Posted on 08/11/2008 11:22:05 AM PDT by Soliton
By viewing evolution as the motion of energy flows toward a stationary state (entropy), evolution can be explained by the second law of thermodynamics, a law which conventionally describes physical systems. In this view, a cheetah serves as an energy transfer mechanism, and beneficial mutations allow the animal to transfer more energy within its environment, helping even out the energy.
(Excerpt) Read more at physorg.com ...
I’m not sure what you are referring to.
No, I just wanted to shut up the second law deniers.
OK, I forced myself to read the article at your link. It’s a restatement of every discredited point IDers have been making for years. You’re right, it’s not meant to convince honest inquirers, just to reassure believers.
Seems like your homepage used to have something about how bad this type of discussion made FR look.
I don’t see those terms in the article.
LOL. That is one of the best takedowns of the morons I’ve ever seen.
How’s the fundraiser going?
He seemed reasonable and stuck to science. I didn't take him for an ID advocate.
LOL Gee, a brand new defintion for evolution. The author of this article begins with a faulty premise. The theory of evolution has nothing to do with 'energy flows'.
Good grief.
This line of reasoniing and orthodox evolution theory are not capable of forcasting change. In fact,change is not guaranteed. When it occurs it may be in a less successful direction. The cheetah may develop shorter claws and die out.
What I find most interesting is the absolute necessity, according to evolutionary theory, of extinction. Yet we have a body of law and government edicts mandating the protection of species in danger of extinction. The spurious argument given is that humans are causing the extinctions. Why is that a bad thing according to evolutionary theory. Is it not our natural duty to eradicate every species that endangers us or is not useful to us? Similarly do we not increase populations of creatures that benefit us?
In the final analysis one can not be an environmentalist and accept evolution. The two views are polar opposites.
thanks for the laugh!
This is certainly true. The notion that evolution is necessarily progressive is a myth. Humans have less acute senses of smell than our ancestors, for instance.
As to your other point, what passes for environmentalism today is hardly grounded in science, biological or otherwise.
Your name-calling does you no service. You should try reading what you and your buds write. It has all the earmarks of dogma. In addition, by simply making fun of those who you disagree with, you do not take on the very serious business at hand here.
C’mon, what are you afraid of?
Your basic argument seems to be that those who disagree with you are somehow inferior. This has nothing to do with the substance of the arguments. You talk amongst yourselves in front of everyone else as though that proves something other than that you are bereft of cogent convincing conclusive arguments.
Then you take on FR and try to make the web site owners embarrassed. These are old school socialist fascist methods. Stand up and fight in the open, like men! If you really believe in evolution, then you should be able to be the fittest that survive!
Somehow I think you have minds that are closed shut. Hello?
If you truly believe that consciousness is an accident than you cannot believe in accidents. Or, your beliefs must also be accidents, and, therefore, no better or worse than mine.
We see fossils of birds or reptiles or other animals and plants from tens to hundreds of millions of years ago, and lo and behold, they are somewhat the same as they are now (they are still birds or reptiles or plants). How is it, then, that all the species of life on earth are to have evolved in a relatively short time span (geologically speaking) from a single entity? Or is there some huge, all of the sudden appearance, of multiple species? Scientists keep telling me I'm closely related to all life forms on earth and that we all share x-number of percent of dna and genes, but it raises more questions than answers for me.
Here's why, using bacteria as a starting point. They reproduce feverishly (many thousands of generations to one human life-time), but they are still bacteria. These lowest forms of life have never shown the ability to go beyond being bacteria. Yet, we have millions of diverse species of all things, that keep turning into more of those things. We don't see lines of apes being anything but apes, well, where did the first ape come from? What about the first bird?
Not looking for a fight, just looking for logical answers to logical questions.
My argument, fwiw, is that the study of science provides us with a wonderful method of acquiring knowledge of our universe. It's a method of thinking that (1) is not incompatible with my religion, and (2) has benefited man in numerous ways.
...the “Hopeful Monster Theory”, where in one giant leap of a mutation a totally functional mutation develops that looks completely different than the parents. Which, rather coincidentally, explains the lack of abundant transitional fossil evidence.
The reason Western civiization, to this very day, gives birth to their young with the windows closed, out of fear that a mutation will be born and fly out the window.
...that's the way I heard it anyway...
Your questions, good as they are, are impossible to answer in a simple internet post. May I recommend two books that might be helpful? They are “Evolution: The Remarkable History of a Scientific Theory “ by Edward Larson and “The Making of the Fittest” by Sean Carroll. Good places to start.
“Or, more logically, you simply put creme in your coffee which lightened the color. If this is your understanding of evolution, then how can anyone take any of your arguments seriously... ever?”
It’s called sarcasm..ever heard of it?
If the 2nd law were provable, then evolution would be disprovable.
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