Rick Santorum, a confused dog, and gladiatorial combat
To expand on a recent post, here's why non-experts should generally follow the scientific consensus.
The scientific world view is like a gladiatorial arena. In the pit itself you have various theories locked in mortal combat with one another. The current consensus is the gladiator who's still standing. He may be wounded and he probably hasn't slain all his enemies - some of them are probably still clinging on but are in a worse state than he is. A new theory might enter the arena at any time. But, currently, he's the best we've got. If you want to bet on the winner, he's the one to go for.
The audience closest to the floor are like experts - they're the ones best placed to judge what's going on. They can see if the gladiator's injuries are just cuts and bruises or really life-threatening, or if any of his competitors are merely feigning injury. Those further away are like other scientists who are experts in other fields. They can see basically what's happening but their view isn't as clear.
Those at the back are the general public. Their view is less clear again. They might even be cheering for competitors who are, in fact, dead. They would do well to listen to the cheers from the lower levels to judge what the outcome would be, at least as much as basing their conclusions on the evidence of their own eyes. Of course, any of the people at the back might well be specialists in other fields, and in all but scientific matters it's the scientists who would normally be sitting at the back. The same goes for any specialist discipline. You can't ignore the scientific consensus just because you don't like it.
There is no physical maker of living organisms. No amount of time is ever enough to make them. Time is the enemy of living organisms. Variations of the same thing is not going to produce a fundamentally different kind of animal.
ReplyDeleteIf you want me to block you, just ask.
ReplyDeleteRhys Taylor I would never asked to be blocked. I do have an obligation to tell the truth to whoever will listen and if there is something I got wrong, I want to know. If you don't want to listen, maybe someone else will.
ReplyDeleteI still don't see time passing at the same rate everywhere in the universe. We know time in the universe varies from no passing of time to the amount time passes where we are and beyond.
I get that that is your honestly and sincerely held opinion, but you do not have an obligation to derail threads. If you start a thread about how evolution is wrong, I'm not going to turn up to tell you why gorgonzola is the best kind of cheese. One paragraph out of >30 on creationism is not an excuse to start a debate about it. That is not the subject of the post.
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