# Any scientific truth to these claims? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 9, 2004, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-scientific-truth-to-these-claims/254304 "2004-07-09T16:14:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dog80](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6bbea6/32.png) [@Dog80](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dog80)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2004, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-scientific-truth-to-these-claims/254304/1 "2004-07-09T16:14:11Z")
[http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/0055/0055\_01.asp](http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/0055/0055_01.asp) Are any of the arguments presented here true? Is it just a strawman? ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2004, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-scientific-truth-to-these-claims/254304/2 "2004-07-09T16:22:42Z")
Chick’s so full of shit it’s a wonder his tracts aren’t all colored brown. Check [TalkOrigins](http://www.talkorigins.org) for the actual science of the matter. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2004, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-scientific-truth-to-these-claims/254304/3 "2004-07-09T16:25:25Z")
No. Yes. ---
**Author:** ![Papermache\_Prince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f05b48/32.png) [@Papermache\_Prince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Papermache_Prince)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2004, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-scientific-truth-to-these-claims/254304/4 "2004-07-09T16:29:29Z")
[Talk Origins](http://www.talkorigins.org) provides this page by Cosmm Shalizi [Fossil Hominids: Big Daddy?](http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/homs/bigdaddy.html) dealing with those claims. > [@](#): > > This is a typical rehashing of the usual creationist chestnuts. It ignores almost all the the real evidence, misrepresents the real fossils that are discussed (Heidelberg Man, Peking Man, Neandertal Man), of course mentions Nebraska Man and Piltdown Man, and finally lists some fossils that have never been claimed to be anything but Homo sapiens (New Guinea Man, Cro-Magnon Man) ---
**Author:** ![Bongmaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Bongmaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bongmaster)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2004, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-scientific-truth-to-these-claims/254304/5 "2004-07-09T16:34:06Z")
> [@Dog80](#): > > [http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/0055/0055\_01.asp](http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/0055/0055_01.asp) > > Are any of the arguments presented here true? Is it just a strawman? Its a lot of the classic creationist arguments summarized in a silly comic format. They left out one interesting indicator in favor of evolution, tiny life forms. Very small forms of life can be created and observed in a lab setting where you can practically watch evolution happen. They live short lives and reproduce quickly so you can see the effects of change between generations as it happens. I’d love to hear more about this from someone who knows where we can cite the facts to refute the arguments in the comic. ---
**Author:** ![scotandrsn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@scotandrsn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scotandrsn)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2004, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-scientific-truth-to-these-claims/254304/6 "2004-07-09T17:14:42Z")
[Here’s an even more detailed rebuttal of this specific tract.](http://www.angelfire.com/ak4/ratman/Chick.html) ---
**Author:** ![brane\_damaj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a587f6/32.png) [@brane\_damaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brane_damaj)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2004, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-scientific-truth-to-these-claims/254304/7 "2004-07-09T19:43:28Z")
Don’t be too hard on Jack. His comics alwasy give me a good chuckle. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2004, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-scientific-truth-to-these-claims/254304/8 "2004-07-09T20:05:31Z")
> [@Bongmaster](#): > > Very small forms of life can be created and observed in a lab setting where you can practically watch evolution happen. Not really. No form of life has ever been created in a lab. Yet. The closest we’ve come is to put together some functional virus particles from their parts. But I believe your point is that work with bacteria has provided evidence to support evolutionary theory, which is certainly true. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2004, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-scientific-truth-to-these-claims/254304/9 "2004-07-09T22:13:04Z")
Personally, I am repelled by most of the Chick tracts, and–having read the “Big Daddy” tract 30 years ago–I would be appalled that a professor, in any field, would behave in such a manner. I’vbe had classes with outspoken professors but not one who engage in such a childish outburst. Incidentally, I found a mention of Karl Marx, who asked Charles Darwin, in the 1870s, permission to dedicate the English edition of _Das Kapital_ to him. Subject to correction, this squib came from _Outlines of History_ by H. G. Wells.