Re: Meet the Rellies?

Fascinating stuff mindbender - from a purely personal point of interest, this has to be your best thread yet

I was fascinated to see the new fossil find and it does open up new areas of study into our past.

I'm not a supporter of evolution v creationism as I believe the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle; after all, all life is created one way or another.

However, a couple of possible misnomers:

Evolution is in progress. One chap states there are no 'cogs' or 'dats' but as they are entirely different animals, would cross-breeding be even possible; my understanding is that it isn't. Inter-breeding, on the other hand is (Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon) that produced a slightly different being: the same as, for example, a Labradoodle - if it keeps on, you end up with an apparently 'new species'.

One article rather dismissed itself by stating ' How difficult to maintain houses, and machinery, and our own bodies in perfect working order: how easy to let them deteriorate. In fact, all we have to do is nothing, and everything deteriorates, collapses, breaks down, wears out, all by itself - and that is what the second law is all about." - and yet jungle and rural animals live quite well in their environments without having to take direct action to keep that environment in order.

Another states: We are NOT saying that the following quote was Darwin’s conclusion but that it should have been Darwin’s conclusion.

But then goes on to state:

Darwin said: "To suppose that the eye with all its inimitable contrivances for adjusting the focus to different distances, for admitting different amounts of light and for the correction of spherical and chromatic aberration, could have been formed by natural selection, seems, I freely confess, absurd in the highest degree

- so I lost interest in both of those links as their arguments didn't make sense.

I did find the bit about the DNA strands fusing to create a variation on an existing theme though.

I'm not particularly learned on this so I hope those who know more than I do will post more info (I know most of it is speculation but even so, it's food for thought!).

Re: Meet the Rellies?

Credit where it's due - you took that one on the chin instead of becoming offended.

Re: Meet the Rellies?

I think you're developing a soft spot for our MB Karen.......eh ?

Re: Meet the Rellies?

I hope I'm not missing the point again as I've already dropped an almighty clanger today .

My take on the quote above

I think man's nature is essentially a violent territorial one. We can obviously put up with our own family members and live amongst them and not harm them in any way (mostly) - protect them from harm in fact - yet can commit unspeakable horrors to others and not bat an eyelid. This no-doubt was fine a long time ago when there were not too many of us but there must have come a time when this just didn't work anymore. Populations expanded and territory size dwindled and overlapped. Families had to get along with each other and adopt principles that enabled people to co-exist peacefully - or relatively so. Hence certain ways of behaving evolved and have been passed on from generation to generation. These helpful guiding principles are in effect, or perhaps were in effect, the ones that existed in small family groups initially thereby allowing them to live together - compassion, fair play, honesty, respect etc. These have now spread and are 'unwritten law'.

I could expand on this with regard to prophets etc through the ages as they are in my mind a response to certain elements in a society that had adopted principles that were 'hurting' a great many people.

Re: Meet the Rellies?

Not really Alan, I've always chatted to him (and have defended him at times) it's just when he (or anyone else) goes too far (for me) that I'll back off.

And, as stated earlier, it's that avatar he's got - it reminds me of a couple of lads I went out with in my youth so when I reply to MB, my brain is half talking to those 17/18 year old lads! Time for me pills I think

Re: Meet the Rellies?

oo oo! guess who's a tinny tinny bit jealous - long antenae detection at work!

Re: Meet the Rellies?

Evolution doesn't explain biogenesis. Evolution deals solely with the the way living things develop and progress. It is supported by scientific discoveries especially in the science of genetics, archaeology, anthropology and paleontology

Creationism claims a supreme being created life but then claims that then nothing changed. It has absolutely no basis in science at all.

Re: Meet the Rellies?

Maybe it's me but the idea that complexity and absolute brilliance of the human eye was the result of natural selection seems totally logical and in line with the evidence. The real absurdity is the idea that some "supreme being" (God or the Flying Spagheti Monster) created it.

Re: Meet the Rellies?

Okay, I give up - whose jealous (if they've got long antennae then how come I haven't spotted them )

Re: Meet the Rellies?

But did Darwin say those words? The article says 'We are NOT saying that the following quote was Darwin’s conclusion but that it should have been Darwin’s conclusion.' was it Darwin's conclusion or anywhere near it? I know he said the eye gave him a problem he couldn't explain but I've lucked out in the past trying to find information on that.