For those of y'all who reject evolution, i suspect that often you're not very familiar with it. But i could be wrong. So my question is:
Can you share with me your genuine understanding of what is meant by evolution and how it works? Don't look it up, just tell me what your understanding of the theory is.
Not interested in folks who accept evolution. Although i hope you have a decent grasp of the theory as well or you're no better off than evolution-denying creationists.
[quote]Not interested in folks who accept evolution. Although i hope you have a decent grasp of the theory as well or you're no better off than evolution-denying creationists.[/quote]
Better off? Why would anyone, other than scientists and ideologues be better off with evolution? If deniers are wrong about evolution how will that effect their personal lives? If Bible deniers are wrong they and everyone who listens to them, once the signaling is done, will miss out on everlasting life in paradise earth without sin, sickness death or harm of any kind. No wars, no corruption, no religion, etc.
@LeopoldBloom [quote]Because your entire premise is ludicrous. You asked how people are better off with evolution. [/quote]
No, I asked other than scientists (publishing, grants, tenure) and ideologues what benefit is evolution in a practical sense. The answer is none, which is exactly the answer that is given. You could say it has led to astounding progress in technology medical science and things like that but that is arguable and those things are likely to be, in hindsight, possibly even more destructive and laughable as much of the progress of the past. Because we have had the same progress when faith was predominant, many scientists today are faithful, evolution is such an ambiguous term (except for to the ideologue) and a dozen other reasons. The same could be said of faith, in other words. Either evolution and/or faith can be interpreted as instrumental from what works without much significance because either it works or it doesn't. That doesn't really depend upon evolution of faith, except, again, to the ideologue.
Two scientist across town from one another, one with creation and the other with evolution thinks the pancreas works in a specific fashion. Evolution and creation have nothing to do with it outside of their own minds.
[quote]They're better off knowing how reality actually works than they are believing stories written by bronze age goatherds who didn't know where the sun went at night.[/quote]
Well, first of all the goatherders knew where the sun went long before science did, and secondly, no, they are not necessarily better off. That is, atheists are not better off with God and theists are not better off without. You're juxtaposing a poorly constructed, sophomoric and unnecessary ideological class struggle.
Reality may be that I drive to work every day. My life depends on it, but do I need to be currently trained in auto mechanics? Even if evolution were absolutely true and never changing in it's teaching it wouldn't necessarily benefit me to be aware of it. Your uninformed opinion just leaves you with an ideological fixation. Not of any real practical usefulness, other than to ideologues and scientists, and just because it's useful to them doesn't make it true or accurate. It just makes it religion with a priestly class, televangelists, and blind followers.
[quote] I'm aware that many people find meaning and fulfillment through religious practice, but it doesn't have to conflict with scientific knowledge.[/quote]
That's irrelevant. People find meaning and fulfillment in fairy tales and delusion, and practice of all sorts on nonsense. Scientific knowledge doesn't matter to anyone outside of science. Even with those it is constantly changing. And that change is a good thing but it doesn't make the almighty science the arbiter of truth and reality it just makes it another belief system. A religious paradigm. It is, in fact, temporal.
[quote]The people pushing things like Biblical Creationism in our schools are dangerous, not least because these beliefs tend to be associated with white supremacy, subjugation of women, American Exceptionalism, and other conservative ideology.[/quote]
I'm not going to argue with that, but I would only add that the same is true of science. It's human history, not exclusive to one or the other. You are only biased in favor of one over the other.
[quote]Just spend a few minutes on the Prager U website if you want to see some of the ways our schools are indoctrinating kids. It's religious mythology separated from the actual religion.[/quote]
Right and you want to be the only one doing that or voting. Those people are what's wrong with this country, this world, and your life. If only we could put them on trains and send them to prison camps.
So...you're dodging the question that is the subject of the thread you entered of your own free will....by accusing me of dodging the questions you deployed in an attempt to dodge the original question? lol cute.
I don't want to have to coddle you in order to have a good faith discourse but in an attempt to coax you into giving an honest answer i'll answer this once for you. Then i expect you to reciprocate by answering the question which i have now posed multiple times and upon which this thread is based.
I'm asking you as an evolution denier to give your honest understanding of what evolution theory is and on what grounds you reject it. If you are asking me to address spirituality then the analogous concept would be asking you to address science. A more appropriate request would be to challenge me on a specific aspect of spirituality, eg> Christianity. In that case i understand the general concept of Christian ideology, their concepts of salvation, the mythology surrounding their redeemer and the arguments they make for veracity of their deity. I am unconvinced by that mythology [i]but i understand what i am denying[/i]. Thus far in our conversation, you cannot make the same claim with reguard to evolution. You reject it on the basis of ideology, not understanding.
Now that i've humoured you, it's your turn to humour me:
Describe to me your understanding of what the Theory of Evolution is and, if you like, how it works. Not to google a definition and regurgitate it but to share what you understand to be the thing you are denying.
You really do have to answer me directly this time. No more deflections. No more spiteful speculations on my character or motivations. You're either worth talking to or you are not and your next response will determine your worth.
Yes i think that is one common misconception. It often leads to the question "Well how does the animal know it wants to evolve wings/horns/fur. A fundamental misunderstanding of how the process works.
lol you laugh but i still keep running into people who ask questions like that. And they're not even stupid people. Just tremendously ignorant of that which they reject.
Imagine Jesus speaking about evolution to those 12 fisherman. They wouldn't understand it. They would gain nothing out of it. Instead he gave them fishes so they could feed first. Hunger is something anyone understands.
Then he taught the simple codes of life that would evolve them. Like Love your neighbour...so on. That was a very wise move in my opinion.
@Pikachu Sometimes people can come up with weird ideas of what salvation means. The judgement day when all the dead rise. The faithful going to heaven and so on.
I really doubt if that was something that was originally taught.
