[Alamo-Girl]

Thank you for your reply!

And common descent is just the current best interpretation of evidence. It is unrelated to biogenesis or to the dynamics of evolution.

I'm sure all of the Young Earth Creationists will be thrilled to hear this for if "common descent" is not the central point of the theory of evolution or the dynamics of evolution - then it does indeed open the door to evolution by "kind" and the only major issue remaining is the age of the universe (which melts away completely when one considers inflationary theory and relativity.)

What is so maddening about this is it argues for shutting down investigation [abiogenesis] -- unknowable on principle.

The uncertainty principle prevents us from knowing both position and momentum, but we didn't stop doing physics because of it. And the wave/particle duality doesn't prevent either quantum mechanics or quantum field theory - we simply most look at both - particle and wave - to have a complete picture.

Likewise, we won't stop asking questions about origins just because we know that science alone cannot answer the question on principle. It requires both faith and reason to investigate origins.

[js1138]

What exactly is evolution by "kind"? How do a discussion of the dynamics of evolution give comfort to people who deny common descent? Common descent describes the history of life on earth.

I'm trying my best not to be personal, but nothing in your post makes any sense. How does inflationary theory affect the age of the earth?

It really appears that you are just tossing out scientific sounding jargon at random, or at the very least, stochastically.