Dear Philo,

You sound very confused. Your last post was very disjointed.

Evolution doesn’t have a “power” in the way I feel you're trying to imply. DNA mutates, some mutations are beneficial, some are destructive, most are neutral and nature selects which mutations will live long enough to be passed on to the next generation.

That’s it.

Humans don’t come from monkeys, but our genes show that we too are primates and share a common ancestor with them.

I’m curious about this though: “If such were the case then why the concern over the reduction in species other than human.”

Evolution - and all biological sciences for that matter - shows us that nature is a delicate balance and mix of species, each dependant on the others. Where do you get the idea that an acceptance of evolution would cause one to want all other species gone?

I’m also curious about this: “No the atheists become all moral when it becomes other species. Yet claim those consistently moral with regard to purpose and design as lunatics.”

What on Earth does morality have to do with any this?

If you want to know why those who accept evolution, both Atheist and Religious, regard creationists as lunatics, then I suggest you read some books on evolutionary biology the next time you go to the library. Evolution is as much a fact as gravity.

But if I have misunderstood you at all, then I apologise and would appreciate if you could clarify what you mean.

Or is it now your turn for a disappearing act?

AdamD wrote: "Evolution is as much a fact as gravity".

Here we go again...

AdamD, Evolution is not a fact, absolutely not.

Yes, humans don’t come from monkeys.
Yes, our genes show that we are primates, but "share a common ancestor with them" is not a proven fact.

I re-iterate, evolution is a theory, a belief but not a fact.

Carefully read one-under-god's posts. He writes a bit like a lunatic but he makes a lot of logical sense.

GZ,

Less advanced organisms might survive in greater numbers than more advanced ones. Take the influenza virus compared to Polar bear for instance.

Pre human days on the earth is a long time. Stephen Jay Gould put forward the analogy of the Eiffel Tower. ‘Using the total height as a scale for the age of our globe, human life only equals the layer of paint on the top of the monument’.

There were many more species but a number of mass extinctions have occurred but this does not mean evolution is incorrect; in fact, it’s not even pertinent. Something like 90% of species have disappeared forever.

Young people are easily influenced to believe in spooky stuff. How many people had their fingers on the ouija board and how do you know you could trust them. “It wasn’t me” is not good enough an answer to, “did you do it?”

James Randi offers a million dollars to anyone proving supernormal abilities. Why not have a go. Split you halves! There are paranormal investigations in some universities such as Princeton uni and the Amsterdam uni. No results of note that I know of yet though.

Evolution does not work on assumption anymore than a discovery indicates. If a bone is under investigation, the geology and geography of location is recorded, its placement in the strata is noted, it is dated, and its morphology is looked at etc and then placed in an appropriate position in the existing knowledge jigsaw and written up in a journal. Others then can look at the findings and draw the same or different conclusions as those of the original investigator.

Origin of life is a mystery therefore a god did it? Or was it the invisible dragon in my shed? Why not accept it is a mystery. There is no rule that says we have to know everything. Some things will always remain a mystery, so what.

David

one under god,

It is pointless discussing anything with those totally immersed in beliefs about conspiracy hypotheses. Scientific method is trustable – religious belief is not…full stop.

David

The Nobel Laureate Steven Weinberg's comments are illogical to say the least. He starts by saying that there are "good" and "bad" people. The Catholic position is that only God is good. We human beings all have our good and bad points.
The Nobel Laureate then concludes with his astounding "but for good people to do evil-that takes religion". What about non-religious people who are 'good' and then go 'bad'? The Gospel and the Church only teach truths about the commandments, virtue, sacramental grace, prayer and so forth. Where is evil or the 'bad' coming from such religion? And further how does prayer and sacraments and teachings on virtue etc encourage 'bad'?

Dear GZ,

OUG is may sound like he’s making some logical sense, but he/she is only repeating misconceptions and old arguments that have been disproven many times over.

Evolution is both fact and theory, just as gravity is both fact and theory.

The fact of evolution is what we observe every day. The theory is the best explanation for the facts that we observe.

Not only do we share 98% of our DNA with Chimpanzees, but the way in which our genetic make-up is coded shows that we share a common ancestor. It even helps to give us an estimate of the timeframe.

A scientific theory is not just a belief. In science terms a theory is the highest order a hypothesis can obtain. A hypothesis becomes a theory when the evidence supports it beyond any reasonable doubt, and by any measure, evolution earns its title of “Theory” with ease. In fact, evolution is one of the most solid scientific theories we have.

There are hundreds of fossils that show transitions between us and the common ancestor we shared with other primates. In fact, there are so many, that scientists have a difficult time trying to decide which are the ones we directly descended from, and which are the ones that died out.

Not to mention the many thousands of other transitional fossils between hundreds of other species - which would be a mere drop in the ocean compared to how many there are out there waiting to be discovered. Let's not even try to grasp how may were never fossilised. It is believed that all the species alive today only make-up 1% of every species that has ever existed.

You can reject evolution all you like, but it will not change the facts.

adamd, you can point out the nature of scientific belief all you like, but it won't alter the fact that these guys are never gonna listen to you.