Thread Tools
Old April 17, 2002, 17:32   #61
Asher
Apolytoners Hall of Fame
President of the OT
 
Asher's Avatar
 
Local Time: 17:09
Local Date: October 31, 2010
Join Date: Nov 1999
Location: Calgary, Alberta
Posts: 40,843
Quote:
Originally posted by Caligastia
What is the point of creating a perfect world?
What is the point in creating the world? Period.
__________________
"I'll never doubt you again when it comes to hockey, [Prince] Asher." - Guynemer
Asher is offline  
Old April 17, 2002, 17:33   #62
DinoDoc
Civilization II Democracy GameApolytoners Hall of Fame
Deity
 
DinoDoc's Avatar
 
Local Time: 18:09
Local Date: October 31, 2010
Join Date: Sep 1999
Location: Underwater no one can hear sharks scream
Posts: 11,096
Damn you, Mark! I demand that you move this back to the Civ3 forum or close it! We already have enough of these threads here now. The OT isn't meant to be the mod garbage can to dispose of unwanted threads.
__________________
Rosbifs are destructive scum- Spiffor
I make no bones about my moral support for [terrorist] organizations. - chegitz guevara
If government is big enough to give you everything you want, it is also big enough to take everything you have. - Gerald Ford
Blackwidow24 and FemmeAdonis fan club
DinoDoc is offline  
Old April 17, 2002, 17:34   #63
Caligastia
Emperor
 
Caligastia's Avatar
 
Local Time: 19:09
Local Date: October 31, 2010
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 3,402
Quote:
Originally posted by Asher
There is no afterlife. That much is patently obvious.

How would anyone know there is an afterlife? They're DEAD when they go there.
Why are you so confident there isnt one then?

Quote:
The concept of afterlife was created so the leaders of the cults would have a way of getting people to do what they say and follow their morals. If you don't do this or that, you will BURN IN HELL. If you do do this or that, you will relax peacefully in heaven for all of eternity.
Yep, unfortunately thats true. Many people stay in organised religion because they are afraid.
Caligastia is offline  
Old April 17, 2002, 17:35   #64
Asher
Apolytoners Hall of Fame
President of the OT
 
Asher's Avatar
 
Local Time: 17:09
Local Date: October 31, 2010
Join Date: Nov 1999
Location: Calgary, Alberta
Posts: 40,843
Quote:
Originally posted by Caligastia
Why are you so confident there isnt one then?
Because there is absolutely no way for anyone to know that it WOULD exist if it DID exist.

And recently with the Heaven's Gate stuff, I've become convinced that people with pathetic lives are so gullible they'll believe anything that gives them hope.
__________________
"I'll never doubt you again when it comes to hockey, [Prince] Asher." - Guynemer
Asher is offline  
Old April 17, 2002, 17:36   #65
mbelleroff
Settler
 
Local Time: 18:09
Local Date: October 31, 2010
Join Date: Apr 2002
Posts: 2
dude,
I don't even know where to start.

First of all, The "scientific community" does not laugh at the theory of evolution. There are still debates about it, but in general evolution comes across as the best theory, or hypothesis if you insist. Yes, you're right, in the end it's just a hypothesis. But ever hear of Occam's Razor? Given the options, evolution seems to be the best hypothesis we've got, so suck it up and deal with it.

Relativity is not proven fact, by the way. Einstein's theories have been upheld when tested, but any scientist will tell you that this is far from proof. It is simply a lack of disproof. Which is exactly what evolution has going for it. In fact Einstein gave up on or recanted much of his work before he died, including e.g. the Cosmological Constant. It was only later physicists who found out he was actually right. And then of course there was his biggest blunder, his staunch assertion that God does not play dice. We now know that He does.

Creationism only makes sense if we make it make sense. Anyway, it's a silly debate, both theories can easily be incorporated to work together if you read the evidence the right way.

And finally, by the way, exactly who is laughing at the Big Bang? Sure they've revised the theory to puch it back 5-10 billion years, but almost every astrophysicist, astronomer and cosmologist still gives the theory credence. You have a really bad habit of making bold, declarative statements about the thoughts of whole communities.

Poor silly humans. A temporarily stable pattern of matter and energy stumbles upon self-cognizance for a moment, and suddenly it thinks the whole universe was created for its benefit.
mbelleroff is offline  
Old April 17, 2002, 17:37   #66
Draco aka Se7eN
Chieftain
 
Local Time: 18:09
Local Date: October 31, 2010
Join Date: Aug 2001
Posts: 69
LOL PROVOST HARISON

How inteligent of you to assuem that im a teenage know nothing LOL

I would also like to know how evolution at all helps with our knowlege of genetics and molecular bioligy.

I also find it amusing that you assume that i know nothing about this subject. You couldnt be more incorrect. I know more about this than you think. Im not going to insult you on the other hand. Im not going to claim that you are not intelligent. Obviously if you are a teacher at oxford you must be intelligent. However i ask of you to not assume that i lack intelligence because i do not believe what you believe.

I have already called you out. Show me fossle evidence of evolution and i will believe in evolution.

Thats all you need to prove evolution once and for all. But here is the thing. There is no fossle evidence. You can come up with all the hypothisises and idea's you want. But that would make you know better than creationists. However creationists do have proof on their side. If we did not evolve from a single celled organism then how did we get here? if there is no fossle evidence of one creature evolving into another then how did we get to be who we are? If you look at the fossle records every species found has always existed in its original form. IF that is the case then logically Creation scientifically holds true.
Draco aka Se7eN is offline  
Old April 17, 2002, 17:37   #67
loinburger
Apolytoners Hall of Fame
Emperor
 
Local Time: 19:09
Local Date: October 31, 2010
Join Date: Jul 1999
Posts: 5,605
Quote:
Originally posted by fezick31
The whole point comes down to an argument of what happens when you die.
That's number 11 on the list:

11. ARGUMENT FROM FEAR

(1) If there is no God then we're all going to die.
(2) Therefore, God exists.

Quote:
If Evolution is true, then when you die, that's it, goodbye, no more.
How do you figure? I fail to see how proof of evolution would prove that there is no afterlife.

Quote:
(and if that is the case, why in the world waste your time on these forum, go out and do something valuable with the few short years you have),
Hold on there. Are you saying that the only purpose of your life is to die and hopefully get into a nice afterlife? That's awful. The existence or non-existence of an afterlife should have no bearing on your life here on earth; don't live for pipe dreams.

Quote:
However, if creationism is true, then there is something beyond death.
How do you figure? Proof of creationism would prove that there was some force that caused us to come into existence, but would by no means prove that there is an afterlife.
__________________
"For just twenty cents a day, we'll moisten your dreams with man urine." -Space Ghost
loinburger is offline  
Old April 17, 2002, 17:39   #68
ranskaldan
Prince
 
ranskaldan's Avatar
 
Local Time: 18:09
Local Date: October 31, 2010
Join Date: Aug 2001
Posts: 300
Quote:
Originally posted by Draco aka Se7eN
The problem with Evolutionists is that they cant accept any scientific evidence that proves evolution false! Most evolutionists are grossly educated in falsehoods or are biased and will find any reason not to believe in god.
Name us some evidence that proves evolution false.
Besides, the reason people believe in evolution certain isN't because they want to reject God. Plenty of Theists out there believing in it! Evolution simply makes more sense and has more evidence backing it up.
Rather, creationists believe in Creation because they reject any evidence that could point otherwise.

Quote:
Look im not here because i believe in god. Im arguing because evolution is scientifically false.
Ah.... and Creation is therefore scientifically true?
Evolution makes some sense. Creation makes none.

Quote:
It is logical that their is a creater. On this planet we see creation all around us. When has anything complex ever spontaniously evolved or come about by accedent.
Have you ever seen a snowflake before??
It looks complex. But actually the concept is really simple.

Quote:
If any of you had any idea how complex even the simplest single celled organism is then perhaps you could put aside your biased believes and open your eyes to the facts.
The simplest organism around doesn't even have cells.
Most creationists give us a full Animal Cell model, complete with nucleus, mitochondria, Golgi apparatus etc, and tell us that this could NOT have occurred through chance. Yes I agree. But have you considered that even single-celled organisms went through billions of years of evolution?
It's like presenting us with a fullscale model of a hummingbird and telling us that it could not have simply appeared by chance. Yeah, like duh.
__________________
Poor silly humans. A temporarily stable pattern of matter and energy stumbles upon self-cognizance for a moment, and suddenly it thinks the whole universe was created for its benefit. -- mbelleroff
ranskaldan is offline  
Old April 17, 2002, 17:41   #69
Caligastia
Emperor
 
Caligastia's Avatar
 
Local Time: 19:09
Local Date: October 31, 2010
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 3,402
Quote:
Originally posted by Asher

So this is acceptable, but it's not acceptable to say the world exists in THIS time and space as we know it, without a creator?

That is completely and utterly illogical.
Its acceptable, if thats what you want to say, I wont stop you. Its not true though. There is a lot more to it than just God, humans and angels. There are many other beings in various universe governments that participate in the overcontrol of evolution.

Quote:
Huh?
A perfect world would allow free will, but no one would kill by default and everyone would be tolerant of those around them.

What kind of masochist are you?
As I said, perfection does not come overnight. This world is evolving towards perfection every day, and as you have noticed, it has a long way to go.

Quote:
Is that why atheism is becoming more and more popular each day as people learn more about the world?
Science will never be able to answer everything.
Caligastia is offline  
Old April 17, 2002, 17:41   #70
Asher
Apolytoners Hall of Fame
President of the OT
 
Asher's Avatar
 
Local Time: 17:09
Local Date: October 31, 2010
Join Date: Nov 1999
Location: Calgary, Alberta
Posts: 40,843
Quote:
Originally posted by Draco aka Se7eN
LOL PROVOST HARISON

How inteligent of you to assuem that im a teenage know nothing LOL
In your intelligent ways you forgot to forge your birthday in your profile. People can see you were born in 1982.

Quote:
I would also like to know how evolution at all helps with our knowlege of genetics and molecular bioligy.

I also find it amusing that you assume that i know nothing about this subject. You couldnt be more incorrect. I know more about this than you think. Im not going to insult you on the other hand. Im not going to claim that you are not intelligent. Obviously if you are a teacher at oxford you must be intelligent. However i ask of you to not assume that i lack intelligence because i do not believe what you believe.
Well, PH was a graduate student in biology, so I'm willing to hedge my bets on him knowing far more on this than you, seeing as you have trouble with basic grammar.

Quote:
I have already called you out. Show me fossle evidence of evolution and i will believe in evolution.
No, you see, evolution already has TONS of evidence.
The burden of proof is on you, buddy.

Quote:
IF that is the case then logically Creation scientifically holds true.
ROFLMAO
__________________
"I'll never doubt you again when it comes to hockey, [Prince] Asher." - Guynemer
Asher is offline  
Old April 17, 2002, 17:42   #71
Provost Harrison
Apolytoners Hall of FameCivilization IV PBEMPolyCast Team
Deity
 
Provost Harrison's Avatar
 
Local Time: 00:09
Local Date: November 1, 2010
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Germans own my soul.
Posts: 14,861
I wouldn't say you are correct mbelleroff, evolution is more than a 'hypothesis', this is the major point of my argument. It's been observed to occur at the microscopic level, such as antibiotic resistance of bacteria or clonal selection within the acquired immune system. We also have the examples of artificial selection, same mechanism, just very intense selection pressures placed upon plants by us.

The theory is quite solid, it is just a matter of adding to it. Remember, Darwinian evolution was essentially correct, was refined with our knowledge of genetics to produce an answer to what is the motor behind evolution. It works in every instance. There is still some support over the evolutionary pathway of modern day organisms, but still, there is no dispute over the mechanism that caused it, and it certainly isn't some contrived 'creationist' system where some God put everything there, a theory that throws up more questions than the original problem rather than solves them.
__________________
Speaking of Erith:

"It's not twinned with anywhere, but it does have a suicide pact with Dagenham" - Linda Smith
Provost Harrison is offline  
Old April 17, 2002, 17:43   #72
Caligastia
Emperor
 
Caligastia's Avatar
 
Local Time: 19:09
Local Date: October 31, 2010
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 3,402
Quote:
Originally posted by Asher

Because there is absolutely no way for anyone to know that it WOULD exist if it DID exist.
If thats the case, then you have to admit that you dont know if there is an afterlife or not.

Quote:
And recently with the Heaven's Gate stuff, I've become convinced that people with pathetic lives are so gullible they'll believe anything that gives them hope.
Unfortunately, yes.
Caligastia is offline  
Old April 17, 2002, 17:45   #73
jep
Settler
 
Local Time: 23:09
Local Date: October 31, 2010
Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: of Catan
Posts: 1
Quote:
Originally posted by Draco aka Se7eN
It is logical that their is a creater. On this planet we see creation all around us. When has anything complex ever spontaniously evolved or come about by accedent.

If any of you had any idea how complex even the simplest single celled organism is then perhaps you could put aside your biased believes and open your eyes to the facts.
I'd say you're standing on the evidence (i.e., earth). But, I'd point you towards complex adaptive systems. These are systems based on a few simple rules which develop incredibly advanced and complex behaviour. The theory of evolution describes a complex adaptive system of medium complexity (but it's been running for a very long time)

Don't think evolution can produce the results? Well, I just remembered some experimental evidence that demonstrates evolution can work exactly as it is suggested it can: genetic programming.

Don't think GAs can produce complexity? Then you need to look at some of the stuff produced by them. I've seen circuit diagrams produced by genetic algorithms that are so incredibly complicated and obscure that no one can figure out how they work! And it's all based on the application of simple rules that are adapted from genetic behaviours observed in the reproduction and life-cycles of living organisms.
jep is offline  
Old April 17, 2002, 17:45   #74
KrazyHorse
Deity
 
KrazyHorse's Avatar
 
Local Time: 19:09
Local Date: October 31, 2010
Join Date: May 2001
Location: 138% of your RDA of Irony
Posts: 18,577
Their is no fossle evudens of evlushun. Its a mith made up by the libral jewish media. Creationism is a proven sinetific FACT that doesn't get publishd in sintefic jurnols becuz there biesed. Anybody who believes in evolushunism is going to HELL!
__________________
04-06-04 Killdozer NEVER FORGET
Stadtluft Macht Frei
In Memoriam Adam Smith: a brilliant man, taken too soon
Get Rich or Die Tryin'
KrazyHorse is offline  
Old April 17, 2002, 17:46   #75
Caligastia
Emperor
 
Caligastia's Avatar
 
Local Time: 19:09
Local Date: October 31, 2010
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 3,402
Re: dude,
Quote:
Originally posted by mbelleroff
Creationism only makes sense if we make it make sense. Anyway, it's a silly debate, both theories can easily be incorporated to work together if you read the evidence the right way.
Poor silly humans. A temporarily stable pattern of matter and energy stumbles upon self-cognizance for a moment, and suddenly it thinks the whole universe was created for its benefit.
Caligastia is offline  
Old April 17, 2002, 17:46   #76
Asher
Apolytoners Hall of Fame
President of the OT
 
Asher's Avatar
 
Local Time: 17:09
Local Date: October 31, 2010
Join Date: Nov 1999
Location: Calgary, Alberta
Posts: 40,843
Quote:
Originally posted by Caligastia
If thats the case, then you have to admit that you dont know if there is an afterlife or not.
That's why I'm agnostic, but I do believe it's highly unlikely for there to be one, and treat my life accordingly.

Call it Asher's Wager. Chances are there is no afterlife, so don't count on there being one and live your life now how you want to do it, and not how "God" wants you to do it.
__________________
"I'll never doubt you again when it comes to hockey, [Prince] Asher." - Guynemer
Asher is offline  
Old April 17, 2002, 17:48   #77
Asher
Apolytoners Hall of Fame
President of the OT
 
Asher's Avatar
 
Local Time: 17:09
Local Date: October 31, 2010
Join Date: Nov 1999
Location: Calgary, Alberta
Posts: 40,843
Quote:
Originally posted by KrazyHorse
Their is no fossle evudens of evlushun. Its a mith made up by the libral jewish media. Creationism is a proven sinetific FACT that doesn't get publishd in sintefic jurnols becuz there biesed. Anybody who believes in evolushunism is going to HELL!
ROFL!

Excellent summary, KH.
__________________
"I'll never doubt you again when it comes to hockey, [Prince] Asher." - Guynemer
Asher is offline  
Old April 17, 2002, 17:49   #78
Arrian
PtWDG Gathering StormInterSite Democracy Game: Apolyton TeamApolyton UniversityC4DG Gathering StormPtWDG2 Cake or Death?
Deity
 
Arrian's Avatar
 
Local Time: 19:09
Local Date: October 31, 2010
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Kneel before Grog!
Posts: 17,978
*nods* Pretty much how I see it, Asher.

Krazyhorse.

-Arrian
__________________
grog want tank...Grog Want Tank... GROG WANT TANK!

The trick isn't to break some eggs to make an omelette, it's convincing the eggs to break themselves in order to aspire to omelettehood.
Arrian is offline  
Old April 17, 2002, 17:49   #79
Draco aka Se7eN
Chieftain
 
Local Time: 18:09
Local Date: October 31, 2010
Join Date: Aug 2001
Posts: 69
Ok where is this TONS of evidence?

Please show me

I am growing tired of arguing with Hypocrits.

Show me evidence of evolution. Then i will show you evidence that disproves it. There is far more evidence that disproves evolution that supports it.
Draco aka Se7eN is offline  
Old April 17, 2002, 17:50   #80
Adm.Naismith
King
 
Adm.Naismith's Avatar
 
Local Time: 00:09
Local Date: November 1, 2010
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: Milano - Italy
Posts: 1,674
So you are trying to throw out many years of scientific study down the toilet, aren't you?

Man, I never found a pile of silly creationism words as big as is. I'm happy to live in a place a bit more realistic, still inside a strong religious population (Italian)

I only like to mention the Catholic Church and its Pope accept scientific method since many years, as the general concept of Evolution.

Roughly simplified, they simply believe the origin of the life come from God, while the evolution obey to His general rules, but free to act inside them.
So, anyone can believe what he/she like about the source of the first "big bang" of the universe (in a loose sense of start, I mean), but from that real start of everything to today it's a field for scientific method, who is so strong to always accept to discuss itself and consider better theory, if any is proven more effective to match the scientific evidence.

Remenber, not every scientific theory can be proven in full as common mathematics problem: simply they fit with scientific, experimental results better than any other suggested theory. Leave the game and apolyton forum for some days and read some good book about science. It can't damage your brain, you know.
Adm.Naismith is offline  
Old April 17, 2002, 17:51   #81
ranskaldan
Prince
 
ranskaldan's Avatar
 
Local Time: 18:09
Local Date: October 31, 2010
Join Date: Aug 2001
Posts: 300
Quote:
Poor silly humans. A temporarily stable pattern of matter and energy stumbles upon self-cognizance for a moment, and suddenly it thinks the whole universe was created for its benefit.
Whoa.
I'm going to quote that in my signature.

__________________
Poor silly humans. A temporarily stable pattern of matter and energy stumbles upon self-cognizance for a moment, and suddenly it thinks the whole universe was created for its benefit. -- mbelleroff
ranskaldan is offline  
Old April 17, 2002, 17:52   #82
Caligastia
Emperor
 
Caligastia's Avatar
 
Local Time: 19:09
Local Date: October 31, 2010
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 3,402
Quote:
Originally posted by Draco aka Se7eN
LOL PROVOST HARISON
Thats all you need to prove evolution once and for all. But here is the thing. There is no fossle evidence. You can come up with all the hypothisises and idea's you want. But that would make you know better than creationists. However creationists do have proof on their side. If we did not evolve from a single celled organism then how did we get here? if there is no fossle evidence of one creature evolving into another then how did we get to be who we are? If you look at the fossle records every species found has always existed in its original form. IF that is the case then logically Creation scientifically holds true.
The reason for this is that new species evolve suddenly as opposed to gradually.

quote:

The story of man's ascent from seaweed to the lordship of earthly creation is indeed a romance of biologic struggle and mind survival. Man's primordial ancestors were literally the slime and ooze of the ocean bed in the sluggish and warm-water bays and lagoons of the vast shore lines of the ancient inland seas, those very waters in which the Life Carriers established the three independent life implantations on this planet.

Very few species of the early types of marine vegetation that participated in those epochal changes which resulted in the animallike borderland organisms are in existence today. The sponges are the survivors of one of these early midway types, those organisms through which the gradual transition from the vegetable to the animal took place. These early transition forms, while not identical with modern sponges, were much like them; they were true borderline organisms--neither vegetable nor animal--but they eventually led to the development of the true animal forms of life.

The bacteria, simple vegetable organisms of a very primitive nature, are very little changed from the early dawn of life; they even exhibit a degree of retrogression in their parasitic behavior. Many of the fungi also represent a retrograde movement in evolution, being plants which have lost their chlorophyll-making ability and have become more or less parasitic. The majority of disease-causing bacteria and their auxiliary virus bodies really belong to this group of renegade parasitic fungi. During the intervening ages all of the vast kingdom of plant life has evolved from ancestors from which the bacteria have also descended.

The higher protozoan type of animal life soon appeared, and appeared suddenly. And from these far-distant times the ameba, the typical single-celled animal organism, has come on down but little modified. He disports himself today much as he did when he was the last and greatest achievement in life evolution. This minute creature and his protozoan cousins are to the animal creation what bacteria are to the plant kingdom; they represent the survival of the first early evolutionary steps in life differentiation together with failure of subsequent development.

Before long the early single-celled animal types associated themselves in communities, first on the plan of the Volvox and presently along the lines of the Hydra and jellyfish. Still later there evolved the starfish, stone lilies, sea urchins, sea cucumbers, centipedes, insects, spiders, crustaceans, and the closely related groups of earthworms and leeches, soon followed by the mollusks--the oyster, octopus, and snail. Hundreds upon hundreds of species intervened and perished; mention is made only of those which survived the long, long struggle. Such nonprogressive specimens, together with the later appearing fish family, today represent the stationary types of early and lower animals, branches of the tree of life which failed to progress.

The stage was thus set for the appearance of the first backboned animals, the fishes. From this fish family there sprang two unique modifications, the frog and the salamander. And it was the frog which began that series of progressive differentiations in animal life that finally culminated in man himself.

The frog is one of the earliest of surviving human-race ancestors, but it also failed to progress, persisting today much as in those remote times. The frog is the only species ancestor of the early dawn races now living on the face of the earth. The human race has no surviving ancestry between the frog and the Eskimo.

The frogs gave rise to the Reptilia, a great animal family which is virtually extinct, but which, before passing out of existence, gave origin to the whole bird family and the numerous orders of mammals.

Probably the greatest single leap of all prehuman evolution was executed when the reptile became a bird. The bird types of today--eagles, ducks, pigeons, and ostriches--all descended from the enormous reptiles of long, long ago.

The kingdom of reptiles, descended from the frog family, is today represented by four surviving divisions: two nonprogressive, snakes and lizards, together with their cousins, alligators and turtles; one partially progressive, the bird family, and the fourth, the ancestors of mammals and the direct line of descent of the human species. But though long departed, the massiveness of the passing Reptilia found echo in the elephant and mastodon, while their peculiar forms were perpetuated in the leaping kangaroos.

Only fourteen phyla have appeared on this planet, the fishes being the last, and no new classes have developed since birds and mammals.

It was from an agile little reptilian dinosaur of carnivorous habits but having a comparatively large brain that the placental mammals suddenly sprang. These mammals developed rapidly and in many different ways, not only giving rise to the common modern varieties but also evolving into marine types, such as whales and seals, and into air navigators like the bat family.

Man thus evolved from the higher mammals derived principally from the western implantation of life in the ancient east-west sheltered seas. The eastern and central groups of living organisms were early progressing favorably toward the attainment of prehuman levels of animal existence. But as the ages passed, the eastern focus of life emplacement failed to attain a satisfactory level of intelligent prehuman status, having suffered such repeated and irretrievable losses of its highest types of germ plasm that it was forever shorn of the power to rehabilitate human potentialities.

Since the quality of the mind capacity for development in this eastern group was so definitely inferior to that of the other two groups, the Life Carriers, with the consent of their superiors, so manipulated the environment as further to circumscribe these inferior prehuman strains of evolving life. To all outward appearances the elimination of these inferior groups of creatures was accidental, but in reality it was altogether purposeful.

Later in the evolutionary unfolding of intelligence, the lemur ancestors of the human species were far more advanced in North America than in other regions; and they were therefore led to migrate from the arena of western life implantation over the Bering land bridge and down the coast to southwestern Asia, where they continued to evolve and to benefit by the addition of certain strains of the central life group. Man thus evolved out of certain western and central life strains but in the central to near-eastern regions.

In this way the life that was planted on this planet evolved until the ice age, when man himself first appeared and began his eventful planetary career. And this appearance of primitive man on earth during the ice age was not just an accident; it was by design. The rigors and climatic severity of the glacial era were in every way adapted to the purpose of fostering the production of a hardy type of human being with tremendous survival endowment.
Caligastia is offline  
Old April 17, 2002, 17:54   #83
Kirel
Settler
 
Local Time: 18:09
Local Date: October 31, 2010
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Troy, New York, USA
Posts: 5
Slight enhancement
Well, there are a few arguments going on here, I'll see what I can make of them:

I strongly believe in the theory of Evolution. Not Darwin's evolution though; he merely laid down the basic ideas such as natural selection and niche competition. That original theory has become a very, very strong case for the organization of life, the Modern Theory of Evolution. The Modern Theory has been bolstered by 20th and 21st century technologies such as genetics, computers, and improved scientific tools.
I have not seen one piece of evidence that goes against the modern theory. Evolution is happening all around us, right now. Case in point: you wonder why so many people have foot problems? That's because we're still evolving to walk upright! Homo sapiens has only been around about a million years; that's not a long enough time to go from tree-dwellers to upright walkers without problems.
Also, many people seem to think that evolution means creatures are evolving "up" a ladder toward the perfect organism. This is a huge misconception! We are not moving up the evolutionary ladder, we are moving out . Species evolve to adapt to whatever conditions they may encounter. Example: the evolution of Homo sapiens was most likely the creation of the East African Rift Valley. Prior to this cataclysmic event, our ancestors were content to stay in the trees, because that whole area was nothing but jungle! After the valley was formed, our predecessors had to adapt to survive on the grasslands and plains that had formed.
The antibiotic example mentioned above is a case of evolution in action that we can see happening! If you continue to expose organisms to the same stimuli, they will adapt to counter it, and so on.
Further elaborating, your fossil argument makes no sense. There cannot be a fossil of an animal turning into another animal because evolution doesn't work that way. Organisms do not spontaneously turn into other organisms that leave different fossils. Within the evolutionary theory, there are two schools of thought: gradualism and punctuated equilibrium. Gradualism follows the traditional model: organisms slowly develop enhancements and eventually turn into other species over a long period of time. I am of the second school (punctuated equilibrium): evolution proceeds in ebbs and flows; there are long periods of time where evolution occurs very slowly, punctuated by (relatively) short periods where lots of new species appear (usually due to a natural disaster or some other large event). As a result, the fossil record would go long periods of time with little change, punctuated by fossils of many species that had never appeared before. Seems to work for me!
Finally, on the whole "watchmaker" thing:
Those who claim the universe is a very complex thing are not wrong: you're just not looking at the big picture! The universe, by current estimates, is about 13-14 billion years old, the Earth is about 4.5 billion, and life has been around for about 3 billion (feel free to correct me if these numbers are wrong). Can you comprehend how long a period 3 billion years is? This complex system you see today did not arise overnight! It gradually developed over periods of time that our brains cannot comprehend. That's like looking at the Empire State Building and saying that God must have made it, because it couldn't have just sprung into existence! Like a building, the system of Life that we are entwined with has been building itself over billions of years, up from nothing but inanimate amino acids and chemical bonds. Most likely, all life on Earth is dervied from building blocks brought to the early planet from outer space. That's right, you and I may be the descendents of extraterrestial life!
I see the Universe as an evolving system running on the simple laws of probability and chance. Everything I've seen or read has either strengthened or at least not detracted from this view.
That's all.
Kirel is offline  
Old April 17, 2002, 17:55   #84
Caligastia
Emperor
 
Caligastia's Avatar
 
Local Time: 19:09
Local Date: October 31, 2010
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 3,402
Quote:
Originally posted by Asher

That's why I'm agnostic, but I do believe it's highly unlikely for there to be one, and treat my life accordingly.

Call it Asher's Wager. Chances are there is no afterlife, so don't count on there being one and live your life now how you want to do it, and not how "God" wants you to do it.
But if you think there is no way to know if there is one or not then there is no reason to believe that its "highly unlikely" or not, all you can say (if youre being honest with yourself) is "I dont know".
Caligastia is offline  
Old April 17, 2002, 17:56   #85
ranskaldan
Prince
 
ranskaldan's Avatar
 
Local Time: 18:09
Local Date: October 31, 2010
Join Date: Aug 2001
Posts: 300
Quote:
Originally posted by Draco aka Se7eN
Ok where is this TONS of evidence?

Please show me

I am growing tired of arguing with Hypocrits.

Show me evidence of evolution. Then i will show you evidence that disproves it. There is far more evidence that disproves evolution that supports it.
whoa
that's such an assertion

hmm okay
now debunk:

Fossils
- fossils of animals
- preserved leaves
- preserved mammoths
- dating methods
- transitional forms eg. Archaeopteryx
- strata
Continental Drift
- plate tectonics
- the way the continents fit together
- how the rocks closer to the middle of the Atlantic are younger
- distribution of fossils across oceans, eg. South America and South Africa
- formation of mountains trhough folding
the Big Bang
- why it's false
- also: craters on the Moon
- lava flows on the moon, despite the fact that it's geologically inactive
the Ice Age
- moraine etc. features typical of Ice advancing

I'm amazed that with geology, biology, physics, astronomy and chemistry fitting together like jigsaws to support evolution, some people still don't believe in it.
__________________
Poor silly humans. A temporarily stable pattern of matter and energy stumbles upon self-cognizance for a moment, and suddenly it thinks the whole universe was created for its benefit. -- mbelleroff
ranskaldan is offline  
Old April 17, 2002, 17:59   #86
Asher
Apolytoners Hall of Fame
President of the OT
 
Asher's Avatar
 
Local Time: 17:09
Local Date: October 31, 2010
Join Date: Nov 1999
Location: Calgary, Alberta
Posts: 40,843
Quote:
Originally posted by Caligastia
But if you think there is no way to know if there is one or not then there is no reason to believe that its "highly unlikely" or not, all you can say (if youre being honest with yourself) is "I dont know".
I don't know for sure, but there's zero evidence in favor of it and plenty of evidence against it.

Where would people go? Can spirits and souls move around freely without a body? Not that I know of.

It doesn't matter, though.

There's no proof of it, and if God really was all-powerful and he cared for me he would have done something to show me the way.

I already know if there is an afterlife I'm going to hell, so I'm hoping there's not and I'm living my life "in the now".
__________________
"I'll never doubt you again when it comes to hockey, [Prince] Asher." - Guynemer
Asher is offline  
Old April 17, 2002, 17:59   #87
Draco aka Se7eN
Chieftain
 
Local Time: 18:09
Local Date: October 31, 2010
Join Date: Aug 2001
Posts: 69
Asher i wasnt saying i wasnt a teenager i was saying its foolish to assume that i know nothing because im a teenager.

And your remark about my grammer is also foolish. I am not arguing with one person, i am probably now arguing with 6 or 7 people trying to respond as fast as i can.

IF you cant understand that much then how can you understand much of anything?

Two words come to my mind when i think of evolutionists. Biased and denile

Please stop confusing my argument for an argument that religion is right. Im not here for that.

Im here to argue that Evolution is false. IF you were willing to be patient i could however put a rather long post together based on several books i have read.


I would like to add that Provest harrison said somewhere along the lines of that i have been brainwashed.

Well i am turning the tables, i am saying that EVOLUTIONISTS have been brainwashed.
Draco aka Se7eN is offline  
Old April 17, 2002, 18:01   #88
ranskaldan
Prince
 
ranskaldan's Avatar
 
Local Time: 18:09
Local Date: October 31, 2010
Join Date: Aug 2001
Posts: 300
Quote:
Originally posted by Draco aka Se7eN
Im here to argue that Evolution is false. IF you were willing to be patient i could however put a rather long post together based on several books i have read.
Sure.
Go ahead.
__________________
Poor silly humans. A temporarily stable pattern of matter and energy stumbles upon self-cognizance for a moment, and suddenly it thinks the whole universe was created for its benefit. -- mbelleroff
ranskaldan is offline  
Old April 17, 2002, 18:03   #89
loinburger
Apolytoners Hall of Fame
Emperor
 
Local Time: 19:09
Local Date: October 31, 2010
Join Date: Jul 1999
Posts: 5,605
Quote:
Well i am turning the tables, i am saying that EVOLUTIONISTS have been brainwashed.
Making baseless and nonsensical reversals of your opponents' assertions, eh? I'm glad to see that you're capable of arguing at a third-grade level.
__________________
"For just twenty cents a day, we'll moisten your dreams with man urine." -Space Ghost
loinburger is offline  
Old April 17, 2002, 18:04   #90
Provost Harrison
Apolytoners Hall of FameCivilization IV PBEMPolyCast Team
Deity
 
Provost Harrison's Avatar
 
Local Time: 00:09
Local Date: November 1, 2010
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Germans own my soul.
Posts: 14,861
Quote:
Originally posted by Draco aka Se7eN
LOL PROVOST HARISON

How inteligent of you to assuem that im a teenage know nothing LOL
Judging by your intellectual grasp and sophistication of use of language and spelling, I'd say it was a fair conclusion.

Quote:
I would also like to know how evolution at all helps with our knowlege of genetics and molecular bioligy.
Wrong way round boy. Our knowledge of genetics and molecular biology brings the knowledge of the importance of nucleic acids in organisms, and thus in evolution, and the significance of mutation in evolution in changing the characteristics of an organism. Basically.

Quote:
I also find it amusing that you assume that i know nothing about this subject. You couldnt be more incorrect. I know more about this than you think. Im not going to insult you on the other hand. Im not going to claim that you are not intelligent. Obviously if you are a teacher at oxford you must be intelligent. However i ask of you to not assume that i lack intelligence because i do not believe what you believe.
Just a graduate, not a teacher, although I have been a PhD student in the biological sciences for some time now. I am assuming you have no knowledge of this field because you have not made the slightest attempt to bring any facts to this debate, just accusations, wild assumptions and spurious lies.

Quote:
I have already called you out. Show me fossle evidence of evolution and i will believe in evolution.
Well it's damn hard to show fossils over the internet Besides this is all to do with the pathway of evolution, which is always up for a tweak here and a tweak there, although considerable fossil evidence has been used to demonstrate such evolution. You can find it with a quick internet search, trust me, but there is so much of it, I'm not going into it in any detail. But this isn't relevent to the modern neodarwinist theory of evolution. Evolution and natural selection can be observed in systems such as acquisition of antibiotic resistance in a bacterial system, say, for example, penicillin, which blocks glycopeptide transpeptidase - an enzyme important in peptidoglycan synthesis, essential in the construction of cell walls in bacteria. However a mutation which lead to a slight change in the structure of this enzyme's active site meant that penicillin no longer bound effectively, and thus the inhibitory, and thus antibiotic effect, was lost, and hence you have penicillin resistance.

Or shall we go into the example of clonal selection theory, expressed in B cells and plasma cells which synthesise antibodies. In the acquired immune system, a whole range of different B cells are generated each possessing different immunoglobulin structures and thus, each with different binding properties (of course those which react to the bodies own components are terminated). When they encounter an unidentified pathogen, they activate (with 'confirmation' from helper T lymphocytes) and proliferate, an example of selection of a particular type of cell with a particular property. But it doesn't end there, affinity maturation occurs. Random mutations are produced by the cell on the binding area of the immunoglobulin. Obviously most of these changes are deleterious and reduce the binding affinity of the immunoglobulin, so that line is discarded. However a few result in a higher binding affinity. This line continues, and further affinity maturation continues from this line. And after this process, the binding affinity of an immunoglobulin can be 10 000 times stronger than the original B cell.

Those are good examples of evolution at work on a small level. Of course for larger levels, we only need to look at the past thousands of years of crop breeding and selection, an example of selection, albeit 'artificial'. The principles are the same, just that we supply the selection pressure. Do you think wheat, a type of grass, is naturally the form it is? It isn't terribly efficient, but for our needs it is, as we have aimed for a higher yield and larger size of crop.

Quote:
Thats all you need to prove evolution once and for all. But here is the thing. There is no fossle evidence. You can come up with all the hypothisises and idea's you want. But that would make you know better than creationists. However creationists do have proof on their side. If we did not evolve from a single celled organism then how did we get here? if there is no fossle evidence of one creature evolving into another then how did we get to be who we are? If you look at the fossle records every species found has always existed in its original form. IF that is the case then logically Creation scientifically holds true.
There is nothing 'logical' about creation, it is just written in some old book. Is that what you need as evidence? For me, my friend, it is woefully inadequate, and not worthy of consideration as a reasonable theory of life. There is plenty of fossil evidence as well.

And with regards to evolving from a singular celled organism. Are you familiar with the term 'abiogenesis', how life evolved on the molecular level? You see, there is no fossil evidence for a cellular organism because they don't leave fossils. But there is other evidence, although not quite as direct, but compelling nonetheless, looking at thermophylic bacteria which are closely related to some of the earlier organisms, analysis of genomes between different species, their similarities, looking at relative physiology, and if possible, fossil records. There is a lot more to this than simply finding a fossil my friend. A lot more.
Provost Harrison is offline  
 

Bookmarks

Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 19:09.


Design by Vjacheslav Trushkin, color scheme by ColorizeIt!.
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.2
Copyright ©2000 - 2010, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Apolyton Civilization Site | Copyright © The Apolyton Team