Evolution. What's the difference?

Question

Is the biggest difference between evolutionists and Christians that the former look to the past and the latter look to the future? How often can we be disappointed in the future of this life without being disillusioned? As we evolve, do we get smarter or dumber? Is it the former? Then the 'smarter' we get, the closer we come to destroying ourselves. I'd hate to think all we had to depend on was ourselves. I mean, is it like hoping the Toronto Maple Leafs win the Stanley Cup (there's always next year)? Has there ever been a time when we have taken a dramatic permanent turn to the better? Look at Communist Russia - one of their biggest claims was the non-existence of God. Will we have world peace, or anything even close to it, next year? Let’s wait and see, and if it doesn’t happen…well, there’s always next year! Wake up, Charlie Brown. Some evolutionist, why don't you run for world leader, and we will have peace forever. Overall, are things getting better? Where’s the proof?

Answer 1

I thing this evolution discussion has been over worked, does it really matter what you or i believe? does my beliefs interfere with you life? or does you beliefs interfere with mine, does the fact that I believe in god really bother some people that much?

Answer 2

Wow, this is a veritable cornucopia of bad logic and untruths.

First of all, evolution does not necessarily mean "better." That's a false assumption growing from a misunderstanding of evolution. Evolution is only about the most adaptible. Would you consider a slug "better" than us (of course, I don't know what your criteria are for "better")? Yet, they are just as "evolved" as us.

Secondly, the whole "looking forward"/"looking back" argument is unintelligible. Evolution does look forward by making predictions. Such is the way of science. For instance, one prediction that evolution makes is that things change according to their environment. For instance, imagine there's a bacteria and it's environment is in the lungs of a human being. It thrives there because it is very well adapted to that environment. When the environment changes due to the introduction of antibiotics. Most of the bacteria die, except for those very few that are either immune to the antibiotics or, for some reason, have mutated to live longer than their brethern in this hostile environment. If these bacteria begin to thrive, we have "superbugs." So, using the tools of science and the theory of evolution, we can learn how to combat them.

I'm not sure what you're trying to say by bringing up Communist Russia. Yes, it was an "atheistic" government. But it was also a government based on dogmatic institutions, which are bad if they are religious or secular.

Finally, the last three questions are entirely incoherent. What does the theory of evolution have to do with one's political beliefs or one's own desire to be an activist? It's a scientific theory that deals with the diversity of life on this planet and how it came to be that way. That's it.

It's alright if you disagree with the theory of evolution, but please, please, please spend time studying it by reading evolutionist texts (such as The Ancestor's Tale by Richard Dawkins) and actually learning about it rather than spout off strawmen arguments and other logical fallacies and regurgitating the same old untenable creationist arguments.

Answer 3

no, i dont think that is the biggest difference between those two groups, they both look to the past and to the future,,,,,,, their difference is what they perceived happened in the past,,,besides doing that, i think we need to look at the present,, and the developement of "people" smarts,,, let our society and culture advance along with our technology, stop feeling like we must put others down,, we have taken many dramatic turns for the better, what in the scope of things are perhaps small steps, but all the small steps put together do add up,,,,,, i think we may see a more peaceful world, but it doesnt look promising for world peace, we havent been able to even acheive that in our own families, or neighborhoods, which is where peace starts, before you branch out to this country,, the world ,,,, there will always be those who fight against peace and equality (which to me is a large component of peace)

Answer 4

Things are not getting better, although you would think that wouldn't you, since humanity has become so highly intellectual, so much has been acomplished since the early days of the Sumarians, for example, we have plumbing and flush toilets.... Oh, wait, the Sumarians had that.... well I guess that goes to show you how much we've improved. It's true the Sumarians did have a plumbing system and flush toilets, however they did not have the technology we have. But you see, for all this technology we make, our resources become more and more depleted. The simple fact is, the earth is dying, and everything is wearing away.

Answer 5

You're making some seriously tenuous assumptions in your argument.

1) Intelligence is relative. A cro-magnon from 80,000 years ago wouldn't have the slightest clue how to program a cell phone. At the same time, the typical office worker couldn't start a fire or kill a deer with a spear to save his or her life.

2) The world only SEEMS more violent and hopeless today than in the past. The reason is because today we have so much more connectivity and media, we know what's going on. Before the Internet, TV, Radio, Flight, etc, people didn't know much about what was taking place outside their own town, village or community. If a psycho cooks a baby in a microwave, within 24 hours it's on the cover of every newspaper, and on every tv station in nation. 500 years ago, people did as many (if not more) despicable things, but you simply didn't hear about it as much.

3) The proof that the world, and life, is getting better all the time is self-evident. 200 years ago, you had a 1-4 chance of dying in childhood from a deadly disease like rheumatic fever, polio, measles or typhoid. Those things are memories today. 100 years ago, if your house caught fire (which was a very real danger since most homes were still lit by candlelight) it burned down. Many times you died in it. Fire departments were not yet common in towns and suburbs, and smoke detectors did not exist. If you survived the fire, you probably died in the hospital from infection due to the burns. 50 years ago, if your car broke down 100 miles from town on a back road, you were in serious trouble. Today, you just whip out your cell phone and call for help.

Despite the ever present problems, life in modernized countries is relatively safe, secure, and easy. In America, if you're willing to flip burgers at McDonald's, you can have an (arguably lousy) job from birth to death with health insurance and retirement. The population of the earth continues to grow at an unprecedented rate, primarily in countries that were considered third world nations less than 100 years ago. This would not be happening if the quality of life was not improving.

We are not even 1/10 as close to destroying ourselves as we were during the dark ages, when 1/3 of Europe was wiped out by bubonic plague because humans lived like pigs. Even 50 years ago, the world was far more dangerous by virtue of the thousands of stockpiled atomic weapons. Today, there is relative security between nuclear nations, and the global community is far more potent at policing and controlling rouge states. The worst any rogue nation can do are isolated terror attacks. This is a far cry from what Hitler was able to do 70 years ago.

We will never have total world peace so long as there is disproportionate distribution of resources, but as the internet grows and knowledge becomes more dispersed, more and more people will learn the methods for prosperity. Dictatorial oppression as a form of government will eventually be replaced by world-wide democracy as it will be impossible to stop people from becoming informed.

The next great hurdle we have to face is figuring out how to live renewable lives in terms of energy and natural resources. This will happen as the cost to extract crude oil rises, and alternate energy methods become more financially viable. Again, as people learn more about the benefits of living harmoniously with the planet, life will improve further. Right now, it's mainly greed that holds us back, but that is slowly changing.

The other great thing on the horizon is the understanding of human bio-chemistry and genetics (thanks to computers), and with this the ability to repair/replace organs with replacements grown from our own cells. The end of disease and sickness will usher in a new age for mankind as illness will become a thing of the past.

These things won't happen in your lifetime, but perhaps 100-200 years hence they will, and life will improve, perhaps by orders of magnitude.

Answer 6

The Second Law of Thermodynamics says (roughly) that things go from a higher state to a lower state, "Energy spontaneously tends to flow only from being concentrated in one place
to becoming diffused or dispersed and spread out." That is, entropy *consumes* all energy; but energy is not consumed, it just becomes "unavailable." It's why the apple rots on the shelf. It's why the sun will eventually burn out.

Because of entropy, and the 2nd LoT, why would you expect evolution to give us higher and higher forms of life? In fact it does not, and cannot, give us higher forms of life.

Well, that is one short answer; the long answer(s) is much more involved.

Answer 7

baber, in how many ways does it need to be said that evolution doesn't say we come from monkeys?

Now, to the OP, there wont be peace in this world so long as the religious keep thinking only their religion should rule it and trying to force it through in any means they can think of.

Answer 8

No the difference between evolutionists and Christians is evolutionists don't want to teach unproven lies to children under the guise of Science

Answer 9

If you believe in evolution please go to youtube.com and type in the search bar SOUTH PARK EVOLUTION. This is why I don't beleive in evolution, sure it may be funny but it does make a point.

Answer 10

No, the difference is that people who study evolution study the past, while Christians live in the past.