Shark Evolution (page 11)

snare&racket

Sorry satanus, I read it wrong, i thought you said you don't subscribe, huge, humble, ashamed apologies.... serious... sorry mate.

coffy asked: "How can an "evolutionist" - not a word I would ever use any more then gravitationalist - be dogmatic? Evolution is just a fact. It does not depend on dogma, it is fully supported by all the evidence."

How funny - he managed to give an answer to his own question right away!

cofty

In what way?

Are you seriously questioning that evolution is a fact?

The earth is not flat - all living things evolved from a common ancestor.

These two statements are equally true. That's not dogma, its just true.

If you assert emphatically that the earth is not flat, is that dogma?

Do you have a point or are you just trying to score points? By the way it's Cofty not coffy.

TheOldHippie

I don't need to have any points - YOU have them, and you so readily keep on giving them to us. Come on, give us more! I am sure you can do better than stating that doubting evolution is equal to claiming the Earth is flat?

I am sure that is only the beginning. Can't wait to hear the rest of your dogmatism!

cofty

doubting evolution is equal to claiming the Earth is flat - Old Hippie

It is indeed.

Dawkins rightly compares it to Holocaust denial.

It's ok to not understand evolution, its hard. I've been reading about it for over 10 years and I am still a beginner.

If you have any questions about it please feel free to ask. There are many of us here who are willing to answer sincere questions.

Vidiot

Ruby456 - "fundamentalist evolutionist: dogmatist."

That's weird.

I thought a dogmatist was someone who believed we were all descended from dogs.

Or a rabid Kevin Smith fan.

Or a godmatist with dyslexia.

Satanus

No prob, snare.

S

Ruby456

vidiot - lol -

viv

Richard Dawkins explains fundamentalism in his book The God delusion and I'll quote from his book

"fundamentalists know they are right because they have read the truth in a holy book and they know in advance that nothing will budge them from their belief" p282.

other non religious fundamentalists are similar - they just know they are right and others are wrong because they have read it somewhere authoritative. With such fundametalists there is no holding of evidence provisionally no further theorising. In physics it is crucial to be able to hold evidence provisionally and to keep a number of theories in play at the same time becasue physicists know that they are wrong at a very fundamental level because the theoriessometimes contradict at basic levels.

Going back to Richard Dawkins, I at least know that some of those he labels fundamentalists have changed their beliefs and come out and said the bible or Qaran is no longer relevant in certain respects (but this does not apply to all fundamentalists of course). However, I would recommend Dawkins' books to others provided that what he says isn't taken literally.

Ruby456

another thing I have difficulty with how the evidence is used. for example in many schools Darwinian evolution is taught by focusing on competition. In reality Darwin focused on co-operation and downplayed the killer instinct. Indeed he was passionate about morality and ethics and argued against Hobbs' idea that all human action stems from selfish calculation of one's own selfish interest. Darwin thought that this was not realistic and that most often humans don't calculate at all but want to help others and collaborate with them for no other reason than intelligence and the common good - or love.

Don't me wrong though - I like to develop my ego in the sense of standing up for my rights and even fighting for them and I'm certain Darwin would approve (based on the evidence of how he fought for the emancipation of negroes). But this is entirely different from the individualism that is taught in some schools and justified by Darwinian evolution.

cantleave

for example in many schools Darwinian evolution is taught by focusing on competition.

Evolution is not about competition or cooperation, these are both consequences of the need for survival. Genomes are just machines created by genes to propgate themselves. If a species can survive in an environmental niche without any competition it will do so.

Shark Evolution

Share this