Best We Have At The Moment

Interesting questions webo. Let me address them together, point by point.



Regardless of Whitehead’s view, I think we have to look much broader than that. The Greeks gave us the beginnings, as far as we know. Then the torch bearers for many centuries were the Arabs and Indians. When Christians took a serious interest science was already away and rolling. That the rationalities matched is probably true, but I am more inclined to the view that many of the early Christian thinkers, from Galilei through Darwin were able to put their theological beliefs aside and concentrate on their science. As do many scientists of today.



I’ve never heard of Ron Carlson, and I’ve also never heard of the evidence for evolution evaporating, as you put it. I’ve spent an adult lifetime in and around university goings-on and I have yet to see any scientists wringing their hands about an evidence crisis in evolution or any other kind of materialistic Enlightenment type investigations of nature.



I don’t know any true scientist who dogmatically asserts anything. Most are busy trying to refute their ideas, hoping of course their own remain irrefutable.



The 99% is an ancient but well known bit of info, who knows where I last read it. But try any introduction to the faunal record, or a first year text in palaeontology. It only occurred to me on EP recently that it must be a cause of concern to creationists, thinking that their intelligent designer was such a boob that he cancelled almost all of his creations. (By the way, I have no track record in slagging creationists other than on EP. I just get on with my work and life, never even contemplating those who desire children’s stories to understand their world. That’s their business.)



Nothing proves natural selection. Good strong evidence, of which we have oceans (Ha, bad pun) supports it, but unlike in logic and mathematics, nothing in science can be proven.



History, like the wake of a party boat, is littered with the detritus of bad ideas, ones that didn’t stand the test of time. Once matched against new evidence, most go straight to the graveyard. That’s the way our ideas advance. My story’s comment was about theories in general, not theories of evolution.



Again I say, there is no evidence evolution is in trouble. No one goes to any trouble to prove it (see comment above re proof). That people like Dawkins decide to waste their creative energies fighting the ideas of creationists, is up to them, but is patently pointless. Creationists and ID people will never be convinced by evidence. My tiny slag-offs on EP are meant to be talking past them, not to them. (Though I admit to drunkenly late at night on a few occasions, tired of their simplistic EP questions and answers, making disparaging remarks.)