Posted on 03/02/2007 7:18:55 PM PST by balch3
recently found myself in a conversation with two college undergraduates, both of them seniors in the natural sciences (physics and biochemistry, respectively). At one point we were discussing alchemy, which they knew as a pre-modern attempt to transmute lead into gold. I asked them whether they could name any famous alchemists. They could not, though one of them dimly recalled hearing of someone whose name began with A.
I then predicted that Darwinian evolution would eventually fade into the same obscurity that now shrouds alchemy. Although I knew from previous conversations that my young friends were skeptical of Darwinian theory, they expressed considerable surprise at my prediction, if only because Darwinism is presently held in such high esteem by their professors.
So I proceeded to explain the basis for my prediction.
First, Darwinism is similar to alchemy in purporting to hold the key to transmutation. Alchemists sought the secret of turning lead into gold; Darwinists think they already possess the secret of turning bacteria into baboons.
The alchemists, of course, were looking in the wrong place, expecting to find their secret in physical mixtures or chemical reactions, when transmutation of the elements had to wait for radically new discoveries in nuclear physics. Darwinists are also looking in the wrong place, expecting to explain large-scale evolution by DNA mutations and natural selection, when abundant evidence already indicates that those processes cannot do the job. When biologists eventually unravel the true organizing principles of life, they will quickly put Darwinism behind them.
Of course, there are also significant differences between alchemy and Darwinism. One is that alchemists were self-consciously searching for The Answer; Darwinists think they already have It. Another is that alchemy contributed many insights, materials and tools to the development of modern chemistry; Darwinism has almost nothing to contribute to the development of biology. The insights, materials and tools used by Darwinists have almost all been lifted from animal and plant breeders, classical biology, Mendelian genetics, biochemistry, and molecular biology none of which owe anything to Darwins theory. The only things Darwinism can call its own are speculations about common ancestry and the transmutation of species that look increasingly implausible with each new piece of evidence.
Finally, alchemists knew that philosophy and theology were as integral to their discipline as observation and experimentation; Darwinists think they are above philosophy and theology. Even though Darwins Origin of Species and subsequent defenses of his theory are inextricably tied to arguments about why God supposedly wouldnt have made living things the way they are, Darwinists invariably accuse their critics of being religiously motivated while they think theyre just dealing with the facts.
Which reminds me of another conversation I had fifteen years ago with some communists. I was a graduate student in biology at the time, and we were discussing the nature of science. I stated that no science is entirely objective that is, based only on the facts and free of subjective elements. One of the communists replied that he knew of such a science. I asked him what it was, expecting him to say physics (for which I already had a well thought-out response). But his answer was The Marxist theory of history.
Darwinists, like Marxists, tend to be blind to their own commitment to materialistic philosophy. In this regard, Darwinists are more like Marxists than alchemists. So instead of becoming, like alchemy, just a dim recollection (someone whose name began with D), Darwinism might, like Marxism, persist for a while (after passing into oblivion everywhere else in the world) on American college campuses.
And after....
If these folks keep on talking, they'll prove to be just as good as the Global Warming folks at spinning the Big Lie. They hope it will bring them as much money as the environmentalists bring in. Both GreenPeace and the Discovery Institute are non-profit foundations, selling their stories to the faithful. And both claim they're promoting "science".
In my opinion, this is the problem with so-called Darwinists. You say "he also backed up his thinking with careful observation and analysis". That is deductive, whereas the scientific method is inductive. It starts with a question, then observation leading to conclusions. It is not a metter of chasing down data to prove a theory. That risks leaving out conflicting data which would lead to something different.
"Galileo determined through logic, analytical thinking, and experiment that the Earth rotates. Though he was forced to deny these discoveries, they still remained true."
Actually, no.
"It is, moreover, undeniable, that the proofs which Galileo adduced in support of the heliocentric system of Copernicus, as against the geocentric of Ptolemy and the ancients, were far from conclusive, and failed to convince such men as Tycho Brahé (who, however, did not live to see the telescope) and Lord Bacon, who to the end remained an unbeliever. Milton also, who visited Galileo in his old age (1638), appears to have suspended his judgment, for there are passages in his great poem which seem to favour both systems. The proof from the phenomenon of the tides, to which Galileo appealed to establish the rotation of the earth on its axis, is now universally recognized as a grave error, and he treated with scorn Kepler's suggestion, foreshadowing Newton's establishment of the true doctrine, that a certain occult influence of the moon was in some way responsible. In regard to comets, again, he maintained no less erroneously that they were atmospheric phenomena, like meteors, though Tycho had demonstrated the falsity of such a view, which was recommended only as the solution of an anti-Copernican difficulty."
Galileo may have been right, but he did not know why he was right and could never prove what he claimed (that was left for Kepler). Moreover, he brought his own troubles down on his head by being so offensive in the way he presented his opinions.
Ah, evolution, the single most unpopular theory of all time, succeeded only because people wanted to believe it.
It didn't. That would be ridiculous.
See the following chart, and note that there are no bears anywhere:
Source: http://wwwrses.anu.edu.au/environment/eePages/eeDating/HumanEvol_info.html
The Scientific Method is based on all forms of logic and deduction. The goal is to prove the contention.
Regardless of the inductive leaps it took to come to the inspiration, only demonstrable analysis based on deductive reasoning can be used to constitute that proof.
The scientific method compares a control group or population with an experimental group as identically situated as possible, so that only the experimental variable can be cited as evidence to support the supposition.
For further proof, the experiment has to be repeatable by other researchers.
though Tycho had demonstrated the falsity of such a view, which was recommended only as the solution of an anti-Copernican difficulty."
"The proof from the phenomenon of the tides, to which Galileo appealed to establish the rotation of the earth on its axis, is now universally recognized as a grave error ..."
Hmm. It is odd that he failed to notice the relationship of tides with the moon. Evidently, he was an early victim of having an inadequate model to explain global events.
Sorry, but you are wrong.
I. The scientific method has four steps:
1. Observation and description of a phenomenon or group of phenomena.
2. Formulation of an hypothesis to explain the phenomena. In physics, the hypothesis often takes the form of a causal mechanism or a mathematical relation.
3. Use of the hypothesis to predict the existence of other phenomena, or to predict quantitatively the results of new observations.
4. Performance of experimental tests of the predictions by several independent experimenters and properly performed experiments.
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