In the February 22nd issue of Science magazine there is a great article (paid registration required) about the barriers we face as scientists in developing a scientific dialogue with fundamentalist Christians who believe in a literal interpretation of the Bible. The article describes the early experiences of paleontologist Stephen Godfrey as a young boy growing up in Quebec with a family who believed in the Bible as the direct word of God. Rejecting creationism was the same as rejecting God himself, and no dissension was allowed in the household.
While at first Godfrey believed that the scientific establishment was conspiring to falsely discredit creationism, as he progressed through college and graduate school his views began to change. Slowly, Godfrey came to see the strength of evidence behind the theory of evolution. In the article, there’s a funny drawing made by Godfrey of a dinosaur floating in Noah’s flood; he drew it at a watershed (pun intended) moment of his life when he realized that the fossil record is inconsistent with this Biblical event.
As Godfrey and others state in the article, the most difficult part of the change in belief system wasn’t accepting evolution as fact per se, but in rejecting what had been their identity for decades. Friends and family members all tended to be lifelong fundamentalists, and many stopped talking to the evolution converts all together. The gist is that many people who want to believe in the power of scientific reason choose not to because it’s just too hard to give up who they have been for decades.
The article closes with the words of several other scientists indicating the we need to join in a civilized debate with creationists and not reject their position as “uninformed” or “crazy”. There are reasons why the believe what they do, and as scientists we need to understand those reasons if we hope to present our side of the story in any meaningful way.
http://truthorerrors.blogspot.com/
Natural Selection as coined by the evolutionist is the process that removes qualities that are less favorable for the conditions and as a result new spieces are formed.
Natural selection is the process by which favorable heritable traits become more common in successive generations of a population of reproducing organisms, and unfavorable heritable traits become less common, due to differential reproduction of genotypes. Over time, this process may result in adaptations that specialize organisms for particular ecological niches and may eventually result in the emergence of new species. In other words, natural selection is the mechanism by which evolution may take place within a given population of organisms.
Never have we seen in the fossil record or from the naked eye emergence of new species. http://www.icr.org/natural-selection/ The battle for truth is still being waged
This arguement between science and the creationists has been rendered mute.The BIBLE indeed teaches evolution only there its science fact.People forget what the phony church systems lie about in regards to our creation story.They would have you to believe a lie such as a snake dangling in a tree told the woman to eat a piece of fruit off the tree.The BIBLE says of every tree thou mayest freely eat.So the woman did something else right.She became impregnated by the caveman the BIBLE calls the serpant.Cain was the fruit of that union.Then she took her new found knowlegde to Adam and slept with him.The fruit of that union was Abel.There are two seperate and distinct genepools in Genesis ch4 and ch.5 The crossed in chapter six.Thats your missing link between man and animal.Too continue to argue about creationism or evolution is not only a waste of time it’s also foolish. Starion P.S now you know why they were ashamed of their nakedness and sowed fig leaves together as cloths to cover their sex organs LETS GET WITH IT OUR TIME IS SHORT. STARION
If we pay attention to inventors and those who claim discoveries we find innovative, we find creative people. Creative people are those who allow the most chaos in allowing chaos to mix and merge until something new and useful pops in their heads, yes by accident. Everything is pure chaos that eventually gets triggered into just maybe something useful. I would be cautious to not confuse chaos with confusion, random is key.
Example might be someone thinking about how to make electronics more efficient. While taking this task to hand, they overhear someone talking about how a boyscout utility knife and all its utilities packaged together. Viola, an ASIC (an all in one chip that now houses circuitry that existed separately) is born. The concept begins to make more sense and someone seeing this then will design RF single chip modules. You see, it did not happen at once, never does. It is always an evolutionary process by chaos. If we restricted our thinking to what the bible says is the only truth, then we loose creative ability. Simply put, we are all very stupid creatures and rely heavily on mental chaos to create and adapt.
The more open minded, the more chaos enters and more connections by accident occur. However , chaos alone is not the key to thinking but also the ability to organize it. organizing chaos is another area both we and the universe share alike.
This alone shows that chaos is in our genes and in fact it is the very root of all evolution, including the earth and stars. The concept is simple, but very real. Humans have evolved through chaos, just as the not-so-smart thinker gets into an endless loop going no where, so did those organisms go no where.
No doubt, even religion would have never reached its heights hadn’t it been for the early Shaman who used trickery into fooling people. He may have witnessed behavior in a person(s) by an unusual event, chaos enters, and then realized power or perceived opportunity to dominate. Yes, the origins of religion appeared and developed over time through chaos. Chaos is the enabler for all evolution whether it is in inventions of products, religion, God or the Universe.
In effect, if our own creations and adaptations are developed through chaos and we are part of this universe, so then is the entire Universe chaos. Chaos is the only constant throughout. It is the only single thread throughout all existence, organic and non. We are already discovering other planets that have the makings for life. This again denies our arrogant thinking of we are special.
There is no evolutionary separation that says man existed or developed from separate origins from plants, likewise cells and other. There are plants, animals and plant-animals. We all evolved through a single stage of chaos.
It is in the collision of chaos which enables inventions and theories to form in our minds. It is the natural end to organize. We are no different from the Universe, after all we are a part of it.
The stubbornness that seems to think we actually create something new out of pure genius, or nothing, is the same arrogance we used in creating a God. Those religious especially are not capable of thinking otherwise, fear becomes an obstacle.
Blocking ourselves from the reality that everything is developed through chaos is why some have to believe that it is impossible to have something from nothing. To them there must be a God.
Intelligence is merely our ability to be creative enough, which is to allow the highest volume of chaos in and then the ability to draw in organization rapidly. This ability changes from person to person and is predefined genetically. Yes, some have been fortunate to have evolved from a better gene pool. This does not mean that we can not train ourselves to improve with organization of thought, just some are naturally better.
Falsely thinking we can create products and ideas without chaos entering first is the same arrogance presented by religions. We are made up of chaos and put order to it, so has the universe. We are all the same.
I reviewed a book last year that fits your request.
It’s called The Canon: A Whirligig tour of the Beautiful Basics of Science by Natalie Angier.
Fred Bortz — Science and technology books for young readers (www.fredbortz.com) and Science book reviews (www.scienceshelf.com)
Can you recommend books that teach HOW TO PROMOTE SCIENCE to friends, family, and students of all ages?
Joe,
I think humans are less religious and superstitious, too. The steps of the flow chart overlap, though I can’t say anyone has discovered God yet, or ever will. I have heard of mention of a “God particle”, so at least one researcher may think he/she is getting close. Or maybe it was stated in jest.
Religion, or a default mode of superstition is here to stay, at least to a degree. There are varying levels of intelligence and education within a single culture, even more so between cultures. If someone doesn’t understand a scientific finding but accepts it on faith, it amounts to superstition or religion. I think civilization needs to lighten up in its views of God and worry about honest and skeptical seeking of cause and effect. I think our views have much in common.
I would argue that humans are less religious or superstitious in general than we ever have been in recorded history. It wasn’t even 200 years ago that the Catholic church formally denied the existence of a heliocentric universe. Those scant few hundred years are an eye-blink in the context of the tens of thousands of years of human existence, and since then we’ve made great progress in the promotion and acceptance of science as a tool to describe the physical and natural world. Religion per se isn’t an evil entity; when the world seems too complex or scary, many people can only find comfort in believing that someone is watching out for them and will make sure their next life (afterlife or otherwise) is a better one. What’s problematic is when any viewpoint or belief system, be it religious or scientific, is taken to an extreme and the believer refuses to live life with an open mind.
Joe Burdo
Assistant Professor of Neurobiology
Bridgewater State College
(My bizarre and/or nonsensical rantings may not reflect the beliefs of those who sign my paychecks!)
Driving to work this morning I listened to a podcast that touches upon the issues we’ve been discussing here. The 3/13 edition of the Nature podcast features a blurb from a former science Nobel Laureate (can’t remember which one off the top of my head, it was a long drive) discussing his religious childhood and subsequent rejection of religion as his education progressed. In the past he had been combative and tried to debunk religion whenever the chance presented itself. More recently he has realized that religion has a valid place in society and can provide a meaning to life and a sense of wonder that science may not provide for some. Take a listen, it’s about 1/2 way through this particular podcast.
Joe Burdo
Assistant Professor of Neurobiology
Bridgewater State College
(My bizarre and/or nonsensical rantings may not reflect the beliefs of who signs my paychecks!)