by konceptual99 16 Replies latest jw friends
Did anyone see this on BBC 2 last night? Very interesting, especially the information on us sharing up to 4% of DNA with Neanderthals. It seems there is some debate on if this is from a shared ancestor or interbreeding. The show suggested both based on the levels being higher in Western Europeans over Africans.
Either way it makes for an interesting debate on how this came about if you try and fit it into the Genesis account given Neanderthals died out 25k years ago or so.
Next show tonight...
i'm very interested since I had my dna done by 23 andme and found out I have 3.1 neanderthal dna which is in the top 98% of what you can have of it.
Saw the programme, interesting, if done in the "shouty presenter who must be first" way by Alice Wotsit, I couldn't help thinking how I would have sat there with terrific Cognitive Dissonance if I were still a JW.
As a JW you have to persuade yourself that all these experts in a variety of fields have got it wrong, despite the evidence. And the Bible has it right,despite the evidence. Boy, did that old Cog. Diss. used to hurt my brain !
It was a pleasure to watch and appreciate how they came to their conclusions, and to see how brilliant they were at bringing a neanderthal to "Life".
I doubt hardly any JW's will watch, too painful.
Watched it with my wife who did exactly what you say Phizzy... She said the model looked just like a person and how did they know they were just people who looked different.
The problem at the moment is that she is still in "God dun it" mode so I have to tread carefully when it comes to trying to debunk thinking that to her mind is completely rational.
Ah, the God dun it idea. That is one which even if you can get some people to push what He dun back in time, because they know the Bible chronology is pure (bad) fiction, they will still come out with something like "I still cannot believe it all came about by accident".
It is frustrating, but one day perhaps we will get these people to sit and read a few books on the matter. Even so, there simply is no answer to "Belief" as it is not evidence based , but is emotion based.
I have noticed, and this is an observation not a criticism, that our dear lady friends seem to hang on to some form of belief far more than the men, I know there are lots of exceptions, but I think I am right that most women have difficulty in letting go of all belief.
So, go gently with your wife, it does not matter one bit if she hangs on to belief in some form, just as long as she eventually wakes up to what the WT/JW scam really is.
I didn't see that programme but hope to get it on iplayer later on. If my broadband rate will allow. It's not the best.
The whole question of prehistoric man was something I raised with an elder who seemed one of the more reasonable locally. I was disappointed. He went to the (non)-Reasoning book and read out chunks of that, steadfastly refusing to allow that, for a start, no-one knew Adam's birthday and that any dating of prehistoric man before then was just a machination of the Devil or else a mistake made collectively by all the world's scientists..."because they do make mistakes, you know".
You just can't get through the brainwashing.
Cave painting primative art - it's so easy a cave man can do it.
It was really good, I enjoyed it & will watch again.
Yes I watched it, very interesting. I asked my wife about the Wooly Mammoths they found in Norfolk, were they pre-flood or post-flood?
She refused to discuss the subject.
Alice Roberts has developed well since I last saw her, and I don't just mean academically!
George
If I was to timeline my loss of faith then three things would feature right back. One is the way some very sincere elders have been treated due to them applying some login and reasonable to how they treat inactive (non disfellowshipped) children. The second is the illogical nature of the blood doctrine.
The third is the science around the emergence of mankind. I have found it frustrating for a couple of years now that the society completely ignore the mass of science that shows the history of modern humans. There has been virtually nothing said about the out of Africa theory, the parallel existence of various species of humans, the fossil record of the the development of human ancestors etc. You can go to any natural history museum in the world and see the fossil evidence yourself. Of course, none of this completely disproves the existence of God or of a form of creation but it does present a picture completely at odds with the Genesis account and the WTBTS interpretation of that.
Every new piece of evidence that comes up just adds more weight to the position that modern man has been around for tens of thousands of years yet the society choose to completely ignore this. There is nothing from them to help counterbalance the argument in favour of WT teachings or even bolster faith in a Creator. They know there is no rational argument so they don't waste their breath presenting one. Rather, they play mind games with the rank and file to strengthen an ever more irrational "it's God wot dun it" stance and building a group mentality that any doubts mean spiritual weakness and a lack of faith. Any who do choose to doubt have to either revert to blind faith or are simple collateral damage - expendable by the society just so long as the masses stick with the program.
Sorry for the tome but this particular subject has made me so frustrated for so long I can't help venting my spleen!
