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#899975
Blackvoice
I know Descartes said to question everything, but you have to start somewhere!
2/15/2009 2:01:26 AM
#899998
Observable Reality
Looks like someone just learned the meaning of "a priori" and wanted to use it as much as they could.
2/15/2009 2:13:18 AM
#900010
szaleniec
Evolutionary theory specifically doesn't make any assumptions as to how the first organisms came to exist. It attempts to describe what happens to life over many generations when it's already here, so of course it starts from the assumption that the process has something to work with. This could have arisen by the assembly of molecules in the oceans of the early Earth, or because it had been put here by aliens (which works both ways; if in the future we send terrestrial organisms to a hypothetical planet orbiting Alpha Centauri they don't stop evolving because they didn't originate on that planet), or even the creationists' hypothesis.
2/15/2009 2:19:02 AM
#900016
Zoo
I beg to differ. It is quite possible to test evolution, because we have discovered THROUGH OBSERVATION:
- natural selection - the organisms best suited to a given environment tend to reproduce more
- kin selection - organisms often help their family members because their genes are still getting passed on through their family members
- sexual selection - one sex 'determines' how a particular trait the opposite sex has changes (such as fancy tails on male birds)
- speciation by multiple mechanisms
You don't have to accept abiogenesis (which is probably what you're referring to anyway, everyone likes to mix that together with evolution) to see that evolution occurs by these means.
2/15/2009 2:22:52 AM
#900058
Mister Spak
Evolution can only be true if you assume truth is true!! WOW!!! We've found the FATAL FLAW of evolutionism.
2/15/2009 2:38:43 AM
#900124
Wehpudicabok
What you call "materialism" is actually known as methodological naturalism, and it is the most fundamental principle in science. It does not state that supernatural causes do not exist, but that the scientist works under the assumption that they are not affecting observations. Without methodological naturalism, this "a priori belief" of yours, science as we know it would not exist. Evolution is as much a religion as belief in Newton's laws of motion.
2/15/2009 3:05:22 AM
#900238
A Friend
Is using philosophy to disprove the ToE the new thing now? Something tells me that this won't be very succesful. Shit, they'll have to prove their own existence before they can tackle anything else.
2/15/2009 4:27:38 AM
#900271
PWEOTWEB
Um... wrong link?
2/15/2009 4:45:05 AM
#900300
Agnostic Antagonist
Please don't let this have been my sister.
2/15/2009 5:10:38 AM
#900348
jc
Find a fossil of a modern day animal in a place where it clearly shouldn't, and evolution has a major problem.
Witness a creature getting magic'd into existence by God, evolution disproven, there are ways to falsify evolution, you just don't have them.
2/15/2009 5:55:27 AM
#900454
aaa
This went to the absurd zone.
2/15/2009 9:28:20 AM
#900514
LDM
Why do they keep saying homeschooled kids are smarter?
2/15/2009 10:55:37 AM
#900626
Pule Thamex
How is evolution a religion?
Evolution requires evidence. Evolution needs no faith.
Religion doesn't require evidence. Religion needs faith.
Notice the difference, or are you too much of a moron?
2/15/2009 1:34:59 PM
#900758
Robbie
"The problem with your argument"
Stopped reading there.
2/15/2009 3:32:00 PM
#900851
Chris
Why is evolution even such a big deal for religious people? Organisms change over time, based on several factors, to suit their environment. So? Why do they care so much? This is one of many things about religion that I truely cannot comprehend. Why is this such a problem for them?
2/15/2009 5:06:50 PM
#900951
Brown Dwarf
The problem with your argument is that you fail to realize that evolution ALSO cannot be tested via the Scientific Method.
queen kira
Dear madam, I suspect your claim of understanding the term 'evolution' to be very much on par in validity with your royal status.
2/15/2009 6:36:39 PM
#901109
Old Viking
That a priori is pretty slick. Are they bringing in their heavy hitters?
2/15/2009 9:06:26 PM
#901117
Darwin
Evolution does not assume materialism, atheism, or any 'ism'. It just happens.
2/15/2009 9:19:35 PM
#901571
El Guapo
Evolutionary theory DOES in fact require a material approach. That is because it is a scientific theory and science is an explicitly materialist program. If the Universe were not real, and if we could learn nothing about it through observation, the theory of evolution would have no explanatory power. Neither would the theory of gravitation, or the theory of a helioentric solar system, & cetera.
I'm not sure why all the chatter here about abiogenesis? It doesn't seem to be an component of the quote.
2/16/2009 5:29:32 AM
#901582
dg
@jc: Actually, even seeing an animal magically appear wouldn't disprove the already observed instances of evolution; it would just mean that not all animals originated that way.
@El Guapo: Because fundies use "evolution" to include abiogenesis, as they don't know the difference.
2/16/2009 5:39:27 AM
#1121351
Crimson Lizard
What have I been saying about asking yahoos for answers?
2/19/2010 2:02:53 AM
#1122359
Phisshy
That prior belief is called hypothesis.
We will modify it until it all fits.
2/20/2010 1:19:30 PM
#1122419
David B.
You got me, the scientific method does indeed assume that there is an objective reality that one can observe, measure and analyse...
You are, of course, at liberty to dispute that assumption, though I can't imagine who you think you are disputing it with if you believe there's no objective reality.
2/20/2010 4:55:02 PM
#1122553
Enigma32
\\apparently evolution can only be true if one makes the leap of faith to assume that matter exists.//
So what you're implying is that matter doesn't exist, because you refuse to acknowledge evolution.
I refute it thusly
*kicks chair*
2/20/2010 8:52:49 PM
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