Posts by Doug Mason

posted

9
Punctuated equilibria
by Doug Mason in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
incorrect assumptions surrounding evolution and creation include:.

life was inevitable.

changes were improvements.
Doug Mason

Thank you both for your thoughts, which I agree with.
My understanding of evolution is evolving and I learn more every day. It is a subject that I, living in Australia as I do, have not needed to address. So it is a huge learning curve for me.
I can see that that period of the Cambrian age would be known as a "radiation". Tell me if my understanding is incorrect, but I expect this was the outcome of the development of complex cells and hence the formation of animal life (0.6 GYA). I did not know that the subsequent mass extinctions would be known as a "radiation". Have I got that wrong?
No additional phyla have been formed since the Cambrian radiation and each subsequent cataclysmic saw massive removal of species, with each event survived by species that possessed the appropriate mutations.
Doug
9
Punctuated equilibria
by Doug Mason in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
incorrect assumptions surrounding evolution and creation include:.

life was inevitable.

changes were improvements.
Doug Mason

Yes, I fully agree with you, Simon.
There is a limit available to me to expose the full significance of my terse statement.
As you say, the improvement lies in terms of the ability to cope with the changed environment. In terms of my diagram, I am referring to the massive massive life threatening events following the rise of animals during the Cambrian "explosion".
I feel, and I am open to other views, that this does not mean the "survivors" of each cataclysmic event are therefore an improvement (such as stronger or faster) over the previous iteration.
I guess I am saying that in my opinion, I do not align with the gradualism that featured with the early evolutionists, including Lamarck, Darwin and Wallace, among others. I do not see an "ascent" of Man. I do not see Homo Sapiens necessarily being faster and stronger than other iterations of the homo species.
Doug
9
Punctuated equilibria
by Doug Mason in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
incorrect assumptions surrounding evolution and creation include:.

life was inevitable.

changes were improvements.
Doug Mason
Incorrect assumptions surrounding Evolution and Creation include:
- Life was inevitable
- Changes were improvements
- Homo Sapiens is the purpose and objective; hence there was an intended design (with Creationists and their fellow travellers ignoring the issue of Theodicy).
The present danger of ignoring the lessons provided through Evolution's story of Punctuated equilibria include denying the present extinction phase by saying that "God will not allow his Earth to be destroyed", ignoring the earlier several mass extinctions of life. The outcome is that Man is speeding the process as it raids Earth's finite resources.
I hope my illustration will provoke thoughts:
https://jwstudies.com/Science_or_Myothlogy.pdf
Doug
14
The Biotic Message, alternative to Evolution
by hooberus in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
lecture by walter remine:.

https://youtu.be/o2usdd_8eay.
Doug Mason

What is "life"?
29
WT study 8 December
by road to nowhere in
1. watchtower
2. bible
had to look.

first paragraph mentions that most of were probably born after 1914. most?

i bet the dubs 105 and older can be counted on your fingers..
Doug Mason

The fact is that the guys who wrote 2 Timothy, Matthew, and Luke were writing about their own time.
Why warn Timothy if it had no relevance to him?
When in human history has there been no war, famine, earthquake, etc.?
If times are so terrible today, when would these Watchtower writers have preferred to have lived? Maybe the Lisbon earthquake? Maybe the Plagues of the middle Ages? Or weren't they bad?
Little wonder the writers of Matthew 24, who were writing about 15 years after the temple was razed by the Romans, were telling their own people to disregard wars, famines, and earthquakes as a sign. There would be people claiming to be "Christ", that is -- Anointed - who were doing so.
Doug
78
What The Fossils Say
by cofty in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
the old creation book had a lot to say about the fossil record.

if i remember correctly it was some lie about all the fossils ever found would fit on a single table.

the reality is that there is an embarrassment of riches illustrating the evolution of life.
Doug Mason

Thanks Diogenesister. I do have Jim's book. I also have "A Guide for the Perplexed" and I downloaded some of his YouTube presentations.
Right at this moment, I am trying to get my head around "The Shape of Life" by Rudolf Raff, but mine eyes glazeth over. I wish I could locate a soft copy (PDF or Kindle).
The Critique I am currently writing has almost reached the first draft stage. It will be some time before I will be comfortable enough to release it widely.
Do you have expertise in the subjects associated with Evolution that could be of assistance to me?
The subject of Quantum mechanics is personally interesting as I had to teach semiconductor theory in the late 1960s and early 1970s, just as things were very fresh and new, with new devices being rolled out (LEDs, SCRs, etc.). Prior to that I was teaching the theory and application of electron tubes (valves).
Doug
78
What The Fossils Say
by cofty in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
the old creation book had a lot to say about the fossil record.

if i remember correctly it was some lie about all the fossils ever found would fit on a single table.

the reality is that there is an embarrassment of riches illustrating the evolution of life.
Doug Mason

sea breeze,
I recall decades ago - early 1970s - JWs I knew would use the same reasoning "To whom else can we go?".
The WTS builds a wall to keep its sheep inside by giving a "them-and-us" picture. They do this with their focus on "Trinity", "Cross", repeated use of that word "Jehovah", not participating in war, owing allegiance to the WTS over all governments, and so on.
Interestingly it is in Babylon where God's people are to be found ("come out of her my people."). That is where God's people were being kept (6th century BCE).
There are, in reality, other more potent powers at play-- loss of family, loss of friendships, fear of missing out, fear of the Big A, and so on.
It should not be an issue of leaving one superstition (the WTS) and entering into another. It is possible although difficult, to ditch superstition. Mental scars will remain.
All the best,
Doug
78
What The Fossils Say
by cofty in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
the old creation book had a lot to say about the fossil record.

if i remember correctly it was some lie about all the fossils ever found would fit on a single table.

the reality is that there is an embarrassment of riches illustrating the evolution of life.
Doug Mason

THE THREE STRATA OF REALITY
78
What The Fossils Say
by cofty in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
the old creation book had a lot to say about the fossil record.

if i remember correctly it was some lie about all the fossils ever found would fit on a single table.

the reality is that there is an embarrassment of riches illustrating the evolution of life.
Doug Mason

This might be of interest:
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/15-answers-to-creationist/
Doug
78
What The Fossils Say
by cofty in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
the old creation book had a lot to say about the fossil record.

if i remember correctly it was some lie about all the fossils ever found would fit on a single table.

the reality is that there is an embarrassment of riches illustrating the evolution of life.
Doug Mason

hooberus,
Which of the books on evolution you researched posed the question: "What is life?"?
What conclusions did you arrive at?
What iS Life?
Doug