Which one is the descendent of a monkey and which one is God sent.
I read this fascinating article on Huffington Post entitled “Why Are You Here? A New Theory May Hold the Missing Piece”. My views are similar as in the article by Robert Lanza, M.D. Creationism is too simplistic a view of the world. The mystery of life is much more complex and evolution theory has its own shortcomings as Dr. Lanza points out, "The evolutionists are trying to pull themselves up by their bootstraps. They think we, the observer, are a mindless accident, debris left over from an explosion that appeared out of nowhere one day."
To scientists,
Keep at it as our knowledge of the mystery of life is incomplete.
Read the article by Dr. Lanza here. Recommend this post
Interesting, LeDaro, but this is the big flaw I see in the scientist's reasoning -
ReplyDeleteHe says the observer bring his own ideas and beliefs to his observations, whether he means to or not, and that can colour his interpretations of what he views, thus affecting his theories.
I agree completely. I think this scientist has blown his own theory by doing just that.
The title, something like "why are we her" presupposes that we are here for a reason, and end result rather than we are here due to cause and effect. We were able to evolve because certain conditions favoured it. His way of thinking has it backwards:
"For 13.7 billion years we, too, have had chronic good luck. Virtually everything has been "just right."
That gives the impression that the world shapes around us but evolution says the opposite: the world shapes us. If everything is "just right" (and that is up for argument), that support evolution theory which says we evolve to survice our environment. Those species which don't evolve quickly enough, like velociraptor, Neanderthal, etc. just die off and dead-end. Neanderthal didn't evolve into homo sapiens, he died off. Conditions weren't "just right" for him. He wasn't smart enough to build weapons he could throw so he was stuck with close up combat when hunting, for one thing. Cost of hunting is much higher than that of the other decendant of Homo heidelbergensis, homo sapiens who did continue to evolve as conditions changed and therefore survived as a species although changed.
So it isn't that things are "just right" for us, it's that when things weren't just right, we evolved to fit the new conditions. Those species which didn't, died out.
That scientist's theory or hypothesis, really, leaves a few a big questions unanswered: why did other species die out? Why did homo sapiens come along so late? And the master question: what causes species to change? We knoow their genetics do change over time, that's not a theory. So what causes the changes, and considering the changes do occur, if the world is just right for us and other existing species, what happens when we change, if the change is not brought on by a changing environment?
All species are species-centric. We can't help it because if we didn't have the innate sense that we were the best, or the only really important species, we wouldn't fight hard enough to survive. We'd give equal time to wolves, wouldn't eat meat. If wolves though as highly of deer as they do of themselves, they'd starve as well.
So we end up with species-centric language. Why do we have starts? Why do we have mountains? Why are we here? We don't have stars or mountains, they are there, and we cope with them or benefit from them and that helps us survive. Why are we here is a spiritual question. How did we get here is scientific and applies to everything, not just humans.
That's my take on it anyway. And I agree - scientists have a lot more to learn. I love that - that there is still so much to learn and discover.
Thanks for posting on this topic!
man, you can really get me on a roll!
ReplyDelete900ft Jesus, I know you and Mentarch differ with me on this. Both of you have some wonderful ideas on the social conditions and I respect that.
ReplyDeleteFor me life is simply too complex to be explained away by one evolution theory by one Darwin fellow. Even one single hair from human body has not been fully explored as to its content and how it grows and how and why it contains all the genetic make-up that we can identify people by just one hair from their bodies. Same goes for other living species.
I have personally had some experiences which completely bewildered me and no science can explain them. I attribute them to spiritual side of human beings.
These experiences are personal/private and cannot be shared on a public forum like this.
We must continue to acquire more knowledge and scientists and others must never give up on that.
I don't think Darwin's theories explain everything either, and I doubt any scientist thinks they do. I don't doubt evolution, though, or the basic principles behind it.
ReplyDeleteThe other stuff - spiritual experiences - I've had a few as well. I can honestly say I'm not sure what caused them and I sure won't deny them because they don't fit a neat pattern of beliefs. I have a few ideas, but that's all they are. I won't get into them here, too long.
I do know this, though (from experience), they aren't linked to any one religion or god, because I've had the exact same ones when I'm out fishing, or at a revival group, with a Zen master, or just breathing the night air as a damned atheist.
I figure I may never know the answer, so I don't try and fit one with the limited knowledge I have, but keep learning as much as I can. I think you do the same, from what I see. You question a lot.
"I do know this, though (from experience), they aren't linked to any one religion or god, because I've had the exact same ones when I'm out fishing, or at a revival group, with a Zen master, or just breathing the night air as a damned atheist."
ReplyDeleteSame here. Just change “atheist” to “agnostic”.
"You question a lot."
That is my life story and some of my friends and acquaintances hate me for that.
To nitpick a little, there is some evidence that Neanderthals and Homo sapiens did interbreed some.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18869-neanderthal-genome-reveals-interbreeding-with-humans.html
I think science is about the material realm and cannot prove whether or not a spiritual realm exists or how it works. People just have to decide for themselves.
"I think science is about the material realm and cannot prove whether or not a spiritual realm exists or how it works. People just have to decide for themselves."
ReplyDeleteHolly, I agree with you.
I was lucky with both parents encouraging questioning. My friends didn't like it much either. Don't you find you can drive yourself nuts too? Man, take a breather, 900, and just enjoy! But our time here is so short, the universe is so wonderful, I guess we just want to learn as much about it as possible.
ReplyDeleteI read that about the Neanderthals and Homo Sapiens interbreeding also, but I then read no one has found any genetic proof yet. So thanks for the link, Holly. It's fascinating.
Would account for a few of the MPs, as well. :)
"Would account for a few of the MPs.."
ReplyDeleteGeorge W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Rumsfeld and pals. The list is quite long.