misunderstanding evolution

How does science work? And what's all this about quantum mechanics?

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Advocate
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misunderstanding evolution

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One primary reason evolution is misunderstood is the inability of people to comprehend scale. Each meaningful change is an itty-bazillionth of an entire change. We can show a coherent path from no-eye to eye, for example, but we can't fill all the gaps all the time with fossils. That doesn't mean you should fill then with whatever makes you feel good.
Gary Childress
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Re: misunderstanding evolution

Post by Gary Childress »

Advocate wrote: Sun Sep 27, 2020 2:25 pm One primary reason evolution is misunderstood is the inability of people to comprehend scale. Each meaningful change is an itty-bazillionth of an entire change. We can show a coherent path from no-eye to eye, for example, but we can't fill all the gaps all the time with fossils. That doesn't mean you should fill then with whatever makes you feel good.
Yeah. I remember some creationists maintaining that the eye is too complex to arise spontaneously and that any lesser developed "eye" is of no use at all and therefore couldn't have arisen in stages. But I've heard that rebutted from evolutionary scientists as well who seem to say, "yes", there can be functional increments toward an eye based on more and more primitive examples.

But probably the most peculiar theory I've ever heard from a creationist is from an Astronomer who used to be tenured at UVA. I forget his name. But I wrote to him once asking how he could be an astronomer and a creationist too. According to him, God created everything instantly at some point in time whatever thousands of years ago and when he created the universe he also arranged the light from stars millions of light years away to have already traveled the distance so we could see them, thus explaining how we see light from stars millions of light years away when the universe is only a few thousand years old. Anyway, I doubt creationists will ever give up and neither will evolutionary scientists. It's like watching a ping pong match.
Advocate
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Re: misunderstanding evolution

Post by Advocate »

We live in a pre-truth society. Enlightened values never stuck.
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SpheresOfBalance
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Re: misunderstanding evolution

Post by SpheresOfBalance »

Advocate wrote: Sun Sep 27, 2020 2:25 pm One primary reason evolution is misunderstood is the inability of people to comprehend scale. Each meaningful change is an itty-bazillionth of an entire change. We can show a coherent path from no-eye to eye, for example, but we can't fill all the gaps all the time with fossils.
Yes, I've known this for many years now, and I've said as much in this forum. My example has usually been that some people have said that, "The Chicken or the Egg," question is a paradox, you know, "which came first...?" But I've understood that they've both evolved at the same time. Once there were no chickens or eggs, they evolved simultaneously. Once neither were quite what they are today. They were in various stages of what has become a chicken and an egg.

Yes, far more remains are lost in time than are recovered for study.


That doesn't mean you should fill then with whatever makes you feel good.
I think you're over simplifying. Scientists use educated extrapolation, modelled after current species, working backwards, which may contain errors in judgement. That's all we can do in an attempt to fill in the gaps. Since science is revisionist in nature, we can expect that there might be additional proofs found that can fill in those gaps. Of course unfortunately our lives are relatively short, which doesn't give us much time to sort it all out. We'll have to depend on future generations to sort it all out, which unfortunately leaves us currently alive, out of the equation. :(
gaffo
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Re: misunderstanding evolution

Post by gaffo »

Advocate wrote: Sun Sep 27, 2020 2:25 pm One primary reason evolution is misunderstood is the inability of people to comprehend scale. Each meaningful change is an itty-bazillionth of an entire change. We can show a coherent path from no-eye to eye, for example, but we can't fill all the gaps all the time with fossils. That doesn't mean you should fill then with whatever makes you feel good.
yes, the time scale you refer to is not understood. 5 billions yrs is along time to result in us.

but there is the other thing folks miss, the misguided understanding of evolution is one that is lamarkian, i.e. that life progresses from a lower form to a higher one via adaptation for survival. i.e a progression of perfection. this is just wrong, germs are "lower" than man, but via evolution are more hardy, they have been here for 1/2 billion yrs and will be here 1/2 after we are long gone!

the other thing about evolution folks do not understand is that it is an instrument of death! not life, it culls life!

for all the creatures/plants/germs/animals etc............that once lived via evolution in their times, no longer do. only .000000001 of life today survives in this time due to evolution. the rest died out due to the same evolution.
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