The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #85366   Message #1582083
Posted By: GUEST,DB
13-Oct-05 - 05:39 AM
Thread Name: BS: Evolution is Here to Stay
Subject: RE: BS: Evolution is Here to Stay
Yes, 'Auggie' I think you're pig ignorant - I also think you're extremely dangerous. It's not your ideas that concern me (and if you kept them within your own little tribe they wouldn't bother me at all)- it's your notion that you are in possession of absolute, revealed truth that scares the hell out of me. You see, if I believe anything, I believe that there is no such thing as certainty - and, paradoxically, it is only through embracing uncertainty that anything resembling 'truth' is revealed.
Until recently I worked as a scientist (in the soaps and detergents Industry, as it happens). In the course of this work I ran numerous experiments. It was always necessary to attach probability statements to the results of these experiments and the results were never certain. So if I found a difference between two experimental treatments I attached to the result the probability of being wrong when asserting that a difference existed. Nevertheless, if this probability was small enough I could usually have confidence that the result was actionable. This seemed to me to be a reasonable (and humble) way to proceed and led me to believe that certainty is an illusion.
Now, I'm sure that you are going to tell me that evolutionary biologists can't do experiments (although that's not entirely true - you can do experiments with bacteria, for example, which can go through many generations in a 'short' period of time). But, those biologists can slowly and patiently accumulate evidence (from rocks) which add up to a coherent picture. But, that picture can never be certain and it is quite conceivable that in the near future some genius will come along and radically change the picture.
All of the above is a far cry from believing that all you need to do, to understand reality, is to study an ancient text. Personally, I happen to have a profound respect for that ancient text, and believe it to be very remarkable. Nevertheless, I find the idea that it contains everything I need to know much more difficult to believe than your "we came from rocks" statement. Yes, Auggie, in a manner of speaking we probably (but not certainly!) did come from 'rocks'.