Posts by AlmostAtheist

125

?Please explain Evolution to me in simple terms

by Guest with Questions in

and please dont give me links to read.

i dont want a complicated version; just a very simple explanation on the theory of evolution, and if possible, in your own words.

many of us are very ignorant on this subject and it seems that a few here are very knowledgeable so i hope you can help me and others also.. also if you believe in the theory of common descent, could you explain that to me also?

AlmostAtheist

Now, this brings up another question: What is man evolving into?

It's a good question. But it also suggests the idea that man is "highly" evolved, or is the "most highly evolved" creature. That isn't true in any evolutionary sense. There is no "more evolved" or "less evolved". Today's worms are as evolved as today's humans.

AIDS isn't airborne, but it could become so. If so, then we all may contract it. Some people, for some unknown reason, don't die when they get it. In short order, all the humans without this immunity would be dead. The only ones left will reproduce and their children will also be immune.

In that scenario, man is evolving into an AIDS-resistant version of today's man.

Humans screw up natural selection by fighting the selection'ing. We take care of other humans, even if they are unable to survive on their own. That's not a bad thing, don't get me wrong. But natural selection, if given the chance, would let our blind/lame/preemie babies die. We stop that, and so the genes behind those problems stay in our gene pool.

Again, I'm not saying we're screwing with the 'natural plan' by taking care of our less-healthy fellow-beings. There is no "plan" -- just a description of what happens if nobody intervenes. We intervene, so we aren't as susceptible to natural selection. (But in the case of a horrific plague, we'd be unable to intervene and natural selection would take over.)

Dave

125

?Please explain Evolution to me in simple terms

by Guest with Questions in

and please dont give me links to read.

i dont want a complicated version; just a very simple explanation on the theory of evolution, and if possible, in your own words.

many of us are very ignorant on this subject and it seems that a few here are very knowledgeable so i hope you can help me and others also.. also if you believe in the theory of common descent, could you explain that to me also?

AlmostAtheist

RAF,

The article you listed is interesting. I'm not sure that they are saying they actually used the entire human genome to recreate the entire pig genome, though. Forgetting for a moment what an incredibly difficult (if not impossible) task that would be, note the last sentence of the article:

Schook and Beever along with other U of I researchers are in the third year of a five-year study funded by the USDA to create comprehensive genome maps of the pig and the cow.

So they did not have a complete genome of the pig at the time they did the comparison. Moreover, they had a five-year study to merely map it. How long would it take to then compare it to another creature, note the sequencing differences, and rearrange them?

There are certainly useful similarities between pigs and humans, but that doesn't mean we can draw an evolutionary line straight from Porky Pig to Elmer Fudd.

One notable difference between us is the fact that pigs are able to manufacture vitamin-C. We can't, since our vitamin-C gene is damaged. We share this handicap with chimpanzees (and curiously, guinea pigs).

Dave

125

?Please explain Evolution to me in simple terms

by Guest with Questions in

and please dont give me links to read.

i dont want a complicated version; just a very simple explanation on the theory of evolution, and if possible, in your own words.

many of us are very ignorant on this subject and it seems that a few here are very knowledgeable so i hope you can help me and others also.. also if you believe in the theory of common descent, could you explain that to me also?

AlmostAtheist

why did evolution choose to stop here on planet earth, or did it start here and will soon travel thru space to the other planets?

It still sounds like you're asking, "Why did evolution happen here and not anywhere else in the universe?"

The fact is, we haven't a clue if evolution is happening anywhere else. It seems incredibly unlikely that it isn't, but there's no way currently to know one way or the other.

As mentioned by others, evolution is just a name for a process. It isn't a thing, or a force, or even an intent. It's what happens when anything replicates imperfectly and has to compete with similar (and dissimilar) other things for resources.

I like the candy dish illustration. If you set out a bowl of M&M's, everyone will grab some. Some people will grab any of them, but some will pick out the red ones. Others like green ones. But NOBODY (for sake of the illustration) likes the blue ones. At the end of the day, without any intent on anyone's part, the bowl will contain nothing but blue M&M's.

If the M&M's could reproduce, blue ones may well fill the bowl. Then people would HAVE to pick a blue one. But they might prefer the ones that are uncracked. Sure enough, you wind up with a bowl of blue, cracked M&M's.

And so it goes...

Dave

125

?Please explain Evolution to me in simple terms

by Guest with Questions in

and please dont give me links to read.

i dont want a complicated version; just a very simple explanation on the theory of evolution, and if possible, in your own words.

many of us are very ignorant on this subject and it seems that a few here are very knowledgeable so i hope you can help me and others also.. also if you believe in the theory of common descent, could you explain that to me also?

AlmostAtheist

Warlock, I may have misunderstood your question. What I thought you were asking was, "Why did evolution only happen on Earth? Why didn't it also happen on some other planet?"

Perhaps that's not what you're asking?

I guess I'm saying, Can you restate your question for me?

Thanks.

Dave

125

?Please explain Evolution to me in simple terms

by Guest with Questions in

and please dont give me links to read.

i dont want a complicated version; just a very simple explanation on the theory of evolution, and if possible, in your own words.

many of us are very ignorant on this subject and it seems that a few here are very knowledgeable so i hope you can help me and others also.. also if you believe in the theory of common descent, could you explain that to me also?

AlmostAtheist

such as why is there nothing that is between species?

The concept of "species" is a human-invented one, not one that biology has forced on anybody. One way speciation occurs is when a population of the same species gets split apart (Some migrate to the other side of a mountain, for instance.) The new environment creates new pressures and encourages new changes. Meanwhile, the old environment encourages changes on the remaining population. In time, the changes accumulate in both populations such that when a member of one meets the other, they are either incapable of mating, or are not interested in mating. Then a biologist jumps out from behind a blind and declares them different species.

You'd never "see" speciation occuring. You'd only be able to see -- after the fact -- that two populations that used to be together are no longer able or willing to mate. (This is why the question "Who does the first member of a new species mate with?" is a non-issue. There is no such thing as a "first member of a new species".)

Dave

125

?Please explain Evolution to me in simple terms

by Guest with Questions in

and please dont give me links to read.

i dont want a complicated version; just a very simple explanation on the theory of evolution, and if possible, in your own words.

many of us are very ignorant on this subject and it seems that a few here are very knowledgeable so i hope you can help me and others also.. also if you believe in the theory of common descent, could you explain that to me also?

AlmostAtheist

One other point to toss in here. The "Theory of Evolution" isn't a "theory" in the usual sense of the word. In non-science-speak, a theory is something you're kicking around, that may or not be true, and you might have 3 or 4 theories about the same thing.

In science, a theory is where all of the currently understood facts point. It's an explanation or a model that accurately describes something. (Like "cell theory", for instance. No one thinks living things *might* be made of cells, we all accept that they *are* made of cells.)

So the name is confusing, but don't let it throw you. Evolution is not an idea the scientists are batting around, it's the explanation of how species came to be.

Dave

18

"hacking" the wt lib and results

by DeusMauzzim in

i just remembered i found a way to map the citation of bible chapters in the watchtower library (representing 30 years of wt literature).

the results are quite interesting.. higher number means more citations of that chapter in the wt literature of the last 30 years.

as you can see there are a few favorites .

AlmostAtheist

Very interesting! Fully 10% of their citations come from just 1% of the Bible.

20% cover only 4% of the Bible.

Fun stuff!

(I do wonder how other religious groups would stack up in this regard. I doubt they'd fare much better.)

Dave

66

So non-creationist - what do you think of those who still accept creation?

by AK - Jeff in

no firestorms please.

but be honest.

do you think that we are of a lower level of intelligence than those who accept evolutionist' theories?.

AlmostAtheist

There are many flavors of creationist. Some feel that God sparked life, then let evolution carry it from there. Some think he sparked life, and has nudged evolution along the way. And still others believe God popped every creature into existence pretty much as they are.

I don't have any problem with the idea that God sparked life originally. I don't personally believe it, but I don't know of anything that would contradict it.

The "god nudged evolution" camp would need to explain why he didn't nudge it in more comfortable ways for some creatures. Why does the hyena have to endure such pain (and probably the loss of her firstborn) during her first childbirth? That sort of thing. It's nearly believable (to me), but getting closer to not.

The "god directly created everything" folks are the ones that are really "out there" in terms of credulity. There is a ton of evidence that evolution happened, and a ton more that show it happening right now. There is ample evidence of poor design in nature to bring into question the intelligence of whoever designed it. Anyone choosing to believe that has to mentally shelve all of that, in favor of a story that fits with their accepted premises. If the premise that god created creatures directly was removed, and the evidence alone was considered, I find it very hard to believe that anyone would still come up with direct creation as a likely explanation for species.

I don't think badly of a person for the beliefs they hold. People can believe anything they like. That I disagree with their beliefs is not relevant.

Dave

16

pics i took today

by purplesofa in

jw
friends

.

the pic of the semi, i took while we were moving and it was moving and that is how it turned out!!!.

the bottom pic is my grand daughter, but i like it when people think she is my kid.. purps.

AlmostAtheist

I especially like the one thru the bridge. Very cool perspective.

Dave

12

The Removed List says I'm Removed - Am I?

by TuningFork in

jw
friends

the removed list says that i'm removed and i can't get to any of my posts.

can any of you get to them?.

tuningfork aka sunpar.

AlmostAtheist

What is "The Removed List"? Is there a link to it somewhere? I don't recall seeing one.

Dave