You are utterly wrong about this, both logically, and factually with regard to evolutionary theory. The only two required evolutionary processes during the life of an individual creature are (1) during gametogenesis, which has NO impact on the expressed traits of the individual organism; and (2) reproduction, which is affected by existing traits, but also does not affect the expressed traits of the individual.
Selective mating and environmental adaptation does not explain the leap from one species to another.
You again reveal your ignorance of evolutionary concepts by your use of the word "leap". You don't realize it yet, but with every post you reveal that you do not understand evolutionary concepts.
None of your rhetoric actually explains the leap from one species to the next. It is purely observation of similarities and speculation about origins.
First, those observations of genetic similarities are striking and persuasive. Second, that is not the only evidence, as I put in my previous posts, but you left out of your response. There is the observed fact of space-time continuity. There is the observed fact of offspring being different than parents. There is the observed fact of genetic changes from generation to generation. There is the observed fact of environmental influence upon genetic expression in populations. One merely adds to this the snapshots available in the fossil record showing temporal changes in organisms over vast periods of time.
I don't understand why I went to the trouble of denumerating so many facts, and you then ignored most of them. It is as though you are avoiding something--like you've been struck with intellectual blinders.
The "evidence" that you are citing is nothing more an attempt to support a conclusion that evolution explains our existance.. This conclusion is not based on anything except similarities and observations.
Of course not. The evidence exists. Genetics, experimental evolution, biology, physics, chemistry, geology, the fossil record, all present the evidence I described to you and much more. How is all of the available evidence best explained? Together it is all just screaming "natural selection!"
I *again* ask you, how would you best explain all of these observations?
Please to explain how an explosion resulted in this:
First, what "explosion" are you talking about? I thought we were discussing evolution. Second, you needn't cut & paste such long passages. My education includes general biology, genetics, cellular biology, molecular biology, biochemistry, animal & human biology and physiology. This is not to say I'm an authority, but so often I wind up arguing with people who paste long passages of other people's words. Feel free to use key words and shortcuts. And please, show your own understanding by using your own words.
In your world, all of this had to happen by chance in order for the first living cell to replicate itself.
You clearly don't know "my world". I conceive of no probability model to describe how the first living cell replicated itself.
The leap from that one cell to our existance is unfathomable.
I can tell it hasn't been fathomed by you. Nature is not constrained by your own particular intellectual limitations.
The pieces of this puzzle are endless, and they cannot be explained by random chance and selective mating habits beginning with a single-celled organism in a pool of prehistoric muck.
Again, it is you, not me, suggesting some sort of probability model for all of those things. But at any rate, you say they cannot be explained such. How do you know? Are you suggesting that you have a better explanation? What is it?
If you believe this is all an accident, and not of intelligent design, then there's nothing anybody can do to help you.
Oh, I see. You hold a false dichotomy that existence is either "random" or by intelligent design. You should know that deterministic theories about various things, without appeal to intelligent design, are quite common.
Maybe someday, when you are faced with your own mortality, you will see the error of your twisted scientific logic.
What does that have to do with truth? Are you saying that people think clearer when faced with death? Do you have evidence for that claim?
Maybe someday God will find you just as He found me.
My friend, I can say one thing--you are wrong about much of what you have posted to me on this thread. If there are acorporal voices telling you these false things, I promise you, it is not from a friendly entity.
And give this some thought: the consequence of you being wrong is infinitely greater than the consequence of me being wrong.
Do you base all of your knowledge upon an appeal to consequences? And you accuse me of "twisted...logic"?
Exactly how confident are you in your scientific theories?
I can only say that evolutionary science today does provide the most rational explanation of all currently available evidence. It does, in fact, put itself at the mercy of evidence, and so as we observe more, evolutionary science will change as necessary to incorporate it.
Finally, I am of course not unfamiliar with your beliefs. You won't like what follows. You have been taken in by a group that tells you that unless you believe their particular modern twist on Christianity, you are a bad person and will likely be cast into some torment when you die. They have captured your mind with fear, peer pressure, and an overwhelming supply of factually incorrect rhetoric and literature. Neither Christianity nor your everlasting soul are dependent upon their false proclaimations. I hope you can free your mind from their clutches, since they stifle in you useful ways of understanding the world which can contribute to a very stimulating intellectual life.
I apologize for making the assumption that you believe in the "big bang," as most evolutionists are subscribers to that theory by default. Whether the universe was the result of a massive explosion is beside the point I was trying to make. If you subscribe to evolution theory, then you must believe a single-celled organism was the "stem cell" for the existence of every living thing. A single-celled organism was either A: created by a supernatural intelligent being, or B: a product of random peptides attracting to each other to form a chromosome.
My biggest problem with evolution has nothing to do with the biological and chemical mechanics of evolutionary process, but with the probabilities that the universe, our habitat, and our existence came into being through random chance and natural selection.
I was a pre-Med biology major, and I don't have any difficulty grasping the mechanics of reproduction, adaptation, and evolutionary theory, but the evidence just isn't compelling for me, so I'll continue to believe what I believe, and you will continue to believe what you believe.
The cold, hard truth is that there are certain things that neither of us can explain. The scientific evidence doesn't hold water for me, and the gospels don't carry any weight with you. I was an atheist, an agnostic, and finally I took the time to really study biblical scripture, which I believe is the most plausible explanation for our existence. You have every right to consider this belief nothing more than "poofism." My proof is hardly more compelling than your proof. That's why they call it faith.
The complexities of life, the struggle between good and evil, the temptation of sin, and the healing power of repentance and faith are what steered me away from belief in the speculative science of evolution. Finding God was a blessing. It has changed my life for the better. Say what you will about Christianity or religion in general. I've heard it all and I'm not offended by people who don't understand what it's like to have a relationship with God.
May I ask what you do for a living? I'll venture a guess that you're in a profession that requires a great deal of procedural and/or statistical analysis. Aside from the pot-shots we took at each other, I really enjoy your writing style, and you don't mince words. Although you don't have my agreement, you have earned my respect through your writing ability. I appreciate the debate. Perhaps we can discuss a topic where we share some common ground in the future?
All the best, HighImpact