Skylane14 said:
Jedamethis said:
Skylane14 said:
The Theory of Evolution.
Yeah, go ahead, laugh. I'm entitled to my opinion, and you can pry it from my cold, dead hands
If you don't mind my asking, why is it the stupidest thing you've ever heard?
Well, because it is often trumpeted as the end all, be all solution for where life came from, when it is actually laughably flimsy. I'm a very "prove it" sort of guy, and so far I haven't seen any proof that evolution is even possible. Natural selection, yes. Evolution? No.
I guess I should reform my statement a bit: The theory, as presented by Charles Darwin, while somewhat ridiculous, has merit, as a theory and a theory alone. The way it is presented, at least around here, as the Holy Grail of Science makes me absolutely sick to my stomach. That slavish devotion to a theory that hasn't even been proven as of yet tops every stupid thing I've ever heard from a religious fanatic, if only because religion, in and of itself, attracts fanaticism and fervor. It is built on the principle of believing the unbelievable. Science is supposed to be above that, but that sadly ceased being the case some time ago.
"it is often trumpeted as the end all, be all solution for where life came from" The Theory of Evolution doesn't address where life came from, it addresses the diversity of existing life. To misunderstand that is to demonstrate an utter ignorance of both the theory & of basic biology itself. 'Abiogenesis' is the name given to the
hypothesis presented by Dr. Szostak (Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School & Distinguished Investigator in the Department of Molecular Biology at the Massachusetts General Hospital), who has successfully demonstrated a process where self-catalysing enzymes create replicating hydrocarbon polymer vesicles undergoing mutation.
"[...] has merit, as a theory and a theory alone." this demonstrates what can only be considered a tragic ignorance of the simplest scientific terminology. In a scientific context a 'theory' is a systematic and formalized expression of all previous observations, and is predictive, logical, and testable. In common use the word 'theory' actually refers to a hypothesis, a supposition made on the basis of limited evidence. Other theories are the
Theory of Gravity, of Electro Magnetism, Copernican Theory (sun at the centre of the solar system), Atomic Theory, Germ Theory, Genetic Theory, Kinetic Theory, etc.
Evolution is documented in existing species from Italian wall lizards in Pod Mrcaru over the last few decades, the mosquito during the Blitz, to the peppered moth in England during the Industrial Revolution, & to numerous bacterial strains (e.g. Sphingomonas) around the world. Then there are transitional fossils like Proterogyrinus, as well as a wealth of genetic corroboration such as human Ch2 corresponding (even down to the join/splice) to Chs12 & 13 in chimps.
There is no peer-reviewed paper which contradicts Evolution.
The above-quoted text demonstrating ignorance of utterly basic science is my candidate for stupidest thing I've read or heard this week, possibly this month.
