| Alistair 2005-12-18, 6:55 pm |
|
Judson McClendon wrote:
> "Oliver Wong" <owong@castortech.com> wrote:
>
> Ever heard of "Piltdown Man"? How about "Ontogeny Recapitulates Phylogeny"?
> The former hoax, and the scientific deductions made from of the hoaxed
> material, were left in textbooks for years without correction, after it was
> known to be a hoax. The latter was a hoax that was admitted in court by the
> perpetrator when he was brought to trial for it in 1861, and I was taught it
> in school almost 100 years later. I still see frequent references to it even
> now. The only evidence presented at the Scopes trial was a tooth, said to be
> *conclusive proof* that a certain primitive man existed. Later, the very jaw
> the *pig's tooth* came from was located, along with the matching teeth from
> the other side of the jaw. The field of evolutionary study (promoted hoax is
> a better term) is literally *filled* with outright fraud, lies and
> deception. Not "occasional mistakes" and no "willing correction", even to
> *known hoaxes*.
WRT the Piltdown Man hoax: this is still being debated in the UK as to
who perpetrated the hoax.
A failure in one item of evidence does not throw the case for the
theory and its supporting evidence out of court. We have already
demonstrated that the bible is self contradictory in part but we do not
discard the whole of the book because of its logical absurdities.
Evolution stands up on the evidence of the fossil record and on the
genetic similarities between ourselves and other animals.
Fundamentalists are happy to denounce Evolution as 'merely a theory'
but few are willing to throw the whole of science out (most would
happily drive cars and take blood transfusions where necessary to
sustain life). Isn't that a case of having your cake and eating it?
One big problem that the world has is that the strongest nation (which
should be leading the world) is happy to elect another fundamentalist
to power (who believes that god will save the earth rather than the
Kyoto Treaty). When 47% of the population of the US would rather
believe in the word of Genesis than that of science then that can only
be a recipe for disaster.
As for Kansas. I understand that non-Kansas universities may choose to
deselect candidates from Kansas rather than tolerate the rubbish of an
intelligent designer (a theory which has no scientific backing and was
only created to give bible bashers a pseudo-scientific basis for an
argument). Perhaps, if Bush wishes to choke us all with CO2, the world
should introduce Green Taxes to make polluting technologies from
polluting countries too expensive to be considered viable. Bush would
change his tune then. And perhaps Kansas would see the light.
>
Evolution is proven beyond reasonable doubt (that is enough to carry
the case in a Scottish court). The precise mechanism by which it works
may be debated. Recently, Lamarckism reared its head again when it was
shown that diseases and stresses experienced by a parent can be passed
on to the child and grand-child making them pre-disposed to the same
conditions.
[color=darkred]
No, it is much simpler now, as most DNA in humans is FILLER.
[color=darkred]
Name them! The appendix (vestigial remnant and in a post-apocalyptic
world potentially useful) and the spleen (a non-essential organ
involved in destroying old blood cells). Any more?
[color=darkred]
>
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