Genghis wrote:Stryker wrote:Evolution isn't science any more than ID is. Evolution is a theory that deals with the past, just as ID is. The past cannot be verified by scientific means. Science can only deal with the present, and the past so far as we have absolute recorded data.
Ah, I see the problem. You simply misunderstand science.
Science is about experiments and repeatable measurements. It doesn't matter when an event occured. For example, when we witness a supernova we make measurements about an event that actually happened thousands of years ago. We can then form a theory based on what we saw in the supernova and make an experiment by checking all previously recorded data from supernovas to see if it contradicts the theory.
And don't forget, in science you verify experimental results but you can never verify your theory; you can only disprove it. Fortunately, no evidence has been found to disprove evolution, and we are constantly filling in the unknown portions of evolutionary theory based on new evidence every year.
The thing is, in order to make assumptions about the past based on today's scientific data, we must assume that no major events have occurred to change other variables involved in the analysis. Say, for instance, that we test which pole on our planet has been the north pole. We can test it again and again, all we could ever want, but the results will remain the same, barring a cataclysmic event.
Does this mean that the poles have never reversed? NO! In fact, we have very solid evidence that the poles HAVE reversed at some point in history. But, based on the observable data that we have recorded in the last 150 years, we have no reason to suppose that the poles have ever reversed. You're making assumptions that simply cannot be made when you claim that natural processes have stayed the same throughout history.
Gooberman wrote:ID is interesting, but I don't personally consider it a scientific theory -- because the universe remains the same regardless of its validity.
I don't consider it a scientific theory. I don't consider things relating to the past to be scientific theories.
http://teacher.nsrl.rochester.edu/phy_l ... ndixE.html
That seems to me to be a very accurate description of the Scientific Method. Walking through it step by step:
"1. Observation and description of a phenomenon or group of phenomena."
This seems to me to be pretty straightforward. We see something and decide to find out why it happens that way.
"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."
We pose an idea that suits this problem and might be the answer to said problem.
"3. Use of the hypothesis to predict the existence of other phenomena, or to predict quantitatively the results of new observations."
We make a prediction based on our hypothesis, then test whether this prediction holds true through observation and experimentation.
"4. Performance of experimental tests of the predictions by several independent experimenters and properly performed experiments."
Repeat for a long, long time with lots of different people.
Now nowhere in that do I see any reference to the past. You can observe the past to see if your prediction, based on your hypothesis, was true then. That's all well and good. However, I haven't seen much, if
any predictions about the past--rather I have seen a bunch of emotional wrangling and "you're dumb because you don't believe in this".
http://www.talkorigins.org/indexcc/CC/CC200.html
That website is an excellent resource for the creationist wishing to refute evolutionary theory. Let me list off a few points that come to mind...
1. It's spewing out names without providing *PHOTOGRAPHS* of fossils, or describing why they are thought of as intermediate links. What is their objection to providing pictures and possible reconstructions of these intermediate links?
2. The only case in which they suggest a to/from mutation sequence (creature A evolved from creature B into creature C) is in point 2. C. However, the difference between the two species is a spherical shell. The older fossils of these tiny creatures don't have a spherical shell, whereas newer fossils (and the creatures as they are found today) do. There are FEWER of these creatures today, despite this "improvement" than were apparently in existence before this mutation.
http://www.don-lindsay-archive.org/crea ... a_pic.html shows this "mutation", except what it's showing isn't the mutation, but the level of development of the shell on several fossilized samples. Drilling records from the place that found these fossils can be found at
http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/geology/ds ... forams.htm . From various other charts I found, it appears that the "new" creature with the shell is buried at less depth at the bottom of the ocean floor than the "old" creature. However, the "old" creature is found throughout the record, and is still found today.
Has it occurred to anyone that it might possibly be that these things develop shells during various stages in their lifetimes, and have stayed the same throughout the time period in question?
Of course, arguing on the internet is pointless. You'll never convince anyone, and no one will ever convince you. Therefore, I might as well quit wasting my time. I have calculus to do.