Posts by Doug Mason

62

Evolution - A Conversation with Alex Williams

by cofty in

alex - thank you for your offer to have a conversation about evolution.. i accept the scientific evidence that all life - including humans - evolved from a common ancestor through unguided evolution over millions of years.

this isn't even a controversial position in the scientific community.. the evidence rests on the data from many interconnected fields including paleontology, comparative anatomy, geology and especially genetics.

it is no exaggeration to say that the evidence for your own non-human ancestry is contained in every cell in your body.. it is my experience that jws are generally quite ignorant (not in a pejorative sense) of the scientific case.

Doug Mason

I see the discussion on Evolution/Creation as a means, not as the end.

A long time ago, I decided that JWs follow whatever the WTS says because of who it claims to be, regardless of what it says. So my focus has ever been to sever that mental strangehold.

With chronology, my focus was on showing that the WTS lied, that they therefore did not deserve a JW's trust. Likewise with blood, I checked the 102 citations in "JWs and the Question of Blood", and I was able to show that they were deliberately deceptive in the way they cited their sources. And this was literally a matter of life and death.

So it is with evolution/creation. Rather than focus on "which is correct?" the focus needs to be on "how does the WTS handle its sources?" When the WTS is shown to be totally untrustworthy in that regard, a JW must decide whether they should continue following a leadership that treats truth and them with contempt.

I know this is not easy, given the personal impact on personal relationships. This, of course needs to be weighed against the mental stress caused by cognitive dissonance.

Doug

62

Evolution - A Conversation with Alex Williams

by cofty in

alex - thank you for your offer to have a conversation about evolution.. i accept the scientific evidence that all life - including humans - evolved from a common ancestor through unguided evolution over millions of years.

this isn't even a controversial position in the scientific community.. the evidence rests on the data from many interconnected fields including paleontology, comparative anatomy, geology and especially genetics.

it is no exaggeration to say that the evidence for your own non-human ancestry is contained in every cell in your body.. it is my experience that jws are generally quite ignorant (not in a pejorative sense) of the scientific case.

Doug Mason

slimboyfat,

I do not know what CTR thought about evolution, but that's a good thought.

I have a copy of his Photo Drama of Creation, and I see that it is available online.

Thanks,

Doug

62

Evolution - A Conversation with Alex Williams

by cofty in

alex - thank you for your offer to have a conversation about evolution.. i accept the scientific evidence that all life - including humans - evolved from a common ancestor through unguided evolution over millions of years.

this isn't even a controversial position in the scientific community.. the evidence rests on the data from many interconnected fields including paleontology, comparative anatomy, geology and especially genetics.

it is no exaggeration to say that the evidence for your own non-human ancestry is contained in every cell in your body.. it is my experience that jws are generally quite ignorant (not in a pejorative sense) of the scientific case.

Doug Mason

OTWO,

Yes, Shapiro is one man with one point of view, but that was not the issue I was endeavouring to point out.

The WTS cited Shapiro in a very selective manner. The issue is not Shapiro but the way that the WTS failed to tell its readers all that Shapiro wrote in that article it was referring to.

This attitude of selective misrepresentation is consistently displayed throughout the brochure, "The Origin of Life".

As with its other writings, the WTS starts out with the conclusion it wishes to reach and it then seeks for "support" for that position, often misrepresenting what the original source intended.

Doug

62

Evolution - A Conversation with Alex Williams

by cofty in

alex - thank you for your offer to have a conversation about evolution.. i accept the scientific evidence that all life - including humans - evolved from a common ancestor through unguided evolution over millions of years.

this isn't even a controversial position in the scientific community.. the evidence rests on the data from many interconnected fields including paleontology, comparative anatomy, geology and especially genetics.

it is no exaggeration to say that the evidence for your own non-human ancestry is contained in every cell in your body.. it is my experience that jws are generally quite ignorant (not in a pejorative sense) of the scientific case.

Doug Mason

slimboyfat,

Thank you for finding that.

I cannot say, but I wonder whether the WTS's confusion of "the spark of life" with "evolution" arises because it says life originated fully formed as seen today. Or are they being deliberately obscure, just like they equate "Evolution" with "Darwin", totally ignoring people such as Lamarck, whom the French credit.

Of course all of the animal and plant variations emanated after being released from Noah's Ark. Pairs of each different type of Kangaroo hopped all the way to the Ark and then returned back to the Land of Oz, along with termites and red back spiders.

Doug

62

Evolution - A Conversation with Alex Williams

by cofty in

alex - thank you for your offer to have a conversation about evolution.. i accept the scientific evidence that all life - including humans - evolved from a common ancestor through unguided evolution over millions of years.

this isn't even a controversial position in the scientific community.. the evidence rests on the data from many interconnected fields including paleontology, comparative anatomy, geology and especially genetics.

it is no exaggeration to say that the evidence for your own non-human ancestry is contained in every cell in your body.. it is my experience that jws are generally quite ignorant (not in a pejorative sense) of the scientific case.

Doug Mason

cofty,

My intention is to look at each of the 51 Endnotes in that WTS publication, and I have 2 more to go. That is the reason I was able to provide that information.

If you email me, I would appreciate your expert criticism.

https://jwstudies.com/contact_me.html

Doug

154

Need Help: My Correspondence with the Headquarters

by Lobsto in

a month ago i sent a letter to the us branch about 607. my purpose for sending it was because i wanted to show to my parents through the letters the truth behind the date system.

two days ago, i received a response from them.

i think this is gonna be the first of many.

Doug Mason

scholar,

Show us how the WTS arrives at 537. I have given everyone the URL to my Study which provides detailed explanations why they cannot prove it. Why should I be interested in the date? It's of no consequence to me -- but it is everything to the WTS.

My detailed explanation cannot be swept aside without an answer.

Exactly where has the WTS provided the proof? - Precisely where?

Doug

154

Need Help: My Correspondence with the Headquarters

by Lobsto in

a month ago i sent a letter to the us branch about 607. my purpose for sending it was because i wanted to show to my parents through the letters the truth behind the date system.

two days ago, i received a response from them.

i think this is gonna be the first of many.

Doug Mason

These celebrating WTS heads do not have a clue about the subject -- they rely on RF for their material on the neo-Babylonian chronology.

Doug

62

Evolution - A Conversation with Alex Williams

by cofty in

alex - thank you for your offer to have a conversation about evolution.. i accept the scientific evidence that all life - including humans - evolved from a common ancestor through unguided evolution over millions of years.

this isn't even a controversial position in the scientific community.. the evidence rests on the data from many interconnected fields including paleontology, comparative anatomy, geology and especially genetics.

it is no exaggeration to say that the evidence for your own non-human ancestry is contained in every cell in your body.. it is my experience that jws are generally quite ignorant (not in a pejorative sense) of the scientific case.

Doug Mason

Alex,

Your reference to Shapiro is lifted from page 5 of "The Origin of Life: Five Questions Worth Asking:, Endnotes 3, 4, and 5 -- Scientific American, June 2007. ("A Simpler Origin for Life")

Shapiro's article is available at: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-simpler-origin-for-life/

The article’s heading explains the brochure’s selective quotes:

“The sudden appearance of a large-self-copying molecule such as RNA was exceedingly improbable. Energy-driven networks of small molecules afford better odds as the initiators of life.” (underlining mine)

Excerpts from that article:

DNA, RNA, proteins and other elaborate large molecules must then be set aside as participants in the origin of life. … Fortunately, an alternative group of theories that can employ these materials has existed for decades. The theories employ a thermodynamic rather than a genetic definition of life …

One assumption of the small-molecule approach is that coupled reactions and primitive catalysts sufficient to get life started exist in nature. ... The small molecule approach to the origin of life makes several demands upon nature (a compartment, an external energy supply, a driver reaction coupled to that supply, and the existence of a chemical network that contains that reaction). These requirements are general in nature, however, and are immensely more probable than the elaborate multi-step pathways needed to form a molecule that can function as a replicator. …

If the general small-molecule paradigm were confirmed, then our expectations of the place of life in the universe would change. … The small-molecule alternative is in harmony with the views of biologist Stuart Kauffman: “If this is all true, life is vastly more probable than we have supposed. Not only are we at home in the universe, but we are far more likely to share it with unknown companions.”

62

Evolution - A Conversation with Alex Williams

by cofty in

alex - thank you for your offer to have a conversation about evolution.. i accept the scientific evidence that all life - including humans - evolved from a common ancestor through unguided evolution over millions of years.

this isn't even a controversial position in the scientific community.. the evidence rests on the data from many interconnected fields including paleontology, comparative anatomy, geology and especially genetics.

it is no exaggeration to say that the evidence for your own non-human ancestry is contained in every cell in your body.. it is my experience that jws are generally quite ignorant (not in a pejorative sense) of the scientific case.

Doug Mason

The WTS does not want to distinguish between the "origin" of life and the "evolution" of living entities:

"Some evolutionary scientists would like to make a distinction between the theory of evolution and the question of the origin of life. But does that sound reasonable to you?" ("The Origin of Life: Five Questions Worth Asking", Page 12)

154

Need Help: My Correspondence with the Headquarters

by Lobsto in

a month ago i sent a letter to the us branch about 607. my purpose for sending it was because i wanted to show to my parents through the letters the truth behind the date system.

two days ago, i received a response from them.

i think this is gonna be the first of many.

Doug Mason

Scholar,

I do not need to provide a date for the Exiles' return. It's the issue for the WTS as it matters to them, but it is not significant for me.

I have analysed the WTS's explanations -- see pages 6ff of my investigation, including diagrams, at:

https://jwstudies.com/The_Jews_return_home_ver_3.pdf ]

Doug