Lets face it "Evolutionary Genetics is theoretical castles-in-the-sky, substantially disconnected from empirical reality: amorphous and ultimately not an empirical science. "Punctuated Equilbrium" Geneticist John Maynard-Smith argues that punctuated equilbrium is implausible because of it's high cost!- it slows beneficial evolution dramatically! ..... "Hit a Evolutionary geneticist in the face with a 3 lb brick..and he'll "CALL" on his compassion....Hit him in the face with the "TRUTH" and he'll "CALL" the POLICE ! ......... G'nite "kmart" shoppers and thanks for coming!
2007-12-22 20:24:02 · 7 answers · asked by Archie P 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Biology
Evolution has always been a religion. Evolutionists just claim that it's not a religion so that they don't have to go to any form of worship service. They'd rather sit in their pajamas eating cereal.
2007-12-22 20:37:24 · answer #1 · answered by The_Girl_With_Kaleidoscope_Eyes 4 · 2⤊ 5⤋
Should EVOLUTION (THEORY) be reclassified as a RELIGION?
Just because you consider evolution to be nonsense doesn't make it a religion. For starters, there are no boogie men and nobody's asking for your money. Nor does the theory persecute homosexuals or anyone else.
No, what you believe is a religion. The difference is that your beliefs are wild guesses with no evidence to support them. Such ideas are now largely promulgated only by those unfamiliar with modernity and the advances of mankind since the Salem witch trials and the Spanish Inquisition. We've found better ways to understand reality. Hence vaccines and space travel instead of exorcisms and snake handlers. What has your belief system contributed to the world beside war? (BTW, what your people mistook for hell was just the molten rock bubbling up. It turns out that there's no need to sacrifice a goat after all.)
Faith is exactly identical with treating a guess like a proven fact that no longer needs to be thought about. You know, "Some guy preached last Sunday that Yahweh said it, I'm guessing he's right, that settles it"
So, if I say that I "think" that the universe was created by a sky buddy, that is a belief. But if I betray my own mind and decide to forget that I don't really know that, that I have merely guessed, then I have unshakeable faith. Faith is not the same as trust or belief, both of which acknowledge uncertainty. Faith is the same as delusion. It is beyond belief. In every sense.
Now take your fables and parables back to the myth and religion page where they are welcome. They have heated debates about Santa Claus and Moses and Thor and Smurfs all of the time. We hang out here just to avoid that kind of thinking.
Hope that helps, and thanks for sharing.
Still here? Boo!
[Incidentally, if you think that holes in the concept of punctualted equilibrium might be reason enough to reject evolution, what do you think of virgin births and resurrection? Anything vague or not fully explained there? Just asking to be certain that you aren't applying a double standard here.]
2007-12-22 20:48:52 · answer #2 · answered by Yaybob 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
John Maynard Smith, winner of the Darwin Award for contributions to evolutionary theory, has been a leading contributor to the application of mathematical algorithms to evolution which prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that evolution must happen, given the what we know about the actions of gene based heredity. Based on his math, he has argued for evolutionary processes happening at a more gradualistic rate than would be predicted by those who adhere to a model of punctuated equilibrium.
2007-12-23 01:35:19 · answer #3 · answered by Dendronbat Crocoduck 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Since the "dilemma" has been addressed, it's not really a problem for modern theory of natural selection. It's certainly not a problem for the observed fact of evolution. That Maynard Smith (I don't think there should be a hyphen) had problems with the theory of punctuated equilibrium is a separate issue entirely.
The last few sentences were just barely coherent attacks. The overuse of capitalization doesn't help you.
2007-12-22 20:46:43 · answer #4 · answered by maxdwolf 3 · 3⤊ 1⤋
No. Evolution is science. No matter what your beliefs are, evolution is still and will always be science. Being such there is a process to challenge it. If you have data and substantiated hypothesis and another theory, then you can challenge evolution. There have been many challenges, all have failed.
2007-12-23 00:23:58 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
Evolution is not a theory. It is simply what the world does.
People have been breeding dogs, horses, cows, and other animals for various traits for thousands of years. This artificial selection is available to anyone who wants to try their hand at animal breeding.
Natural selection is just the natural version of this.
Additionally, nobody cares about your wretched pseudoscience arguments.
2007-12-22 20:29:52 · answer #6 · answered by lithiumdeuteride 7 · 5⤊ 2⤋
in the sense that a scientist must rely on faith that there is a missing link, i would say one could agrue that if you need faith for your theory to work, it must be religion. sure i can buy that.
2007-12-22 20:36:12 · answer #7 · answered by donnie b 2 · 1⤊ 3⤋