What if the Theory of Evolution is Right? (Part I)

In the race of gathering professional support, ID is losing, terribly. 

And mean really terribly.

The Discovery Institute has put together a list of 700 biologists, who consider ID a viable possibility. Which isn't many.

Compare that to the tens of thousand of biologists world wide, who consider Common Descent to be not only possible, but a proven fact.

Possibly the funniest effort to highlight ID's lack of support was the Steve Project:http://ncse.com/taking-action/project-steve

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Steve

Whatever advantages ID may have going for it, a tsunami professional support isn't one of them.

(Yet.)

its not an urban legend. Its a JOKE, for crying out loud!

Word for the day:O-B-V-I-O-U-S

   True. Over on that "other" evolution thread, the intent is to prove that evolution ("A") is false. Then, if that can be accomplished, "B" must be correct.

   Me? Long ago, I found that "B" is unquestionably false. Absolutely 0% credibility (IMO). Therefore, what else might be true? I did not conclude "A" by a default belief.

   But, you see Elroch, you and I are not like most people. Something must be wrong with us, since we are such a small minority.

Well, let's be realistic, pawnwhacker. With all due humility, we both are unusually well equipped to understand the nature of the scientific case for evolution. What fraction of people can really understand why a scientific theory is more reliable that finely-honed marketing of unscientific ideas?

Having said that, it is not a minority who accept scientific reality. Education is successful in most of the developed world at passing the great ideas of science to the majority of each generation. The majority of people in Western Europe, the more developed countries in Asia and much of the rest of the world learn the basic facts of evolution and indicate their basic understanding of them when polled, like they understand that the Earth orbits the Sun.

In my opinion, the success of honest education will increase in the future, even in those parts of the world where there is a strong anti-science movement. This is evidenced by positive trends even in the US, where the creationist anti-scientific cult is so powerful. The related anti-environmental movements are slowly dying in the US and other countries as well, as a healthy global consensus inches closer with the decades.

   An afterthought...

   If I were one who concluded that evolution is false, therefore religion is true, I would be in a quagmire...which religion? Christian ((then which of the dozens of flavors...Catholic? Adventist? Baptist? Episcopal? Church of England, etc. or maybe Mormon (some say it is Christian, others say it is just a cult)), Jewish?...which one in particular?...same with Islam, Buddhist and on and on and on.

   There are thousands of choices available today. If we were to count all the religions throughout history, there would probably be tens of thousands.

   So, how does one choose? Simple (for the vast majority). Your parents have a religious view and they instill it into you. You never think about changing to anything else. In fact, you are probably fearful of any kind of independent thinking in this regard. You accept it, "lock-stock-and-barrel" and you pass it down to your children.

   Many years ago, in such a discussion with one of my sisters she said: "Oh! I would never question that! God would punish me!" To another sister, I said: "If you had been born in Saudi Arabia, you would be a Muslim." She said: "Oh, no I wouldn't! I would still be a Christian!"

   There is no "debate". "Debate" implies a winner and a loser. I said that on my very first post on that "other" thread.

   I don't care what anyone believes. I just wish that they could extend that very same courtesy to me. But, they can't. Impossible. They want to "save" me. If they can't, then they believe it is only fair that I suffer for eternity. Why? I brought it upon myself.

   There must be a flaw in me. 

bah! humbug!

You are just so full of yourself today, aren't you sunshine?

p.s.: Just noticed that your threads have gotten little response and at least three got no response. You are just a cackling, rip-roaring, hooting and tooting barrel of laughs, I reckon. 

At least 4,000.  You are forgetting "what if the theory of evolution is wrong"1 and 2, plus the approaching 900 posts here. All essentially the same topic.

:) Or maybe you just reckoned they were pathetic cowards and not worth the throat punch unless it was really going to improve the class.

Damn discipline ;)

Number: "At least 4,000.  You are forgetting "what if the theory of evolution is wrong"1 and 2, plus the approaching 900 posts here. All essentially the same topic."

   You didn't mention any other forum in your post. So, man up and stop quibbling. 

   btw...I don' go around punching people unless the exigency of the situation allowed for no better option. 

   I just want to comment on this, again. To me, it is a tidy, pithy that says a lot. But unfortuneately, the vast majority of humanity will think otherwise.

   They wouldn't grasp your meaning but would take umbrage at your calling them fools if they did and, in any event, would find you to be the fool and perhaps take pity on you for where you will spend eternity.

   That about sums it up.

p.s.: You'd certainly have to explain to most people the definition of a "hypothesis".

   Three days without a post...nyuck.

   But of course, the bugger blocked about half the posters over there, including "yours truly".

   Here, there is no one blocked. No one. (Well, there were a few, including Spike the Blocker...but even he may post here except he won't because he is just a little, little weiner boy...lol.)

   Anyway, as the OP of this thread, I have no hubris on the subject matter (I am humbled by my ignorance). And I don't care a whit if someone posts or if the bloody thread were to die of malnutrion. Afterall, I think that we all have better ways to waste our time. Well...maybe. 

Of course it's a joke. It's also an urban legend. How many people do you think have received an e-mail with that? I have. And how many do you think have thought it really happened? I'll bet a good number have.

You know, SpikeWilliam expressly invited me, via personal message, to join his "new" (by now old) thread on evolution. And I did. I stayed a fair amount of time. But it became evident that neither he nor any of the other evolution-deniers was either interested in or able to understand actual evidence or to comprehend when objections had been answered. It was just one Creationist canard after another, until finally I left--while they thought they still thought their side was winning. <Sigh>

I am saddened to see that there are so many science-denialists--and so many non-comprehenders of rational posts. And alarmed.

Spike invited me as well.

Was on my freinds list, even. 

And then he blocks me, no explaination.

Screw him.

I just found this, it made me laugh:

Yay!!!

I untracked Spike!!!

There are enough examples of a similar urban legends being believed.  If someone believes in God, believing in a female Marine combat vet that punches out her professor is hardly a stretch.  Even if it is only humour, it's telling that whoever resends probably doesn't care if it is true or not.

Won't you miss his contributions to free thinking i.e. pasting long articles written by someone else?

The point is, it is a story about Relativism.

Just because the subject of theism meant nothing to the professor, didn't mean it meant nothing to anybody else.

In fact, the subject is intensely important to some.