This is really meant for all you proponents of TOE:
I can agree with micro-evolution. But macro-evolution is such a whopper. I asked earlier about language evolution.
Does it not strike any of you as a little odd that mankind is the only species with several complex languages while no
other species shows anything close?
Maybe you noticed several other areas unique to mankind?
art, literature, music, spirituality, abstract thought,
increased knowledge and abilities, (the list is longer than I care to define...)
Why are these also completely lacking in the animal kingdom?
Bradt,
To your point, how is it possible for *any* complex *living* organism to come to exsistence by way of chaos and randomness....well, it cannot without without an Intelligent Designer (by definition).
I think we're both on the same page here......
Actually... if all animals were "equally" intelligent I would say you have a good point. The problem it, they aren't. Cetaceans,Corvids, Hominids are all pretty darn smart. So the real question is "why is there a wide variety in intelligence in animals to begin with?"
The fact we are at the top, well that is good for us. Now why aren't there any others equally intelligent. Well look at our known history. The farther you go back in time, what do you see? Simpler and simpler intelligence in man, right? Go back lets say, 6000 years what do you find? The dawn of civilization. Now keep on going.... you find evidence of some culture... but all those things you mention aren't around yet... so why is it it just happened "recently"?? (and no... it isn't young earth theory being right, radioisotope dating blows that away).
So mankind is simpler...and simpler...and simpler the farther in time we go back... and... if he is anything like some of the primitive cultures that existed until recently, he doesn't have any of those traits you mention or at least, isn't exhibiting them in a complex fashion, right?.
So what does that suggest to you? I mean... if we take it to its logical conclusion the farther you go back in time, the simpler mankind was?
Now your question about why other animals do not exhibit intelligence like man does, you have to remember we are living in a small frame of time compared to the overall history of Earth. If predictions are correct, our sun has another 5 billion years to go. That is a heck of a lot of time between now and then. If you believe in microevolution... then is it hard to believe that over a long period of time the sum of the changes in a species would enable them to gain intelligence such as we posess? Many hominids seem to be close to having that capacity right? Cetaceans are also pretty darn smart. It isn't a stretch of the imagination to see that could happen. Am I saying it will? Nope... I am simply saying it is all possible.
I say this in every one of these threads:
"Micro-evolution" IS evolution. Why is it so difficult to understand that when you spread out small, incremental steps over a very long period of time, large changes can occur?
By the way, how do you know that other animals don't have some form of abstract thinking, spiritual awareness, etc? Just because they don't manifest them in complex language doesn't mean they don't have some rudimentary "minds". Surely you don't believe that animals don't communicate with each other, and with us. Watch your pets interact with each other; they most certainly are communicating.