20 May 2009, 3:52 pm
20 May 2009, 4:06 pm
MattShizzle wrote:
That's actually true (and was the premise of the comedy "Idiocracy.") It does seem that people who are the least educated and able have lots of kids while the more succesful and most educated either go childless or have one or 2.
yep, it's a sad fact. we'll see where that leads us
Orwell wrote:
And believing in evolutionary theory is normally due to mindlessly accepting what you are fed through popular culture, never bothering to examine the evidence or even properly understand what claims the theory makes.
Look, I accept evolution as fact, but I get sick of people acting like they're some super-rationalist because they believe in evolution. For the most part, people accept scientific claims on faith. I have never personally seen proof of Kepler's Laws of Planetary Motion. Sure, I could look it up, but I'd be relying on second-hand accounts. In the end, most people have no more evidence for their "scientific" beliefs than religious people in the Middle Ages did for theirs, ie an authority you respect tells you that it is true.
Look, I accept evolution as fact, but I get sick of people acting like they're some super-rationalist because they believe in evolution. For the most part, people accept scientific claims on faith. I have never personally seen proof of Kepler's Laws of Planetary Motion. Sure, I could look it up, but I'd be relying on second-hand accounts. In the end, most people have no more evidence for their "scientific" beliefs than religious people in the Middle Ages did for theirs, ie an authority you respect tells you that it is true.
evolution is just basic math. you are right though, most people who "believe" in it (as if there was something to believe here) have little idea.
it's still better than mindless creationism if you ask me though
20 May 2009, 4:14 pm
anna-banana wrote:
evolution is just basic math. you are right though, most people who "believe" in it (as if there was something to believe here) have little idea.
No, it's pretty complex and deals with loads of evidence of different natures, which all has to be interpreted, and a lot of inductive reasoning has to be used.
Quote:
it's still better than mindless creationism if you ask me though
Mindless is mindless. There's not much benefit in arriving at the right answer by the wrong method, especially when most people who "believe" in evolution have very bizarrely warped ideas on what it says. Most people still hold to ideas like progressive development and inheritance of acquired characteristics.
20 May 2009, 4:21 pm
Orwell wrote:
Quote:
it's still better than mindless creationism if you ask me though
Mindless is mindless. There's not much benefit in arriving at the right answer by the wrong method, especially when most people who "believe" in evolution have very bizarrely warped ideas on what it says. Most people still hold to ideas like progressive development and inheritance of acquired characteristics.
I always figured X-Men was a sufficiently good intro to evolution.
j/k
20 May 2009, 4:23 pm
20 May 2009, 4:30 pm
DentArthurDent
Veteran
Joined: 26 Jul 2008
Age: 59
Gender: Male
Posts: 3,884
Location: Victoria, Australia
20 May 2009, 4:51 pm
Shadowgirl wrote:
I stand on Creationism. Evolution just doesn't make sence if you compare it rationally.
And creation is so much more rational.
We live in societies where marriages are forged not solely on physical attributes, but often on the social status of the parents, where babies are kept alive unnaturally, where physical and mental abnormalities can be fixed or at least improved. The nature of genetics means that you can have the potential to pass on a disorder without having the particular disorder and thereby this will have no bearing on your ability to thrive and procreate . These issues and many more mean that you cannot simply say disorders exist therefore evolution is a crock.
The theory of evolution has survived over 150 years of attempts by creationists to discredit it. Creation on the other hand has been kicked in the head time and time again. Rational believers in god have had to retreat to the cosmological argument, whilst evolution has grown in stature to a point where it is generally regarded by most (including many religions) as a fact.
20 May 2009, 5:15 pm
20 May 2009, 5:31 pm
DentArthurDent wrote:
Shadowgirl wrote:
I stand on Creationism. Evolution just doesn't make sence if you compare it rationally.
And creation is so much more rational.
We live in societies where marriages are forged not solely on physical attributes, but often on the social status of the parents, where babies are kept alive unnaturally, where physical and mental abnormalities can be fixed or at least improved. The nature of genetics means that you can have the potential to pass on a disorder without having the particular disorder and thereby this will have no bearing on your ability to thrive and procreate . These issues and many more mean that you cannot simply say disorders exist therefore evolution is a crock.
Even further: Genetic conditions can pass without appearing. If a dark haired man from Sicily has with his also dark haired wife a blond child, it could be well that a German courier of Fredrick II from 13th century as a common ancestor and not the Swedish tourist was the cause.
Further: Abnormalities do not automatically prevent from having children. The selection of mating partners in societies within the recent 6000 years was more governed by social status than by any other factor. To allow people to choose their partners is a very recent idea. Most marriages in history were arranged by the parents according to financial or other factors.
20 May 2009, 5:33 pm
20 May 2009, 7:51 pm
20 May 2009, 8:18 pm
20 May 2009, 9:04 pm
20 May 2009, 9:06 pm
20 May 2009, 11:20 pm
20 May 2009, 11:32 pm
