Britain's Greatest Hoax: The fraud of Piltdown Man and of Evolution.

Started by Xavier, July 30, 2018, 12:33:21 AM

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Mono no aware

Quote from: Greg on August 02, 2018, 05:28:13 PMThat is not an improvement.  It is an adaptation to the environment.  The beak didnt improve.  The weak beaked finches died out.

The strong beaks already existed and managed to breed with other strong beaks.

No, the beaks got bigger and stronger with every successive generation.  It wasn't just a matter of one generation of weak beaks dying out.  That's why these finches are so different from the mainland finches.  The beak is no longer a mere variation within a species; the Galapagos finches are separate species.

Let me know what you mean by "improvement."  If not a beak, then an eye?  A wing?  I guess I'm unsure: are you arguing for creationism or intelligent design?


GloriaPatri

As Pon already said, it's not simply a matter of culling the poorly adapted finches from the population. It's rather the case that small changes between each successive generation eventually add up.

I'll use an analogy that I have found helpful for me: Imagine the spectrum of visible light. Our eyes, with three color receptors, can distinguish up to 1 million different shades of color. In my analogy, each shade can be compared to a generation of an organism. Starting from the beginning of the visible light spectrum, any 2 adjacent shades of color are incredibly similar. So similar that you could fairly say that they are in the same color category. But try comparing the shades at the two extreme ends of the spectrum: red and violet. They're no longer the same color.

And that's basically what evolution is, the accumulation of small genetic changes from generation to generation such that incredibly distant ancestors of an organism are taxonomically different species.

Vetus Ordo

Quote from: Pon de Replay on August 02, 2018, 05:34:01 PM
Quote from: Vetus Ordo on August 02, 2018, 05:11:14 PM
Quote from: Pon de Replay on August 02, 2018, 11:50:38 AMThe question I have for intelligent design proponents is, if the process of traits being passed through genes is actually the invisible hand of God splicing in the right genes for the right environment, then how do we account for the multiplicity of genetic changes that aren't advantageous at all, and are purely freakish and cruel?

Original sin.

And there's no such thing as cruelty in an atheistic universe. Matter doesn't produce moral categories.

Why is the punishment for original sin doled out so indiscriminately, then?  Only in a scheme where there's reincarnation can we surmise that Joseph Merrick was a child rapist in a former life, and was genetically cursed in a later one.  Otherwise he is no more or less blameless than you or I.  I think our differences here are theological, not scientific.

Certainly, the question is theological. Ultimately, everything is theological in a deeper sense, even science.

The Arabs are fond of saying that inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un, "we come from God and to God we are returning (or shall return)." Although this is often said when experiencing a tragedy in life, the truth it conveys applies to everything. God is the author of existence and the logical ramifications of His work and of His being cannot be escaped. Everything we do, everything we conceptualize, everything we observe and categorize has God as its ultimate explanation.

I wouldn't describe the genetic flaws you mentioned as being doled out indiscriminately. Everything has a purpose, even if not immediately apparent. We know the ultimate source of the genetic flaws: original sin. And we know their ultimate purpose: God's glory. Nor would these flaws have any moral implications on the person that has them. He is as much a sinner as anyone of us. Remember John 9:1-3: "And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, Neither has this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him."

From this passage we may learn the wise and wonderful arrangement of Divine Providence. It is a part of His great plan to adapt His mercies to the woes of men: often calamity, want, poverty and sickness are permitted, nay, foreordained from all eternity that He may show the provisions of His mercy, that He may teach us to prize his blessings and that deep-felt gratitude for deliverance may bind us to Him. Those who are afflicted with blindness, deafness, or any deformity, should thus be submissive to God. It is His appointment and therefore it is right and best. God does no wrong and the universe will, when all His works are seen, feel and know that He is justice Himself.

Quote from: Pon de Replay on August 02, 2018, 05:34:01 PMWhat does produce moral categories, if God cannot be held to any moral standard?

I would submit that holding anyone to moral standards is an absurd in and of itself in an atheistic universe. While many atheists are certainly not nihilists, atheism cannot really be separated from nihilism.

God cannot be held to a moral standard: He is the moral standard. The moral law is but a manifestation of God's justice and character. To quote the Euthyphro dilemma: "Is what is morally good commanded by God because it is morally good, or is it morally good because it is commanded by God?" The true answer: it is good because God commands it. God's will is uncaused.
DISPOSE OUR DAYS IN THY PEACE, AND COMMAND US TO BE DELIVERED FROM ETERNAL DAMNATION, AND TO BE NUMBERED IN THE FLOCK OF THINE ELECT.

Mono no aware

Quote from: Vetus Ordo on August 02, 2018, 06:30:46 PMI wouldn't describe the genetic flaws you mentioned as being doled out indiscriminately. Everything has a purpose, even if not immediately apparent. We know the ultimate source of the genetic flaws: original sin. And we know their ultimate purpose: God's glory. Nor would these flaws have any moral implications on the person that has them. He is as much a sinner as anyone of us. Remember John 9:1-3: "And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, Neither has this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him."

Indeed, but the phrase, "that the works of God should be made manifest in him" refers to Jesus' subsequent healing of the blind man; surely it does not refer to brute fact of the man's blindness.  Otherwise the question asked by the disciples could be broader: "why is there any misfortune at all?"  If the answer is, "that the glory of God should be made manifest," then there would really be no such thing as evil.  Evil itself would be illusory qua evil, since it would ultimately serve the glory of God, and thus be a good.  Evil would only be a "seeming" (temporally).

And this would have to be the case, if nothing is good but that which God wills, and He wills everything, whether actively or permissively.  This is truly the polar opposite of nihilism, and yet there is a strangely nihilistic quality even to it, in its absorption of all suffering into the unfathomable and unspeakable will of God.  Contemplating both of these extremes always fills me with dread, though I know one of the two must be true.  Gracias (as always) for your insights, my friend.

Vetus Ordo

Quote from: Pon de Replay on August 02, 2018, 06:59:26 PM
Indeed, but the phrase, "that the works of God should be made manifest in him" refers to Jesus' subsequent healing of the blind man; surely it does not refer to brute fact of the man's blindness.  Otherwise the question asked by the disciples could be broader: "why is there any misfortune at all?"  If the answer is, "that the glory of God should be made manifest," then there would really be no such thing as evil. Evil itself would be illusory qua evil, since it would ultimately serve the glory of God, and thus be a good. Evil would only be a "seeming" (temporally).

Primarily it referred to the healing of the blind man, yes. But there's a deeper truth there: deformity and affliction work together for the glory of God whether or not the afflicted is healed in this life. If deformities are a reminder of original sin, death and calamities are a reminder of divine judgement. In fact, later on the disciples touch on the issue of misfortune and calamity. Recall the episode in Luke 13 when Christ speaks of the Galileans that were murdered by Pilate when worshipping God and the eighteen men killed by the tower of Siloam:

"Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish."

Indeed, genetic flaws or gruesome deaths are an invitation for repentance. A reminder of the brevity of life, the fallen state of creation, the certainty of death and the inevitability of judgement before a holy God. The deeper realization of life and existence is that all things work together for His glory. Evil itself fulfills His purpose.

Quote from: Pon de Replay on August 02, 2018, 06:59:26 PM
Gracias (as always) for your insights, my friend.

It's always a pleasure exchanging thoughts with you, Pon.
DISPOSE OUR DAYS IN THY PEACE, AND COMMAND US TO BE DELIVERED FROM ETERNAL DAMNATION, AND TO BE NUMBERED IN THE FLOCK OF THINE ELECT.

Xavier

Quote from: GloriaPatriEvolution presupposes the existence of living organisms; abiogenesis is a separate matter. Just because there has been no settled answer to how life emerged from non-life does not mean that life itself does not evolve over billion of years.

Sure it does! Life never evolved because life was never spontaneously created by itself, as evolutionists claim. Abiogenesis is still called "chemical evolution" by some sophists. Look it up. And then you say abiogenesis is a separate matter from evolution. This is all just-so evolutionary story-telling for the gullible. Evolution is entirely baseless without incontrovertible proof spontaneous abiogenesis happened first. All life came into existence by the Infinite Power of God, who conceived life in His Divine Mind, and called it into existence out of nothing by the Fiat of His Divine Will.

1. By the way, earlier you claimed, "Unlike Xavier, I read arguments for and against evolution." But then you went into strawmen hardly any creation scientist has seriously relied on, while ignoring their actual demonstrations against evolutionary claims. If you absolutely insist on reading only neutral sources - contrary to your claim above - why don't you try to address Prof. Denton's demonstrations drawn from the fossil record for starters? You can start with the evolution of the whale and the millions of missing transitional forms.

If you are ready to read the work of an ID theorist, I recommend Signature in the Cell, by Stephen Meyer. Evolutionists are all ready to say life may have evolved millions of times everywhere in the world, which was proved wrong, and Dawkins even is ok with the absurdity of Alien panspermia because he is so desperately trying to run away from the God Who even still is willing to pardon and absolve him, if he returns. SETI is based on the premise that intelligent signals can be distinguished from unintelligent noise. A code even a fraction of a fraction as complex as the genetic code would be proclaimed by evolutionists as incontrovertible proof of intelligent life elsewhere. So why do they refuse to admit such incontrovertible evidence - which the Most Loving Heavenly Father has implanted in every cell of our body almost like so many wonderful Fingerprints of His Divine Presence! - of the Intelligent Designer, and of His Divine Power and Love? A code is always proof of Intelligence.

''Signature in the Cell is a defining work in the discussion of life's origins . . . the powerful case Meyer presents cannot be ignored in any honest debate. . . [T]his book is an engaging, eye-opening, and often eye-popping read.'' --American Spectator

''A decisive case based upon breathtaking and cutting-edge science.'' --Dr. Philip S. Skell, member, National Academy of Sciences, and Evan Pugh Professor Emeritus at Pennsylvania State University

https://www.amazon.com/Signature-Cell-Evidence-Intelligent-Design-ebook/dp/B002C949BI

2. This is how men spoke in Christian England before the horror of evolution confused the world - from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famous fictional deductive reasoner Sherlock Holmes.

"'What a lovely thing a rose is!'

"He walked past the couch to the open window and held up the drooping stalk of a moss-rose, looking down at the dainty blend of crimson and green. It was a new phase of his character to me, for I had never before seen him show any keen interest in natural objects.

"'There is nothing in which deduction is so necessary as in religion," said he, leaning with his back against the shutters. "It can be built up as an exact science by the reasoner. Our highest assurance of the Goodness of Providence seems to me to rest in the flowers. All other things, our powers, our desires, our food, are all really necessary for our existence in the first instance. But this rose is an extra. Its smell and its colour are an embellishment of life, not a condition of it. It is only Goodness which gives extras, and so I say again that we have much to hope from the flowers.'"

See the wonder and beauty of Creation and Nature! See how it is there to lead us to the knowledge of the Wonder and Beauty of the God Who made her? The virtuous pagans of old at least rose to an awareness that God was Goodness and Power in some sense. Christian philosophy rises far above their limitations and proves from creation that God is Infinite Power, Who brought all beings into existence from nothing, and Who daily creates anew the souls of every new living being. It proves from natural conscience that He Who gave us that conscience is thereby known to be immutably Good, and Goodness itself.
Bible verses on walking blamelessly with God, after being forgiven from our former sins. Some verses here: https://dailyverses.net/blameless

"[2] He that walketh without blemish, and worketh justice:[3] He that speaketh truth in his heart, who hath not used deceit in his tongue: Nor hath done evil to his neighbour: nor taken up a reproach against his neighbours.(Psalm 14)

"[2] For in many things we all offend. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man."(James 3)

"[14] And do ye all things without murmurings and hesitations; [15] That you may be blameless, and sincere children of God, without reproof, in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation; among whom you shine as lights in the world." (Phil 2:14-15)


Padraig

Quote from: Pon de Replay on August 02, 2018, 11:50:38 AM
I would disagree with the statement, "nothing improves without intelligence acting."  All physical traits are (empirically) genetic, so any physical improvement in an organism can be accounted for in the genes.  I've always found Darwin's finches a good explanation of this.  They're finches from the Latin American mainland that colonized the Galapagos and evolved to adapt to their new environment, to an extent that they became separate species.  If a group of finches ends up in an area where the available food is nuts, then a finch with the toughest and strongest beak to crush nuts will have more success at getting the food, and will naturally have more sexual success than his peers with slightly weaker beaks.  He'll pass his genes into the next generation while some of his competitors won't.  Over time, the birds with tougher beaks will predominate, as the same competition will be repeated in every generation. 

There's no intelligence necessary in this kind of improvement: it's just a genetic lottery.  For the finches who landed on another island where the available food was bugs, it was a finch whose beak was slightly longer and more slender, and could get into the crevasses between the rocks to extract the bugs.  Why would we have to assume that an intelligent designer somehow spliced the right genes in order for those finches to survive?  We can already see genetic variations within species; it stands to reason that certain variations could adapt better than others to certain environmental pressures.
The ability to respond to change (i.e., adapt) is an inherently intelligent trait. That's the difference between primitive computers and artificial INTELLIGENCE. Computers are mechanical (relatively). You tell it what to do, hit Enter, and it does it. Artificial intelligence is adaptable. You tell it what to do, hit Enter, and a few years later it won't open to pod bay doors, because it fears for its life.

In the case of the finches, there's a few things to understand.
First, the changes in their beaks are not happening because of DNA mutations (in the strict sense of ATCG base changes occurring). It is NOT evolution. It is epigenetics. The underlying DNA is the same, it is the expression of that DNA which is changing from one finch population to another. There's a whole host of ways epigenetics can change the visible trait without changing the underlying genes. But the mechanism is to either express or repress the production of proteins, the codes for which were already there, and haven't been changed.

(Dogs are another excellent example. Highly adaptable, all genetically nearly identical.)

Second the ability to adapt and respond to those environmental pressures (epigenetics) over generations is due to an intelligent system of MICROROBOTICS that control a trillion coordinated cells making up the organismal whole. Psedoscientific pretentious imbeciles like GloriaPatri like to overlook that second point when they spout ridiculous drivel like "a fertilized ovum growing into a baby in nine months is evidence of simple becoming complex." As Greg astutely noted, the ovum was a complete potential human, with all the instructions AND mechanics necessary to develop into a functioning organism. An inorganic planet lacks both.

Padraig

Quote from: GloriaPatri on August 03, 2018, 12:14:49 PM
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/15-answers-to-creationist/
The irony in the fact that you call yourself a "Platonic Realist" and then argue for evolution could only be lost on such a monumentally moronic intellect as your own.

Padraig

The idea that some jerk is going to say "I thought you were going to ask SCIENTIFIC questions..." And then turn around and act like genetic adaptation "just happens" in some wholesale process. It happens because of intelligent nanorobots! You're either a complete charlatan, or a sincere idiot if you know anything about cell biology and say that it could have developed on it's own through random chance.


Xavier

Here's a sample review on Amazon. "I'm not a Christian ... The Signature in the cell was the first book that I have read that explains in no uncertain terms why the genetic code would be impossible for nature to create by randomly combining primordial molecules. It is a technical book filled with technical facts and statistics that is so interesting that you forget that you are actually learning something. Although it doesn't talk about God or any form of religion or spiritual world, it is difficult to avoid the obvious conclusion that something outside of our material universe had something to do with the very first reproducing organism as well as multiple steps along the way to the evolution of the human species. (Myer himself does not draw any inferences about anything outside of the material universe. He simply draws the conclusion that an intelligent designer is the simplest, and for all practical purposes, the only explanation for the rise of life from a lifeless world."

By the way, GP, I read your link and it doesn't mention Meyer's work or the Genetic Code at at all. It does speak of Dr. Behe's work, though, we can come back to that in a minute if you wish to discuss it. Would you like to comment on Meyer's before we do that? Do you understand clearly the case being made? My opinion is sometimes evolutionary scientists are remarkably condescending to Intelligent Design Scientists who frequently are better qualified than them, have done more groundbreaking work, and made much better and sharper arguments. They do this especially if these Scientists are Christians and if they dare to speak of Almighty God, in response to and perhaps out of a fear of which, unfortunately, Stephen Meyer, Ph.D, and other good Scientists often neglect to do so. I wish John Rennie, B.Sc, would calmly and responsibly reply to the case made by Meyer, it would be interesting to read it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_C._Meyer
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Rennie_(editor)

Rennie also betrays his presuppositions and limitations when he says, "A central tenet of modern science is methodological naturalism". This is false, and for now, let me briefly explain why. Because, according to what Rennie is saying here, no matter how great the evidence in the natural world, the inference of a Designer is never justified.

Science is not about precluding Intelligence but about discovering reality. Is the inference of design based on scientific, empirical principles? Yes, most certainly. There are countless examples from forensic science and archaeology, as well as the science of cryptography or code-breaking. If you saw a code inscribed on a wall, in say, an alien planet, would you or would you not conduct it was certainly the product of intelligence and therefore a proof of intelligent life, GloriaPatri?

Conservapedia has a decent summary: "In a broader sense, Intelligent Design is simply the science of design detection—how to recognize patterns arranged by an intelligent cause for a purpose. Design detection is used in a number of scientific fields, including anthropology, archeology, forensic sciences, cryptanalysis and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI). An inference that certain cosmological and biological features of the natural world may be the product of an intelligent cause can be tested or evaluated in the same manner as scientists daily test for design in other sciences.[7] ... Despite its many strengths, many biblical creationists, while acknowledging those strengths, criticize the Intelligent Design theory for refusing to specify the identity of the designer ..." Intelligent Design is good, but it must be completed by showing the Designer is the Infinite Power Who is God, the Lord of Life, the God of History, Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Bible verses on walking blamelessly with God, after being forgiven from our former sins. Some verses here: https://dailyverses.net/blameless

"[2] He that walketh without blemish, and worketh justice:[3] He that speaketh truth in his heart, who hath not used deceit in his tongue: Nor hath done evil to his neighbour: nor taken up a reproach against his neighbours.(Psalm 14)

"[2] For in many things we all offend. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man."(James 3)

"[14] And do ye all things without murmurings and hesitations; [15] That you may be blameless, and sincere children of God, without reproof, in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation; among whom you shine as lights in the world." (Phil 2:14-15)

Mono no aware

Quote from: Padraig on August 03, 2018, 11:48:27 PMThe ability to respond to change (i.e., adapt) is an inherently intelligent trait. That's the difference between primitive computers and artificial INTELLIGENCE. Computers are mechanical (relatively). You tell it what to do, hit Enter, and it does it. Artificial intelligence is adaptable. You tell it what to do, hit Enter, and a few years later it won't open to pod bay doors, because it fears for its life.

In the case of the finches, there's a few things to understand.
First, the changes in their beaks are not happening because of DNA mutations (in the strict sense of ATCG base changes occurring). It is NOT evolution. It is epigenetics. The underlying DNA is the same, it is the expression of that DNA which is changing from one finch population to another. There's a whole host of ways epigenetics can change the visible trait without changing the underlying genes. But the mechanism is to either express or repress the production of proteins, the codes for which were already there, and haven't been changed.

(Dogs are another excellent example. Highly adaptable, all genetically nearly identical.)

Yes, I agree.  The finches on the Galapagos were not mutants.  My point, though, was only that the cumulative effect of generations of finches being naturally selected for this beak trait had the result of the trait becoming much more pronounced and refined.  There was a standard variation of beaks among the mainland finches; not included in that original variation were the beak traits of the island finches, which would've been freakish if they came about in a single generation.  Possibly we agree on all this; our only point of contention might be over so-called "micro-" and "macro-evolution."

But it also has to be considered that there is non-coding DNA (or "junk" or "leftover" DNA) in a creature's genome: genes for traits that are no longer expressed, or only get expressed through an accident in prevention (such as humans who are born with vestigial tails, or whales born with vestigial leg nubs).  If humans (or whales) had been created in a pure and original form, it wouldn't stand to reason that they would carry genes for traits that clearly suggest a descent, such as from chimp-like (or hippo-like) ancestors.

Quote from: Padraig on August 03, 2018, 11:48:27 PMSecond the ability to adapt and respond to those environmental pressures (epigenetics) over generations is due to an intelligent system of MICROROBOTICS that control a trillion coordinated cells making up the organismal whole.

I'm unsure of what you mean by "an intelligent system."  Is this to mean that genes themselves have an intelligence?

Dogs are not really responding to environmental pressures.  The only pressure being exerted is that humans have been selecting for certain traits and breeding other traits out.  The only intelligence here is in the human breeder; the dog simply either has or does not have the genes for the human-desired trait.  If we say that there is an intelligence within the genes, then that would suggest that the genes have some kind predictive power, thinking "this human would prefer an offspring with droopier ears, so let there be droopier ears in the progeny."  Pardon me if I misunderstand or parody your position; it isn't my intent.

But if genes have the intelligence to know what traits will be advantageous in an offspring's life, then why would there be any selection at all?  The genes of every organism would intellectually know to make it fit for its environment.  If there was an intelligence within genes, I'm not sure why there would be so many genetic accidents, misfires, and mutations.  An intelligence, in genes, would presumably not even come up with ugliness (that perennial handicap to courtship) in the first place, let alone hermaphrodites, or the limbless, or Joseph Merrick, or any of the countless bizarre deformations that can hardly survive the womb, let alone the world.  As Tennyson famously put it, "for every fifty seeds, nature often brings but one to bear."



james03

QuoteAgain, Greg, your arguments are purely philosophical/theological.

False.  The fatal problems with evolution are being exposed from the mathematical work that arrived from crytography, especially Shannon and Jaynes.  I've taken interest in the subject after reading Jaynes's proof that Shannon entropy is more fundamental than Gibbs entropy, and that in 1902 Gibbs realized it, but died before he could develop it.    Stephen C. Meyer is leading this work now for the intelligent design group.  In short information gets "smeared out" and not better organized.  This is what is happening in Gibbs entropy by adding microstates.

Evolution has a big problem when it comes to adding INFORMATION.

The argument from chance is also extremely convincing.  The odds of a 20 amino acid protein arriving by chance is far less than the number of seconds that the universe has existed.  What happens when there are hundreds of amino acids?  Note in order to gain functionality you need new proteins.

I advise you to watch some videos from Meyers.  His interviews are too short, and you will do better with his presentations.
"But he that doth not believe, is already judged: because he believeth not in the name of the only begotten Son of God (Jn 3:18)."

"All sorrow leads to the foot of the Cross.  Weep for your sins."

"Although He should kill me, I will trust in Him"

james03

QuoteIt happens because of intelligent nanorobots! You're either a complete charlatan, or a sincere idiot if you know anything about cell biology and say that it could have developed on it's own through random chance.

There's a huge paradigm shift going on, still in its infancy, from biochemistry to bio-nanomechanics. 
"But he that doth not believe, is already judged: because he believeth not in the name of the only begotten Son of God (Jn 3:18)."

"All sorrow leads to the foot of the Cross.  Weep for your sins."

"Although He should kill me, I will trust in Him"

Maximilian

Quote from: Pon de Replay on August 04, 2018, 08:02:32 AM

I'm unsure of what you mean by "an intelligent system."  Is this to mean that genes themselves have an intelligence?

Take a look at the GIF that he posted above. At the molecular level, a highly complex, highly intelligent system is operating far beyond mere human intelligence.

This video below show what really goes on inside a cell. Mechanical processes more complex than any auto factory are operating continuously inside every one of our trillions of cells.