CalifBoomer is a real credit to his movement.
You know, we really have to do something about these Laplacists who are keeping far-fetched Theory of planetary formation from interstellar gasses and dust in the classroom. There are so manny holes in that theory that it is easier to believe that the Invisible Pink Unicorn formed the world as a lump of dirt in Her divine Hoof…
Dr. Fidelius, Charlatan
Associate Curator Anomalous Paleontology, Miskatonic University
“You cannot reason a man out of a position he did not reach through reason.”
Oh, and Xemion (if you are still around):
Science doesn’t work on “Truth”. All that science can do is develop the model that best explains the observable Universe. So far, the theory that the distribution and relationships among living organisms is a result of selection working upon random variations in populations seems to fit the available evidence best. If you have an alternate that does not involve Magick, I would love to hear of it.
Every story I have ever seen on cabbits (including a story distributed through one of their news feeds, nationally, by one of the Big Three), has been a story of Manx cats. In addition to short or non-existent tails, Manx cats tend to have slightly longer than usual hind legs, especially as kittens. A film of a Manx kitten as it lopes across a room looks quite a bit like a short-eared bunny.
(Their movement looks sufficiently leporid to fool non-humans: I watched a hawk sail down toward our kitten, breaking off its swoop when the cat turned at right angles, displaying its feline nature.)
Tom~
Evidence for evolution? Sure. I see it all the time. You can do it yourself. Just get some E. coli, grow them for a while, add an antibiotic, and grow anything that’s still alive. Boom. The strain of bacteria has adapted to its environment through the use of antibiotic resistance genes. Hooray!
This may seem troll-like, but I just wish to play the devil’s advocate with evolution theories. If you look at all which is quoted as “theories on evolution”, you get: It started with one-celled organisms which mutated and led to sealife, some of which tried to fly (birds from fish concept) and some of which walked out of the water onto land. Then, amongst this all, we have natural selection and survival of the fittest (which are two distinct concepts, but sometimes get interchanged) to keep things in check. Lastly, we have the suggestion that man came from some missing link to the primates…still to be determined. And, I should add that there always seems to be an assumed progression synonomous with the word “evolution”…which seems like a subjective premise to me.
Ok, basically, there’s the gamut on evolutionary theories from which we believe explains everything. You could say I’m mixing my theories, but yet no one theory explains it all. Tying it all together, we get some semblence of a universal theory on evolution.
So I ask, how do the dinosaurs fit into this grand scheme? Once wiped out, did evolution say “you know…next time, I’ll stick to a smaller scale?”
Also, I must ask…if we assume each mutation is for the better, or that mutations in the opposite direction would be weeded out…why haven’t all simpler lifeforms been weeded out by evolution already? Why do we see any diversity in lifeforms at all? They should have all progressed to our (subjectively superior) level or been weeded out by now!
Of course, someone had to stay behind to prevent the food chain from breakdown, right?
Go figure!
We act like we have all the answers, but no matter what, we should always remember that’s why it’s called “theory”.
Not trying to ignite or incite, but enlight!
“They’re coming to take me away ha-ha, ho-ho, hee-hee, to the funny farm where life is beautiful all the time… :)” - Napoleon IV
Well Jinx, the reason it all doesn’t make sense to you is that you have everything wrong.
“Progress” is not part of evolution, survival in the immediate environment is. In most of the environments on and in the Earth, there is no advantage to becoming any more complicated than a bacterium. That is why the majority of living matter is in the form od bacteria, just as it has always been since living chemicals figured out the “cell wall” routine.
Dr. Fidelius, Charlatan
Associate Curator Anomalous Paleontology, Miskatonic University
Projector Emeritus, Grand Academy of Lagado
“You cannot reason a man out of a position he did not reach through reason.”
Jinx said:
You are leaving out a few steps. Current thinking is more like: fish, amphibians, reptiles, dinosaurs, then birds.
Man is a primate. This is already determined. Just what link do you think is missing?
See above to see where dinosaurs fit. Technically, the dinosaurs weren’t wiped out completely, as birds survived the KT extinction event. And there are existing animals larger than any dinosaur (e.g. blue whale).
This is a bad assumption, as the vast majority of mutations are neutral.
You confuse the issue if you use words like “simpler” or “subjectively superior” when thinking of evolution. Nature doesn’t care how complex or simple your DNA is. Organisms survive because they are well adapted to their particular ecological niche. Polar bears would not do well in the gila monster environment, and vice versa. When amphibians evolved from fish, they exploited a different environment; therefore, amphibians didn’t replace fish.
Do you feel the same way about the theory of gravity? Or electromagnetic theory? Aerodynamic theory? Nuclear theory? Genetic theory? etc…
wow jinx, rarely if ever have i seen such a misinformed view on how the process of evolution works. i feel that i should do a point by point refutation of nearly every word you said, but that particular herculean task seems too daunting this morning. suffice to say, you seriously need to read a layman’s book on evolutionary biology.
And anyway, Xemion answered his/her own question:
Sure it would! Evolution is a difficult subject, not an easy thing to understand by those who won’t make the effort to study it in great detail. If evolution makes sense to some of us, it’s because we did study the theory, and for us it’s knowledge, not belief.
Your brain-in-a-jar,
Myron
Imbibo, ergo sum.
“I think it would be much easier just to believe in God”? Sheesh. Where did this thread come from, and why did I miss it for the whole month. Tuba’s gonna make me send my coffee mug back.
Well, better late than never. Off to GD.
tomndebb wrote:
I don’t think hawks are sophisticated enough to differentiate potential meals from small predators based on their movements. The hawk probably looked down and said, “Oh, look, a dinner-sized creature! I think I shall pounce upon it and ingest its tender innards!” (It was cultured in British mannerisms, you see.) Then, when the Manx cat jinked away at a 90-degree angle, the hawk said, “Oh, rubbish! My dinner has turned away at an angle sharper than I am capable of banking at. How I wish at times like these that my wings were built for aerobatic maneuvering, like those of a bat or hummingbird, rather than gliding! I am defeated and must give up the chase. I wonder if Upstairs, Downstairs is on tonight.”
hmm… no one actually posted proof on this thread:P.
btw hey jinx 
Ill believe in evolution when i see a creature evolve. Untill then its not worth my time
Um, individual creatures don’t evolve. Populations evolve, due to mutations appearing in the offspring of individual creatures (with natural selection weeding out the detrimental mutations and bolstering the beneficial ones).
**
Read a basic HS textbook sometime. But you won’t. You don’t care. You remain willfully ignorant.
Proof that you don’t understand the subject which you reject. That is the sign of a child, you know. A child who does not understand the alphabet and spelling, but they swear that they know the subject. They usually wind up spelling everything wrong, you know. Just as you do and will.
Yer pal,
Satan
http://www.raleighmusic.com/board/Images/devil.gif
TIME ELAPSED SINCE I QUIT SMOKING:
One week, four days, 2 hours, 16 minutes and 38 seconds.
443 cigarettes not smoked, saving $55.47.
Life saved: 1 day, 12 hours, 55 minutes.
Satan its proof that I dont care because evolution doesent matter at all.
Evolution doesn’t matter at all?
Tell it to doctors who fight antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
Tell it to farmers who fight pesticide-resistant insects.
Tell it to biologists who use it every single day.
I could probably come up with numerous other "tell it to"s, but I have to go to work and, frankly, you’ve shown that it’s not worth the effort to try to educate you.
“Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection is, to my mind, the most beautiful in all of science.”
– Susan Blackmore, The Meme Machine
Geesh, Xemion’s mom came in, turned off the PC, sent him back to 6th grade and you guys are still fussing around here.
Are you driving with your eyes open or are you using The Force? - A. Foley
Where do these know-nothing, wannabe-evolution-debunkers come from?
Sig Alert!
Can you prove to me there’s such a thing as negative numbers? That sounds so fake to me, I think it’s just so much easier to believe in positive numbers alone and not worry at all what my bank statement says. So what if I write a ten thousand dollar check and there’s only one hundred dollars in the account!