Have some scientists been too fanatical?

Hi sinamatic, and welcome to the fray. There is a difference between having foolish ideas\opinions\beliefs (eg - that the earth is young), being someone who has been fooled\misinformed\deluded, and being a fool. So you would agree that a person who is not well informed on a subject should NOT talk about it as if they were an expert? Science is agnostic, it studies how things happen, not why they happen. You can ask "why is the sky blue" and get lots of scientific answers to how this occurs, but why the earth was created in such a way that it has a blue sky is not answerable by science.I am a deist. As such I study how god/s made the universe. Curiously, I find that it seems to be Christians claiming this occurs, rather than actual behavior observed. What I see is replies to foolish ideas\opinions\beliefs being taken personally. Do you have a degree in Physics? If I had to pick someone, I would put Dawkins in this category when he pursues his atheism but implies that his status as an evolutionary biologist gives him authority to speak as other than a common person.Enjoy.Edited by RAZD, : NOTEdited by RAZD, : ...

.Edited by RAZD, : dblpost

Hi again sinamatic Themselves. As is true for everyone.Morality is a social convention, independent of religion. It based more on the fact that we are a social animal than on any belief per se. It has to do with enlightened self interest, treating others as you would like to be treated (a "rule" found in virtually all religions). And it has driven some people insane ...? Certainly people who kill their children to "save" them can be classified as insane, yes? Blowing up buildings? Killing doctors? As an example: the earth is old, very old, over 4.5 billion years old. See Age Correlations and An Old Earth, Version 2 No 1. This is what the objective empirical evidence shows, evidence that anyone can review, you can't sugar-coat it.If this hurts your feelings, then you need to look at why that happens. What science says is about observed facts and about rational conclusions based on objective empirical evidence. You should (perhaps) realize that anyone who told you otherwise was not telling the truth, that they were misinforming you and that THEY are responsible for deluding you into believing a falsehood -- they are the ones who are "hurting" you.Enjoy

Hi sinematic, Actually, that is a prediction of the theory, not the theory.

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Introduction to Evolution:

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(1) The process of evolution involves changes in the composition of hereditary traits, and changes to the frequency of their distributions within breeding populations from generation to generation, in response to ecological challenges and opportunities.

. . . the process of evolution is an observed, known objective fact, and not an untested hypothesis.

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(2) The process of divergent speciation involves the division of a parent population into two or more reproductively isolated daughter populations, which then are free to (micro) evolve independently of each other.

. . . The process of divergent speciation with the subsequent formation of a branching nested genealogy of descent from common ancestor populations is an observed, known objective fact, and not an untested hypothesis.

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(3) The Theory of Evolution (ToE), stated in simple terms, is that the process of evolution over generations, and the process of divergent speciation, are sufficient to explain the diversity of life as we know it, from the fossil record, from the genetic record, from the historic record, and from everyday record of the life we observe in the world all around us.

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Note that A common ancestor (population) is the parent population of the daughter populations when divergent speciation occurs.Other statements of the theory of evolution can be found atAn introduction to evolution - Understanding Evolution (an excellent resource)

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The Definition:
Biological evolution, simply put, is descent with modification. This definition encompasses small-scale evolution (changes in gene frequency in a population from one generation to the next) and large-scale evolution (the descent of different species from a common ancestor over many generations). Evolution helps us to understand the history of life.

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and The Process of Speciation

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We begin with two working definitions of biological evolution, which capture these two facets of genetics and differences among life forms. Then we will ask what is a species, and how does a species arise?

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Definition 1:

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Changes in the genetic composition of a population with the passage of each generation

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Definition 2:

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The gradual change of living things from one form into another over the course of time, the origin of species and lineages by descent of living forms from ancestral forms, and the generation of diversity

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Note that evolution and the theory of evolution start with an existing population of life. Nope. You have to have life to have evolution, be definition.Enjoy