BREAKTHROUGH OF THE YEAR: Evolution in Action

Science ^ | December 2005 | Elizabeth Culotta and Elizabeth Pennisi

[Antoninus]

Godwin invoked. You lose the discussion.

You'll notice I didn't use the word "Nazi" or "Hitler." Furthermore, I wasn't referring to any type of tyrannical practice--simply mass self-delusion and unquestioning acceptance of the conventional knowledge.

[MRMEAN]

They counted. See Article Nature 437, 69-87 (1 September 2005) | doi: 10.1038/nature04072
Initial sequence of the chimpanzee genome and comparison with the human genome
The Chimpanzee Sequencing and Analysis Consortium25 which is one of the article's links.

[Dimensio]

You don't really understand the ToE, do you?

It helps if they remain willfully ignorant of the theory. That way they can't really be accused of lying when they grossly misrepresnet it.

[From many - one.]

Your language lateralization quote intrigues me. As a strong lefty I have often commented that I have to "translate" my thoughts into English.

[Echo Talon]

It is an old tired debate and the ToE is just that a Theory.

[Dimensio]

It is an old tired debate and the ToE is just that a Theory.

And what is a "theory"? Explain the significance of that word.

[Dimensio]

You'll notice I didn't use the word "Nazi" or "Hitler."

Semantic games.

Furthermore, I wasn't referring to any type of tyrannical practice--simply mass self-delusion and unquestioning acceptance of the conventional knowledge.

Through the use of an inane analogy and a complete lack of any actual information regarding your position.

[Echo Talon]

Natural Selection, Mendelian heredity, modern synthesis... blah blah blah

[tortoise]

This would seem to agree with tortoise's statement that symmetry is simpler than asymmetry.

More strictly, symmetry typically contains less algorithmic information than asymmetry, and therefore can be generated by simpler machinery. The more symmetry and order we find and thus the smaller the algorithmic information content, the higher the probability that the necessary machinery could be brute-forced and bootstrapped by mechanistic chance.

It would seem useful for proponents of ID to find as much disorder and irregularity as possible to support their hypothesis. All this order and regularity in nature detracts from their assertion that design is an explanatory necessity.

[Dimensio]

So you don't actually understand the theory of evolution at all.

[highball]

"It is an old tired debate and the ToE is just that a Theory."

And what is a "theory"? Explain the significance of that word.

You can click on my home page for the scientific definition.

Hint: "theory" doesn't mean "wild guess." It requires a whole lot of evidence to support it, which is why ID doesn't qualify.

[ThomasNast]

You've been told before that scientists do not "assume" that there was no Creator.

But this topic is on Intelligent Design. If you are not assuming there is no creator, are you assuming then that God is not intelligent?

[Echo Talon]

the·o·ry N
Abstract reasoning; speculation
An assumption based on limited information or knowledge; a conjecture.

[Shalom Israel]

Kindly provide an example of this "evolution of the theory" having been done.

Punctuated equilibrium was posited to explain why species seem to emerge so suddenly in the geologic record, followed by long periods in which the species appears to change very little. These long periods of equilibrium were once seen as damning evidence against the theory, since it usually included the assumption that evolution was much more uniform, and that species should continue changing steadily.

As a meta-argument, PE is particularly interesting, because it can be characterized on its face as predicting a lack of evidence. That is, a theory is accepted when it makes testable conclusions; so what does one make of a theory that predicts its own untestability?

That isn't purely hypothetical, of course. There are religious folks who believe that faith must, by its nature, be without evidentiary foundation. In other words, their belief in God entails the prediction that proof of God's existence must be impossible to produce, else faith is rendered meaningless.

<disclaimer> I'm a Bible believer, and I do believe that God "hides his tracks" to some extent in this dispensation. However, I do not advance the lack of proof as proof in its own right. And given the strength of the evidence for evolution today, I spend my energy re-examining my interpretation of Genesis rather than dueling with scientists. I just visit crevo threads because I like blood.

[Dimensio]

If you are not assuming there is no creator, are you assuming then that God is not intelligent?

No assumptions of any kind whatsoever are made regarding any gods or any other kinds of creators. That isn't how science operates.

[CarolinaGuitarman]

" Abstract reasoning; speculation
An assumption based on limited information or knowledge; a conjecture."

Now try posting the first definition; the scientific one.

[Echo Talon]

Dictionary.com Theory Look at #4 and #6

[Dimensio]

Nice selective quoting from a dictionary. From the very same dictionary entry from which you pulled your definition I also found "A set of statements or principles devised to explain a group of facts or phenomena, especially one that has been repeatedly tested or is widely accepted and can be used to make predictions about natural phenomena."

When speaking of "theory" in the context of scientific inquiry, that is the definition that applies, not the one that you quoted.

[CarolinaGuitarman]

Look at definition number one:

A set of statements or principles devised to explain a group of facts or phenomena, especially one that has been repeatedly tested or is widely accepted and can be used to make predictions about natural phenomena.
http://www.ask.com/reference/dictionary/ahdict/35843/theory

[Dimensio]

He's not the first creationist who claimed that evolution could be tossed aside simply by selectively changing out dictionary definitions of words.