Forums > Off-Topic Discussion > And the score is Dover, PA One - ID/God Zero

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Monsante Bey

Posts: 2111

Columbus, Georgia, US

The dumbing down of America continues.

Dec 20 05 04:02 pm Link

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studio36uk

Posts: 22898

Tavai, Sigave, Wallis and Futuna

jeffgreen wrote:
If one is barred, why not both?

If two are taught why not many? I am sure that all 'merican kiddies could benefit from this "theory" as well; or maybe one of the others.

LINK

"...According to the Hindu creation theory, in the beginning there was only water, and only water everywhere. Then Prajapati (the father of mankind) the creator noticed a lotus leaf floating steadily on chaotic water. He guessed there must be life round about the leaf, so he dived underneath and lifted the earth in the form of lotus, the story goes. Then the whole act of creation started. So the lotus stood for life and activity...."

or should it be????

LINK

Then, of course, we shouldn't forget the role of the Titans, Gods all and of whom there were many. But in Greek creation "theory" one stands out - Prometheus:

"...By some accounts he [Prometheus] and his brother Epimetheus were delegated by Zeus to create man. In all accounts, Prometheus is known as the protector and benefactor of man. He gave mankind a number of gifts including fire. He also tricked Zeus into allowing man to keep the best part of the animals sacrificed to the gods and to give the gods the worst parts. For this Zeus punished Prometheus.."

Oh... I'm sorry... in some people's view it can only be the bibliocentric Christian alternative that can refute Darwin in 'merican schools. No others need apply. If you Christian types keep that up the Great Earth Mother is gonna be really pissed!

Studio36

Dec 20 05 04:08 pm Link

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James Jackson Fashion

Posts: 11132

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US

41

Dec 20 05 04:09 pm Link

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bencook2

Posts: 3875

Tucson, Arizona, US

In psychology...by definition, almost nothing is tangible.  We never are able to prove a thing.  We only notice that there is an "effect".  We try to re-create the "effect" in a controlled situation. 

Evolution-- Observable in the different species and families of animals and plants.

ID-- Not Observable.

Evolution-- "Effect" can be attributed scientificly

ID-- "Effect" is understood. 

Big Bang-- Observable and the "effect" can be attributed scientificly

Creation-- Not Observable except through faith and reason.  No way to re-create any portion to even have a science theory.


The great thing about ID and my version of Creationism is that it includes the Big Bang and Evolution along with ID.  My God is real enough to me.

Dec 20 05 04:09 pm Link

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Tim Baker-fotoPerfecta

Posts: 9877

Portland, Oregon, US

I'm sorry, but for some reason I can't directly quote anyone.

However, Jeff in Texas. I never use the word 'proof' ever.  No one in the scientific community would. In science, nothing is ever proved, we just attempt to find evidence to either support or refute hypotheses (untested statements) and as our collegue Marcus said, "science is not afraid of change" - 'change' is one of the very tenets of the scientific method of inquiry.

Religion, on the other hand, demands we believe their dogma, without any form of evidence, except an 1800 year old history book of anecdotes.

/tim

Dec 20 05 04:13 pm Link

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Kentsoul

Posts: 9739

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US

I can't believe we still have to have this debate in the 21st century.

Dec 20 05 04:14 pm Link

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bencook2

Posts: 3875

Tucson, Arizona, US

No one in the scientific community would. In science, nothing is ever proved, we just find strong evidence to support theories

In psych the term is "the evidence suggests".  Or that something is merely "statisticly significant".

Dec 20 05 04:25 pm Link

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Tim Baker-fotoPerfecta

Posts: 9877

Portland, Oregon, US

Jay, yes, Google is a very useful tool in the search for information. The reader needs to beware, however.  I suggest you may want to do some research using it.  We used to use Nexus/Lexus, but Google is great for quick searches, however as I said, you have to disgard what is not legitimate research, which is subjected to peer review before it's ever published.

Regarding contridictions in the Bible, review this site: http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/ … tions.html

Regarding not teaching evolution?  Look at what just one Harvard evolutionary biologist has written on the subject in the past thirty years (Stephen J. Gould, who unfortunately passed away in 2002):  http://www.stephenjaygould.org/library.html

You would have us to disregard the entire systematic structure of the discipline of biology because of a person's belief in a religion or because of some philosophy of a supernational concept called Intelligent Design?  How odd.

/tim

Dec 20 05 04:28 pm Link

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Marcus J. Ranum

Posts: 3247

MORRISDALE, Pennsylvania, US

A lot of what we're arguing about, regarding the theory of evolution, comes down to how do you inductively expand an observation. I.e.: How do you get from:
"German shepherds are a breed of dog that was created by mankind selecting for desired traits"
to
"Selection of inheritable properties happens"
and then to
"Natural factors influence inheritance by causing some traits to be more likely to succeed"
and finally
"Speciation happens over geological time as a result of natural factors" and the theory of evolution.

The problem is, basically, applying inductive reasoning - not proving things. Philosophers of science have been wrestling with that for a long time. smile As with everything else, science uses the scientific method to refine itself. This brings up the notion of Falsification versus circular logic. It's not worth my trying to explain it here; you should http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falsifiability if you're interested.

Religious people try to use logic and science to argue against logic and science. The results are never pretty, but it's usually pretty unsuccessful, since religious people are seldom good logicians and never scientists.

mjr.

Dec 20 05 04:36 pm Link

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bencook2

Posts: 3875

Tucson, Arizona, US

This arguement goes to the heart of why I am a conservative.

So many assume that a public school should be teaching something that should be taught first at home.  There is no real science associated with the origins of the Universe.  There is good science associated with the origins of man and the earth.  That should be taught as science.  Science by definition only suggests. So parents can suggest otherwise at home.

PARENTS bare the responsibility of teaching their religion or other beliefs to their own kids.  If it is not covered under the science umbrella then it falls to the parents.  ID is not yet a science.  If parents want it taught...teach it in the home!  Don't ask for my tax dollars to go to teaching your child what only faith and reason can suggest to be real.

Dec 20 05 04:36 pm Link

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kickfight

Posts: 35054

Portland, Oregon, US

Regarding both science and spirituality, there's only one reliable formula to ascertain the validity of any experience: repeatability and commonality over time.

In other words, any experience, whether scientific or spiritual,

a) must be continue to manifest itself to humans or in humans without suddenly 'non-manifesting' itself from one day to the next, either due to human or natural happenstance, and

b) must manifest itself to or in a significant number of humans regardless of location, culture, achievement, etc,

c) over a long period of time.

Certain aspects of science (although certainly not a majority of them), and certain aspects of faith (although not necessarily any of the established religions) emerge as equally valid based on this, the only reliable test we have available.

If anyone else, scientist or spiritual scholar alike, attempts to tell you anything else, there's a very good chance that a business model is not too far behind, and the REAL motivation is separating someone or a group of someones from the contents of their wallet(s). smile

Dec 20 05 04:43 pm Link

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James Jackson Fashion

Posts: 11132

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US

bencook2 wrote:
This arguement goes to the heart of why I am a conservative.

So many assume that a public school should be teaching something that should be taught first at home.  There is no real science associated with the origins of the Universe.  There is good science associated with the origins of man and the earth.  That should be taught as science.  Science by definition only suggests. So parents can suggest otherwise at home. 

PARENTS bare the responsibility of teaching their religion or other beliefs to their own kids.  If it is not covered under the science umbrella then it falls to the parents.  ID is not yet a science.  If parents want it taught...teach it in the home!  Don't ask for my tax dollars to go to teaching your child what only faith and reason can suggest to be real.

OMG!  I've been saying this for years now!  I agree with you 100%

yikes

Dec 20 05 04:45 pm Link

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Tim Baker-fotoPerfecta

Posts: 9877

Portland, Oregon, US

Holy Crap (wait, can I say that, or is it Holiday Crap, know? - goes Google Search to find the PC Dictionary).  Anyway, Ben is sounding like a liberal!  Are you sure you're not "True Blue" in disguise?

Dec 20 05 04:52 pm Link

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Nihilus

Posts: 10888

Nashville, Tennessee, US

Damn you all...50 posts already before I even jump in. This is fertile playground for my devious mind! >big_smile

Anyhow...anyone confused about how this could possibly (!) happen should acquaint themselves with the former ID/Evolution thread that was hanging around here a while back (too lazy to dig up the link).

People...PLEASE understand the following:

"Creationists make it sound as though a 'theory' is something you dreamt up after being drunk all night." ~Isaac Asimov

If were to say that you are gay, there are (for simplicity's sake) two main possible suggestions that I may be making:

1) Of, relating to, or having a sexual orientation to persons of the same sex.
2) Showing or characterized by cheerfulness and lighthearted excitement; merry.

That you would probably naturally take the comment to mean the first, does not discount the nature of the second.

Put simply...if you are calling into question the fairness of giving equal time to other "theories" you are gravely misunderstanding the term in the way in which it is used scientifically.

Learn.

And if I have to explain the value of a "theory" needing to be falsifiable...then I'm going to cry and proceed to drown my sorrows in some nice ruby port. big_smile

Dec 20 05 05:01 pm Link

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Nihilus

Posts: 10888

Nashville, Tennessee, US

StudioD wrote:

Precisely! Some much is assumed in our Constitution & so few read it. As I recall from my college physics classes, no evolutionists can explain what exploded in their 'Big Bang Theory'. Something had to be there to explode. What was it & how was it created? According to the Laws of Conservation of Energy & Matter: Energy/Matter can neither be created nor destroyed, only converted from one form to another.

Arrgh!!! BIOLOGISTS ARE NOT ASTROPHYSICISTS!

Tommy Lasorda hasn't explained why the Colts can't win a SuperBowl either...

Dec 20 05 05:02 pm Link

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Nihilus

Posts: 10888

Nashville, Tennessee, US

Melvin Moten Jr wrote:
I can't believe we still have to have this debate in the 21st century.

The evolution of our technologies far outruns the evolution of our sensibilities. Kinda scary sometimes wondering to what end it may lead.

Dec 20 05 05:05 pm Link

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Tim Baker-fotoPerfecta

Posts: 9877

Portland, Oregon, US

Kickfight wrote ----------------------------

Regarding both science and spirituality, there's only one reliable formula to ascertain the validity of any experience: repeatability and commonality over time.

In other words, any experience, whether scientific or spiritual,

a) must be continue to manifest itself to humans or in humans without suddenly 'non-manifesting' itself from one day to the next, either due to human or natural happenstance, and

b) must manifest itself to or in a significant number of humans regardless of location, culture, achievement, etc,

c) over a long period of time.

Certain aspects of science (although certainly not a majority of them), and certain aspects of faith (although not necessarily any of the established religions) emerge as equally valid based on this, the only reliable test we have available.

If anyone else, scientist or spiritual scholar alike, attempts to tell you anything else, there's a very good chance that a business model is not too far behind, and the REAL motivation is separating someone or a group of someones from the contents of their wallet(s).

Tim replied: ---------------------

Ever heard of experimental design. and using a control group to determine if the observations you are seeing are due to chance or not?

Ever heard of the Rosenthal Effect, Hawthorne Effect, Test-Retest Bias, or the Placebo effect in research, all which are major forms of bias (not to mention the many, many others).  I can socialize a group of individuals to 'believe' in God or some other form of a higher being (or spirituality, if you like) and guess what, if tested in their adult hood, a significant portion may (or may not) believe in what they've been socialized too.  You certainly won't find Buddhists or Hindus believing in the Christian God.  Why? They weren't socialized too.  One must be very careful using absolutes in regards to science (even though all science is based on its respective form of inquiry which generally follows the basic tenets of the Scientific Method). 

I agree that replication is a major tenet of the scientific method; never heard of commonality.  Not sure how it's being used, here, unless you are talking about a large sample of randomly choosen people.  /tim

Dec 20 05 05:06 pm Link

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lll

Posts: 12295

Seattle, Washington, US

Melvin Moten Jr wrote:
I can't believe we still have to have this debate in the 21st century.

Melvin, great minds think alike.  I can't understand either.

Dec 20 05 05:06 pm Link

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Tim Baker-fotoPerfecta

Posts: 9877

Portland, Oregon, US

Nihilus wrote:

Arrgh!!! BIOLOGISTS ARE NOT ASTROPHYSICISTS!

Tommy Lasorda hasn't explained why the Colts can't win a SuperBowl either...

Nihilus, about time you showed up.  I have tea on and my Bible over there next to the Qaran, which is next to the Buddha statue.  Help you self and Happy IDmis wink  Cheers, /Tim

Dec 20 05 05:16 pm Link

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bencook2

Posts: 3875

Tucson, Arizona, US

Tim Baker wrote:
Holy Crap (wait, can I say that, or is it Holiday Crap, know? - goes Google Search to find the PC Dictionary).  Anyway, Ben is sounding like a liberal!  Are you sure you're not "True Blue" in disguise?

One Hundered percent Conservative. 

Tim you are actually more conservative than you might think.

1. If you think you know how to spend your money better than the government.  (conservative)

2. If you think the only social program you are intitled to is military defense. (conservative)

3. If you think the federal government should only concern itself with matters specificly layed out in the constitution and with infrastructure. (conservative)

4. If you think personal responsibility trumps all...you are a conservative.

The rest is semantics.  The problem is some people believe this in theory but don't apply it.

The ID arguement falls in catagory 1 and in catagory 4.

Dec 20 05 05:22 pm Link

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Nihilus

Posts: 10888

Nashville, Tennessee, US

Tim Baker wrote:

Nihilus, about time you showed up.  I have tea on and my Bible over there next to the Qaran, which is next to the Buddha statue.  Help you self and Happy IDmis wink  Cheers, /Tim

Keeping the thread warm for me, were you Tim? big_smile Wonder how long this one will go. One of these days we'll need a challenger to the Audrey thread!

Dec 20 05 05:40 pm Link

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kickfight

Posts: 35054

Portland, Oregon, US

Tim Baker wrote:
Tim replied: ---------------------

Ever heard of experimental design. and using a control group to determine if the observations you are seeing are due to chance or not?

Yup. Not applicable to what I stated above.

Tim Baker wrote:
Ever heard of the Rosenthal Effect, Hawthorne Effect, Test-Retest Bias, or the Placebo effect in research, all which are major forms of bias (not to mention the many, many others).

Yup. Not applicable to what I stated above.

Tim Baker wrote:
I can socialize a group of individuals to 'believe' in God or some other form of a higher being (or spirituality, if you like) and guess what, if tested in their adult hood, a significant portion may (or may not) believe in what they've been socialized too.

Yup. Replace 'God' with 'science' above and it's equally valid. However, it's not applicable to what I stated above.

Tim Baker wrote:
You certainly won't find Buddhists or Hindus believing in the Christian God.  Why? They weren't socialized too.

Absolutely. They were socialized to believe in Buddhist or Hindu ideologies. This, however, is not applicable to what I stated above.

Tim Baker wrote:
One must be very careful using absolutes in regards to science (even though all science is based on its respective form of inquiry which generally follows the basic tenets of the Scientific Method).

That's nice rhetoric, although a) it's relatively meaningless, and b) it is not applicable to what I stated above.

Tim Baker wrote:
I agree that replication is a major tenet of the scientific method; never heard of commonality.  Not sure how it's being used, here, unless you are talking about a large sample of randomly choosen people.  /tim

The scientific method is a subset of what I stated above. Repeatability and commonality over time. For an experience to be considered valid, it must be repeatable, it must be experienced by a majority of observers (indicating that it must cross geographic/cultural/educational boundaries) and must do so over the course of a great deal of time.

Dec 20 05 05:45 pm Link

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BodyPainter Rich

Posts: 18107

Sacramento, California, US

Let us not forget that the "big bang" theory also has mathematical equations that can help explain how the phenomena may have occured. It is not all about observation, there are other ideas brought to bear and other evidence brought to the table. The Big Bang is a theory, but it is the best theory we have going, and has the most evidence to back it up. I'm sure that the physicists behind the big bang theory would be thrilled if someone came up with an even better theory that explained things even more thoroughly, so far no one has. Science is science, and faith is faith.

Here are some simple links to get people started if they still don't understand:

Evidence for evolution:
http://anthro.palomar.edu/evolve/evolve_3.htm
http://www.gate.net/~rwms/EvoEvidence.html
http://www.evolutionpages.com/

Evidence for "Big Bang" theory:
http://www.astro.ucla.edu/~wright/cosmo … BBevidence
http://www.umich.edu/~gs265/bigbang.htm

Here they argue for both evolution AND the big bang.
(And a great argument presented at http://www.lightandmatter.com/evolution/ )

CHECK THIS OUT, ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN BIBLICAL TRANSCRIPTION/INTERPRETATION/OR FACT CHECKING

And for those who think of the Bible as straight literal truth, an interesting thing I heard on NPR from the author of "Misquoting Jesus"...
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor … Id=5052156
I thought the part about "Let him who is without sin cast the first stone" to be very enlightening.

https://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/uc/20051218/ldb051218.gif

Dec 20 05 06:06 pm Link

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kickfight

Posts: 35054

Portland, Oregon, US

BodyPainter Rich  wrote:
Let us not forget that the "big bang" theory also has mathematical equations that can help explain how the phenomena may have occured. It is not all about observation, there are other ideas brought to bear and other evidence brought to the table. The Big Bang is a theory, but it is the best theory we have going, and has the most evidence to back it up. I'm sure that the physicists behind the big bang theory would be thrilled if someone came up with an even better theory that explained things even more thoroughly, so far no one has.

Agreed! However, it is crucial to remember that the mathematical equations in question are additional human-constructed concepts that assist in supporting a theory. The idea that mathematical equations are evidence that exists outside the realm of human intervention is... well, a non-idea. Like telescopes, they are artificial constructs that support theories via observation or analysis. The existence of mathematical equations supporting a theory means only that a certain cylindrical peg fits a certain circular gap.

BodyPainter Rich  wrote:
Science is science, and faith is faith.

No argument there. Both require the same processes to be valid: human experience.

Dec 20 05 06:14 pm Link

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Tim Baker-fotoPerfecta

Posts: 9877

Portland, Oregon, US

Nihilus wrote:

Keeping the thread warm for me, were you Tim? big_smile Wonder how long this one will go. One of these days we'll need a challenger to the Audrey thread!

LOL..Don't think we'll ever make it there. More fun to post to models than it is to discuss religion.  Boggles the mind, doesn't it.  /Tim

Dec 20 05 06:14 pm Link

Body Painter

BodyPainter Rich

Posts: 18107

Sacramento, California, US

Telescopes are artificial constructs? What do you think...they deliberately tweak the data they recieve on radio telescopes? The microwave patterns of radiation are all just figments of the imagination? This stuff is all measured and is science. You obviously took a look at NONE of the links I posted, you couldn't have and answered so quickly. This is because you CHOOSE TO REMAIN IGNORANT on the topic you are debating...so either...

1. You just don't want to take the time to see what you are arguing about
2. You are afraid of the facts you might uncover
3. You lack the intelligence to understand the pages (which I don't buy)

I've read what the Bible says on the subject. After careful consideration, I've decided that it can in no way be literal truth. Did you listen to the last article link I posted? What did you think of the authors notion of the two major interpretations of Jesus on the cross? C'mon do you want to debate or not?

Edit: And science needs WAY more than human experience before it is considered to be valid.

Dec 20 05 06:22 pm Link

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Marcus J. Ranum

Posts: 3247

MORRISDALE, Pennsylvania, US

That Doonesbury is awesome! Cracked me right up!

mjr.

Dec 20 05 06:26 pm Link

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BodyPainter Rich

Posts: 18107

Sacramento, California, US

You know, laughter is the best medicine (next to super strains of antibiotics anyway)

Dec 20 05 06:28 pm Link

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Tim Baker-fotoPerfecta

Posts: 9877

Portland, Oregon, US

bencook2 wrote:
One Hundered percent Conservative. 

Tim you are actually more conservative than you might think.

1. If you think you know how to spend your money better than the government.  (conservative)

2. If you think the only social program you are intitled to is military defense. (conservative)

3. If you think the federal government should only concern itself with matters specificly layed out in the constitution and with infrastructure. (conservative)

4. If you think personal responsibility trumps all...you are a conservative.

The rest is semantics.  The problem is some people believe this in theory but don't apply it.

The ID arguement falls in catagory 1 and in catagory 4.

Ben, sorry but you know me ... I just have to.  Let me just do a bit of editing, if it’s ok with you, to better support your argument:

1. If you think the government knows how to borrow-and-spend money better than you (conservative)

2. If you think the only social programs worth funding are the military industrial complex, oil company welfare programs, pharmaceutical company subsidies, and Hillaburton. (conservative)

3. If you think the federal government should not be bothered with matters specifically laid out in the constitution and with infrastructure, but also to help social programs detailed in number 2, above. (Conservative)

4. If you think personal responsibility trumps all and children and women eating from dumpsters and living a few weeks in the New Orleans, Astrodome is a good thing...you are a conservative.

5. If you think the concept of being a good Vice President is leaving the troops in Iraq during Christmas to rush back to possibly have to vote on a budget that includes cuts in Medicaid, college loan programs, and approves drilling for oil on public lands in Alaska is a greater priority. (conservative)  (See:  http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10547308/)

6. If you think approving wire tapes on American citizens is alright.  (Conservative)

The rest is most likely semantics, but Conservative can't discuss it because of national security reasons.  The problem is some people believe in rhetoric and believe it (ID, I'm strating to sound like Bush ... that is a Bushism).

The ID argument falls in the category of worshiping false idols.

Happy holidays wink  /Tim

Dec 20 05 06:31 pm Link

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Marcus J. Ranum

Posts: 3247

MORRISDALE, Pennsylvania, US

kickfight wrote:
The idea that mathematical equations are evidence that exists outside the realm of human intervention is... well, a non-idea. Like telescopes, they are artificial constructs that support theories via observation or analysis.

Um, no. Math is an abstraction humans use to describe aspects of reality.

So, while there is no mystical tablet of equations that existed before mankind did, 2+2 was equal to 4 before man invented math as a notation for describing particular aspects of how reality behaves. When mathematicians discover mistakes or create new proofs, then "math" is updated.

Put differently: physicists don't create gravity; they try to understand it. Mathematicians don't create the underlying reality of numbers - equations, formulas, and proofs, illustrate numbers.

Or are you one of those guys who believes that if a tree falls in the forest, and there's nobody there to observe it, there's no sound? wink (Hint: "sound" is a term humans use for how vibrations travel through materials like air)

mjr.

Dec 20 05 06:32 pm Link

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Tim Baker-fotoPerfecta

Posts: 9877

Portland, Oregon, US

BodyPainter Rich  wrote:
Let us not forget that the "big bang" theory also has mathematical equations that can help explain how the phenomena may have occured. It is not all about observation, there are other ideas brought to bear and other evidence brought to the table. The Big Bang is a theory, but it is the best theory we have going, and has the most evidence to back it up. I'm sure that the physicists behind the big bang theory would be thrilled if someone came up with an even better theory that explained things even more thoroughly, so far no one has. Science is science, and faith is faith.

Here are some simple links to get people started if they still don't understand:

Evidence for evolution:
http://anthro.palomar.edu/evolve/evolve_3.htm
http://www.gate.net/~rwms/EvoEvidence.html
http://www.evolutionpages.com/

Evidence for "Big Bang" theory:
http://www.astro.ucla.edu/~wright/cosmo … BBevidence
http://www.umich.edu/~gs265/bigbang.htm

Here they argue for both evolution AND the big bang.
(And a great argument presented at http://www.lightandmatter.com/evolution/ )

CHECK THIS OUT, ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN BIBLICAL TRANSCRIPTION/INTERPRETATION/OR FACT CHECKING

And for those who think of the Bible as straight literal truth, an interesting thing I heard on NPR from the author of "Misquoting Jesus"...
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor … Id=5052156
I thought the part about "Let him who is without sin cast the first stone" to be very enlightening.

https://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/uc/20051218/ldb051218.gif

Rich, very nicely researched and supported post.  Wish we had more of these.  Cheers, Tim

Dec 20 05 06:33 pm Link

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Tim Baker-fotoPerfecta

Posts: 9877

Portland, Oregon, US

BodyPainter Rich  wrote:
https://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/uc/20051218/ldb051218.gif

ROTFWL!!!!!!!!!!! Got to love Tradeau!  Cheers, Tim

Dec 20 05 06:39 pm Link

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Marcus J. Ranum

Posts: 3247

MORRISDALE, Pennsylvania, US

Tim Baker wrote:

Hey, guys, don't turn a perfectly good session of religion-bashing into politics. smile

(Although I'd argue that a lot of politics is just a form of religion and deserves to be bashed for it)

mjr.

Dec 20 05 06:41 pm Link

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Bluefire

Posts: 10908

East Tawas, Michigan, US

About the only 'thing' that was decided, was to present an incomplete picture to the student. Now isn't that the way to teach? Knowledge is about having ALL of the information.

Dec 20 05 06:43 pm Link

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Tim Baker-fotoPerfecta

Posts: 9877

Portland, Oregon, US

kickfight wrote:

Tim Baker wrote:
Tim replied: ---------------------

Ever heard of experimental design. and using a control group to determine if the observations you are seeing are due to chance or not?

Yup. Not applicable to what I stated above.

Tim Baker wrote:
Ever heard of the Rosenthal Effect, Hawthorne Effect, Test-Retest Bias, or the Placebo effect in research, all which are major forms of bias (not to mention the many, many others).

Yup. Not applicable to what I stated above.

Tim Baker wrote:
I can socialize a group of individuals to 'believe' in God or some other form of a higher being (or spirituality, if you like) and guess what, if tested in their adult hood, a significant portion may (or may not) believe in what they've been socialized too.

Yup. Replace 'God' with 'science' above and it's equally valid. However, it's not applicable to what I stated above.

Tim Baker wrote:
You certainly won't find Buddhists or Hindus believing in the Christian God.  Why? They weren't socialized too.

Absolutely. They were socialized to believe in Buddhist or Hindu ideologies. This, however, is not applicable to what I stated above.

Tim Baker wrote:
One must be very careful using absolutes in regards to science (even though all science is based on its respective form of inquiry which generally follows the basic tenets of the Scientific Method).

That's nice rhetoric, although a) it's relatively meaningless, and b) it is not applicable to what I stated above.


The scientific method is a subset of what I stated above. Repeatability and commonality over time. For an experience to be considered valid, it must be repeatable, it must be experienced by a majority of observers (indicating that it must cross geographic/cultural/educational boundaries) and must do so over the course of a great deal of time.

Sigh. Doesn’t apply here?  Care to elaborate or are we just supposed to accept your opinion on this one?  Do you even know what ‘chance’ occurrences are … and if you say yes, please explain to us who know so little about the scientific method of inquiry?  Thanks, Tim

Dec 20 05 06:44 pm Link

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Tim Baker-fotoPerfecta

Posts: 9877

Portland, Oregon, US

tgimaging wrote:
About the only 'thing' that was decided, was to present an incomplete picture to the student. Now isn't that the way to teach? Knowledge is about having ALL of the information.

Can't disagree with that. Just leave Christian philosophy out of science courses.  Put them in philosophy courses where they belong.  Or, as Ben stated before, teach, counter, what you don't like your children to know in your own home or church.  Conservatives talk about personal responsibility: it’s my opinion this a major responsibility for parents to undertake and not force upon the school systems. 

One of my neighbor's kids really believes that humans and dinosaurs were on the planet at the same time.  Why?  His mother told him so.  So, if someone in their own home or their place of religion wants to each their children that Adam and Eve rode dinosaurs to church on Sunday, I have no problem with that.  When their children begin to open their minds - hopefully - with enough education that teaches them critical thinking (which most probably excludes Kansas) than they can see that science and religion are not mutually exclusive concepts. Science is not afraid of religion; religion is afraid of any other knowledge that runs counter to the religion’s respective dogma, however.  Bottom line is that it’s the forum where they the two subjects are taught that should be mutually exclusive.  Otherwise we end up with some very, poorly educated children. /tim

Dec 20 05 06:50 pm Link

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Marcus J. Ranum

Posts: 3247

MORRISDALE, Pennsylvania, US

tgimaging wrote:
About the only 'thing' that was decided, was to present an incomplete picture to the student. Now isn't that the way to teach? Knowledge is about having ALL of the information.

So do you think they should teach the Zoroastrian creation myth, too? What about the Hindu creation myth? Or the Greek?

You're right that having all the information is important, but in this case it'd be a matter of having "all the disinformation" Certainly a history/philosophy/social sciences class on comparative creation myths would be interesting and instructive. For example, I think that schools should teach about religion. If you're not socialized into it, and you approach it as any other subject matter, it's immediately apparent how ridiculous it is.

mjr.

Dec 20 05 06:50 pm Link

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kickfight

Posts: 35054

Portland, Oregon, US

Tim Baker wrote:
Sigh. Doesn’t apply here?  Care to elaborate or are we just supposed to accept your opinion on this one?  Do you even know what ‘chance’ occurrences are … and if you say yes, please explain to us who know so little about the scientific method of inquiry?  Thanks, Tim

C'mon, Tim... this is why it's sometimes a bit exasperating to talk to you. Whenever something requires a bit of real, out-of-the-box thinking, rather than making the effort, you dismiss the whole thing with that lazy, erroenous "opinion" stamp.

So, tell ya what. So we have our concepts straight, why don't YOU tell me what you think 'chance occurrences' are, and we can at least be sure that we're not just dealing with 'opinions'... Oy vey...

Dec 20 05 06:51 pm Link

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kickfight

Posts: 35054

Portland, Oregon, US

Marcus J. Ranum wrote:
So do you think they should teach the Zoroastrian creation myth, too? What about the Hindu creation myth? Or the Greek?

You're right that having all the information is important, but in this case it'd be a matter of having "all the disinformation" Certainly a class on comparative creation myths would be interesting and instructive. For example, I think that schools should teach about religion. If you're not socialized into it, and you approach it as any other subject matter, it's immediately apparent how ridiculous it is.

mjr.

Excellent point! People forget that schools need to teach the basics. Not speculation, not conjecture, not philosophy, not theory. Just the basics that we all agree are practical. There'll be plenty of time for kids to grow up into questioning, questing adults, if they're given the proper practical basics... IOW, the tools they need to get by, which is the first priority. This whole thing is a distraction of the idle, and a screw for the kids. School is inadequate as it is without all this other trivia.

P.S. For the record, I acknowledge that I am being righteously indignated here, while also idly arguing minutiae on another aspect of this very same thread. smile

Dec 20 05 06:58 pm Link

Body Painter

BodyPainter Rich

Posts: 18107

Sacramento, California, US

tgimaging wrote:
About the only 'thing' that was decided, was to present an incomplete picture to the student. Now isn't that the way to teach? Knowledge is about having ALL of the information.

Whoa...so we don't teach world history unless we can teach ALL of world history? We don't teach math unless we can teach ALL of math? So unless we have ALL information we have no knowledge?

And I still haven't heard anyone actually adress any of the links I put forth. Not one. Nada. Zip.

Dec 20 05 06:58 pm Link