited]

Evolution should be thrown on the ash-heap of history along with other totally discredited theories such as communism.

[gdani]

Evolution should be thrown on the ash-heap of history along with other totally discredited theories such as communism.

You don't believe that species change over time?

[ALS]

"I just can't comprehend when someone (Christian, Hindu, atheist, etc) or something (church, synagogue, etc) thinks that *they* have the answer.

I'm completely secure in my belief that neither I or anyone else knows what it's all about."

uhhh..

[AmericaUnited]

I just can't comprehend when someone (Christian, Hindu, atheist, etc) or something (church, synagogue, etc) thinks that *they* have the answer.

What's so hard to understand about the idea that "the crowd" is usually wrong?

You hopefully are a member in good-standing of this website and yet most of what "we" believe/agree on here is at odds with a majority of what the other people in the US and especially the world believe. I think they are all wrong and you do too. So... once again, why is it hard to believe?