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Missing Link Fossil Discovered
choongiri writes "The Guardian is reporting the discovery of a missing link of evolution. From the article: "Scientists have made one of the most important fossil finds in history: a missing link between fish and land animals, showing how creatures first walked out of the water and on to dry land more than 375m years ago.""
I got your missing link right here.
I'll take any opportunity to take a frosty one all over the uncanny resemblance of Dumbya to a
monkey. Fish to land? That ain't no big deal. O Please. This is the missing link of importance.
Monkey to Leader of the Free World. Be afraid. Be very afraid. Fnord.
Mod down people who tell people how to mod in their sigs
One day a group of Darwinian scientists got together and decided that man had come a long way and no longer needed God. So they picked one Darwinian to go and tell Him that they were done with Him.
The Darwinian walked up to God and said, "God, we've decided that we no longer need you. We're to the point that we can clone people and do many miraculous things, so why don't you just go on and get lost."
God listened very patiently and kindly to the man. After the Darwinian was done talking, God said, "Very well, how about this? Let's say we have a man-making contest." To which the Darwinian happily agreed.
God added, "Now, we're going to do this just like I did back in the old days with Adam."
The Darwinian said, "Sure, no problem" and bent down and grabbed himself a handful of dirt.
God looked at him and said, "No, no, no. You go get your own dirt!
The Missing Link!
I can swim and walk, but I don't see any reporters camped outside my door...
Take that Crea^H^H^H^H^idiots!
Silence is golden... and duct tape is silver.
Can we please stop using this "missing link" terminology? It's one of those terms often bandied about by creationists, but it has very little meaning in science. And anyway, everytime we find another transitional fossil the creationists are just going to point to the two gaps on either side of the new transitional and say, "Now there's two missing links! Nyah nyah nyah!" They already don't believe evolution is possible anyway.
Now as for this find, there's something very important here that the writeup isn't covering. The scientists used their theory to not only predict the existence of such a transitional species, but also where, geologically, it would be located. And guess what - they found what they were looking for exactly where they were looking for it! Talk about predictive power! The predictive power of the theory of evolution is one of its many strengths, and one often overlooked by science-deniers.
Cyde Weys Musings - Scrutinizing the inscrutable
Clearly, His Noodliness is testing us.
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun the frumious Bandersnatch.
The fossil record is (and always will be) full of holes for the simple reason that not everything gets preserved (and some environments make preservation extremely unlikely), and there's no "magic fossil" that's needed in order to make the big puzzle fall together.
For the most part, the big puzzle is already together. Yeah, there are lots of areas where we'd like to have more detail, but "missing link" implies that we're looking for some sort of Holy Grail, and are in a jam without it.
That simply ain't the way it is.
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
Don't forget to bring a towel.
--Towelie
Irritable, left-wing and possibly humorous bumper stickers and t-shirts
I Am Not An Evolutionary Biologist -- So talking about this makes me feel a bit like a fish out of water.
Free Software: Like love, it grows best when given away.
First, it's entirely unreasonable to entertain questions and concerns from unscientific proponents of so-called Intelligent Design. The debate ought not revolve around disproving Intelligent Design. Giving audience to those idiots is like teaching retarded children calculus: perhaps a noble endeavor, but ultimately pointless and frustrating.
Second, from the description, it sounds like gars and other crocodile-like fish. The pathway from gills to lungs needs to be fleshed out more, but from the description, this is a very interesting fish.
"As such, it will be a blow to proponents of intelligent design, who claim that the many gaps in the fossil record show evidence of some higher power."
This certainly goes against creationism but afaik the only difference between evolution and intelligent design is that intelligent design claims statistics is insufficient and a divine guiding hand was required, wouldn't this missing link be required for either model as both need to go from water to land?
I stole this Sig
This link to bbc news includes a picture of the fossil.
I can hear the naturalists clacking away at their keyboards in glee with the "smoking gun" that evolution has finally been "proven" and that the creationists will have to sit in stunned silence under the weight of the evidence finally presented.
Let's not oversimplify this discussion. Thoughtful, intelligent people on both sides of this debate have passion, and conviction. As a creationist, I welcome advances in knowledge that arise from investigation of the physical realm. I respect men (and women) of science, and applaud this new discovery - but that changes not my conviction that a creator made the planet as it is. There are enough complexities and challenges with the idea of evolution as a means of speciation that one more discovery does not put a nail in the coffin of creationism.
I'm not looking to start a debate on this issue, but I am hoping to raise the level of discussion by respectfully asking those who would use this occasion to ridicule people with whom they disagree to please refrain. This is a complex issue and cheap shots are not productive. I will refrain from ridicule as well. Deal?
Respectfully,
Anomaly
But Herr Heisenberg, how does the electron know when I'm looking?
Doesn't look very tasty.
Don't Hate, Gestate
Intelligent Design is wrong for so many reasons, why do so many comment on it while not understanding it?
It's like saying evolution isn't true because my dad isn't a monkey.
And we're supposed to be the intellectuals...
Intelligent Design
Oops. Sorry, but I think I ate his noodliness last night. He's not a vengeful god, is he?
Liberals call everyone Nazis yet they are the closest thing to it.
Heh, there's lots of missing links here in canada - calling each other hosers and swilling cheap beer, eh.
A truth that's told with bad intent, Beats all the lies you can invent. -- William Blake
..is what they tasted like. There's a Surf and Turf joke in there somewhere. Any takers?
FYI: Most slashdotters are really niggers.
The Flying Spaghetti Monster just put it there to confuse us.
I'll probably be modded down for this...
The best thing his noodly mightiness gave us was the ability to reason and think for ourselves.
I would say it is a test of if we follow others like sheep without reasoning and thinking individually, or if we use our god given minds to understand the objects provided by the natural environment around us to discover the truths for ourselves.
PS. God == Nature.
Try reading anything about god with that in mind! And then you can understand its true meaning...
I can hear the naturalists clacking away at their keyboards in glee with the "smoking gun" that evolution has finally been "proven" and that the creationists will have to sit in stunned silence under the weight of the evidence finally presented.
As a scientist, creationism isn't on my radar at all, and quite frankly, I don't give a rat's ass whether or not you believe it. What I do care about, is people such as yourself misrepresenting both science and religion as something that they are not, claiming you know things that you clearly do not. And then blaming good scientists for your own ignorance and lack of insight.
The fact is, evolution has been satisfactorily proven to work. Creationism and intelligent design are DOA, and the only open question about these idiotic ideas, is how much damage are they going to do to both science and religion before they finally go down for good.
Shop Smart, Shop S-mart!
m = milli = 10^-3
M = mega = 10^6
325m years = ~ 118.6 days
Missing link may be a bit young don't you think?
A specific bone dug up here or there can be imaginatively tailored to fit the desired context. The real problem as Victor David Hansen wrote are the great many fossils missing.
"Then there is the uncomfortable lack of fossil evidence supporting evolution: "The fossil evidence," Johnson notes, "is very difficult to reconcile with the Darwinist scenario. If all living species descended from common ancestors by an accumulation of tiny steps, then there once must have existed a veritable universe of transitional intermediate forms linking the vastly different organisms of today, such as moths, trees, and humans, with their hypothetical common ancestors." Yet when forced to acknowledge the appearance in the fossil record of numerous species already fully formed, as in the "Cambrian explosion" of species 600 million years ago, apologists for evolution advance a variation of the "dog ate my homework" argument: there is a gap in the fossil record because for some reason the fossils didn't survive. The issue is not that a few apparently transitional fossils like that of archaeopteryx, the feathered dinosaur, exist, but that millions more don't...
It is the Darwinians who display an intolerance of dissent and impatience with criticism more typical of the fundamentalist mentality, as evidenced by the readiness with which some Darwinians resort to ad hominem attacks and personal disparagement of their critics."
Victor David Hansen
It's amazing what you can find if you have a preconception. Religious people do this every day of their lives, constantly finding proof of God being alive (and I of course am talking about the Christian God, that is the God that the Church of Latter Day Saints believe in, because there is no other god in existence), and yet scientists constantly dismiss their evidence, because they were found be people who had a prior belief. And yet when scientists do this, looking for evidence in a THEORY they believe in, and miraculously finding it, the scientists hold it up as the greatest achievement of mankind. They're just so hypocritical, and I am flabbergasted at why they hate God and America so much.
Why does this "god" creature/slave-master/pet(human)-owner need/like to be worshipped. Is that really the best use of its and our time? And why does it only want to be worshipped by the superstitious? This mythology is quite silly.
I'm sorry, but "the" missing link? This is the stupidest evolution cheerleading article I've seen yet. Evoultion has an indefinite (meaning undefined) number of missing links, and this is just one species that really can't be proven to be a missing link at all.
You can't point to a species (or a group of species) and say "this is the previous generation" or "this is the subsequent generation." This cannot be proven or disproven to be a missing link between any two animals. This kind of wild speculation has no place in science.
Here's the basic logic of the article (albeit, simplified greatly):
A: aquatic animals that exist today don't have arms
B: land animals that exist today do have arms
C: this animal appears to be aquatic and it also has arms
Conclusion: THIS MUST BE THE MISSING LINK!!!!11!!11
Does anyone else but me see the flawed logic that exists here?
Evolution approaches theories by assuming a HUGE number of assertions are true, trying to find evidence to back them up (all the time skewing your interpretations of the evidence based on your assumptions), and teaching those assumptions as facts to the unknowing masses in the mean time. This is a flawed system in and of itself, as the next generation of 'scientists' will think that these assumptions have been proven (after all, why would they teach them in a classroom if they haven't been proven??).
I'm not saying that we need to _assume_ that God made the universe either (that happens to be my opinion, but that's beside the point), but why can't we at least accept the fact that we don't have enough scientific evidence to make even an educated guess as to what the true origin of the universe is? Is there something wrong with saying "we don't know that right now, but we're investigating it"?
So what about dolphins, regular crocodiles, crabs, tree-climbing catfish, platapi etc? What's to say this find is a spectacular missing link, when other bizzare creatures already exist, but prove little to nothing?
> Flame away diephobic moderators...flame away.
You're a fookin returd.
Oh, and your post was really stupid too.
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
Yes, I know, the one true Bob.
Bob lives forever.
Bob has these pets/slaves called humans. You are one of these pets/slaves.
Bob really likes to be worshipped by these pets/slaves. In fact this is his only external purpose.
Bob is invisble.
Bob is very powerful, and Bob's presence is made obvious with examples like flowers and jumbo jets.
Bob could squish us like bugs if he wanted too.
Oh mighty Bob. Oh mighty Bob.
You can only find a "link", not a "missing link." Once found it is no longer missing.
/attempted humor
In much the same way as a hot water heater is unneeded since hot water is already hot.
Letter To Iran
The Darwinian view of evolution as a smooth and gradual transition has been depreciated by even modern evolutionists.
90% of you don't realize that. Modern evolution is about leaps and bounds... there is never a gradiant. This can be seen in the geologic fossil records and the fact that there are never any "missing links" discovered that are believed by anyone credible.
You guys need to jump off the "I don't believe in God, so therefore I follow Darwin" and get a clue. You don't even know what he said, published, or retracted, much less the theory advancment of his successors.
If you want to believe in evolution fine. But at least make a reasonable attempt to read up on it before you start reciting century-year-old beliefs that you vaguely remember from middle-school Science History as if you are experts on the modern theory.
the true origin of the universe
No one said anything about the origin of the universe. That is a mistake that Creationists make when trying to impute religious meaning into biological processes. "If evolution is true, it must explain the entire history of the universe." Wrong. Evolution describes the process of speciation. It says, "over time, species X will undergo genetic changes to such an extent that after n generations the resulting offspring will be a distinct species." The method of speciation is debatable, but the process of speciation is not.
If you have a problem with physicists and cosmologists about the origin of the Universe, that's something to take up with them.
I like how the first thing on their minds is giving us a blow-by-blow play of evolution vs. intelligent design. (See third paragraph) Is it too much to ask for a story that just says, "Hey look, we found this cool fossil that seems to coincide properly with the theory of evolution in a way that we haven't seen before" without bringing up how stupid intelligent design is? Hasn't it crossed anyone's mind that the existence of evolutionary changes might not play any role whatsoever in the proving or disproving of the existence of a higher power? I mean, it's God we're talking about here. He could've created the birds from the fish, then the land creatures from the birds by means of evolution like he created woman from man, if he wanted to. Or we could be trapped in a strange time loop and the fossils we keep digging up are really genetic experiments of creatures that couldn't survive and died out in the future. Actually, I'd better claim copyright on that idea so I can write a crappy mini-series for the sci-fi channel. Anyway, the point is that evolution really is still a theory. Granted, it seems like a pretty good one so far, but it's not exactly provable without either time travel or the witnessing of the generation of a new species in our midst.
Okay, so I get that you're just trying to "save" all of those crazy fundamentalists from believing in something that doesn't seem scientifically viable. Just thought I'd let you know that making fun of them doesn't really help your case. Though what really annoys me are the people who are into Christianity for purely political reasons and make the rest look like fools when they go up to bat for some foolhardy idea (a la Kansas), but that's a whole other discussion.
Because it's about grace. It really is about grace.
For me personally, there are just too many gaps. To convince me at least, one fossil/species is not enough - this species they found could be similar in nature to the duckbill platypus. And where is the fossil evidence that the duckbill platypus evolved from another species? If macroevolution were true, then I would think there would be numerous fossils comparable to this one all over the place, but I do not see evidence of this. True there are numerous species in existence today, but we cannot identify DIRECT parent and child species of any particular species, respectively. If evolution, as they say, takes so long, there WOULD be fossils that we COULD conclusively show are directly linked to other species - without missing links - and they would be found just as easily as dinosaur fossils are.
Has anybody wondered what the missing link is between Windows 3.11 and 95? There is a very wide gulf there, both in the OS and the version number. They have to be related, though, because the have so much common DNA (dos).
New Missing Link found! http://www.vexen.co.uk/holyshit/mudskipper.html
"I know that the human being and the fish can coexist."
-Governor Bush
Friday, 29 September 2000 in Saginaw, Michigan
Funny?
*Satan Laughs As You Eternally Rot*
I think one of the effects of this is that it is making religious people stop and ask themselves what they really believe, and why they believe it.
As for what I think, I like to think that He put it together personally, in a way that is portrayed symbolically in Genesis. But, like I say, without some more revelation, we will never have anything more to add to what the scriptures say.
I just realized: without revelation, creationists are in the same place as the evolutionists would be if they stopped finding fossils long ago. All the creationists can do is reinterpret the data (scriptures) they already have.
Note: Please forgive my generalized language (creationists, evolutionists, etc.). I kind of did it on purpose, because I think most of us have the tendency to lump people into one extreme or another.
I cried real tears when Li Mu Bai died.
The missing link was found???? Hey, it's not April 1st..
"The Matrix has you."
There are daily versions of Windows from Win3.11 through Win95 all the way through WinME and probably slightly beyond.
They exist. They are burned onto CDs deep in Microsoft's campus. And they will never see the light of day. You'll have to take it on faith that Win95 didn't just spring into existence on August 24th, 1995.
Hmmm... I'm curious. Is this Caltech program the result of a big bang in the transistor clouds?
When people (like Caltech) want an elegant, simple, highly functional piece of software, they get a Software Engineer (like me! :-) to do some intelligent design.
Then again, I could probably point to quite a few examples to disprove ID in the software industry. ;-P
Now that I have put on my flameproof suit and tinfoil hat, I have a question to ask.
What makes this a "missing link," and not just a species of animal that is now extinct?
How do we know that it eventually became something else with better legs?
- Donny was a good bowler, and a good man.
How much did they find this time? More than a tooth I hope.
Karma? Sorry, i don't believe in superstition. http://talk.thinkingmatters.org.nz
The Japanese are currently trying to clone them the answer the most important question of all, how they would taste with rice.
Assume this animal uses oxygen as an energy source for chemical reactions. Traditionally it retrieved oxygen through the water. Yet after some time its lungs grew the capacity to retrieve oxygen through the air. It would seem that there would have to be some sort of informational exchange in order to determine air was a candidate source for oxygen. How did this happen?
The ancestors of this animal most likely lived in shallow water and perhaps came into contact with air all the time. It might have been able to jump out of the water for a very short period of time. Yet in order to evolve lungs that could take advantage of oxygen in the atmosphere there must have been some informational exchange.
I think some will argue that there doesn't have to be any information involved because random genetic change and natural selection will over time evolve a lung that can retrieve oxygen through the air. The major presupposition is that the genetic code that allows for breathing on land is implicit in genetic change. The group of possible genetic alterations included at least one genetic sequence which would result in land breathing capabilities.
If genetic change is truly random then it could have possibly happened somewhere that was not close to land. Therefore such a change would have not been selected. Then either the space of possible genetic changes is rather small (unlikely) or there is an informational element to evolution.
The best education consists in immunizing people against systematic attempts at education. - Paul Feyerabend
Always remember this: In this world there is only one thing I can prove, and that is that I exist.
I know there was no harm meant, but I see comments like this all the time, and they're no more helpful than all the adolecent slashdoters who go on about MS being teh (sic) gay.
The myth that christianity and science are at odds is really unfortunate, particularly because it is being propogated by people who really ought to know better (both on the christian and the secular side). I don't really what the arguing is about. Evolution on a cosmic level has never been observed and it's not much more than an educated guess. Even if it was, evolution isn't contrary to the Christian belief (this is where those 'Creation Scientists' are wrong). The Genesis creation story is a story, it's not an historical account, it was never meant to be*. You won't really understand Genesis 1-2 unless you understand the historical context they were written in.
* note: I didn't say it was nessicarily false. The the historical accuracy this this case is not relevant to the story. There are deeper messages there, ones that can not be proved by scientific measurements.
Any evidence to back up creationism (as I understand it) would have to be sought elsewhere. One would have to actually seek revelation, try to get to know God, change personal behaviour, open oneself up to the ridicule of your old intellectual buddies, and other stuff like that. I notice that atheists are very careful not to look in the places that believers say the evidence is found.
This appears to be yet another missing link
I.O.U One Sig.
Where is the science behind this article? How does it differ from a common alligator found in LA, or MS or any other southern state. This article http://www.nature.com/news/2006/060403/full/060403 -7.html in Nature makes to many assumptions.
The beast has bony scales and fins, but the front fins are on their way to becoming limbs; they have the internal skeletal structure of an arm, including elbows and wrists, but with fins instead of clear fingers.
How are they on thier way to becoming limbs when the animal is dead. That's like me watching a gator saying any day it's gonna walk on it's hind legs. That picture they have looks like the bones of an alligator gar, or an alligator. I can go get those on the weekend if I choose to.
Where's the evidence? When I can go get animals today that look just like that one in the image.
And that is the problem with evolution vs ID.. The evidence for ID is the fact that there is no evidence for evolution. Yes there are mutations and differences among species that evolve over time. But that is evident in the human race itself. It's why Americans are usually taller than Hispanicsand it's why there are black people, white people and every other color in between. But they are still human. There will always be differences within species, no one is the exact same as the other.
There will always be differences or mutations within species, but I highly doubt evolution is the reason because there are so many difference in animals, insects etc. If evolution were true then all life would evolve along the same paths, and there would be lots less diversity in creatures today.
Years ago, these creatures first walked out of the water and on to dry land more than 375m?? That's a long way for their little fins to carry them...
Method == How
Process == What
What happened? Speciation. If you deny this, then you must explain the existence of different species without invoking speciation. One possible scenario is that God created the world 6,000 years ago. Unfortunately for that theory, there is much evidence against it.
If you admit that Speciation occurs (and you must if you subscribe to a Naturalistic view of biology), then the next question is "How?"
How did Speciation occur? What are the methods by which the process of Speciation is borne out? Natural Selection? Punctuated equilibrium? God's interference? These are all debatable theories as to the method by which things evolve.
If you don't accept that things evolve, you need to have a theory that can supplant evolution as a process. If you only say, "we don't know everything," then you have no theory to present and do no damage to Evolutionary theory. If you say, "Evolutionists have fudged evidence to prove claims," then you have only impeached those claims, not the whole of Evolutionary theory. When you say, "an extra-natural power caused these changes," you have at last presented a theory, but it is only another (dubious) method in the pantheon of Evolutionary models. The instant you say, "God did it," you disqualify yourself from the entire argument.
According to Swedish radio this is not a direct ancestor to us. However this find is important since it is close to the trunk from which the mamals is derived.
I see a whole lot of text in the article, but frankly, until I see whether it's some gag (especially this close to Apr 1.) I don't care to read articles like this. At the moment I'm picturing a stone with the imprints of the stomach of a fish and 6 little shoes with a Nike Swoosh.
Well, it was news to me, but, if you note the BBC article someone else links to (the one with the picture,) Tiktaalik's fossil was apparently discovered back in 2004.
I'm dissapointed that I didn't know about it sooner and grateful that Slashdot posted it nonetheless. It may be a dupe or something though. I wasn't a slashdotter back in 2004, but, surely they would have had an article back then too?
There's some serious erroneous logic in this article's summarization of the find and of it's importance...
First, they compare it to the "reptile-to-bird" fraud (and yes, it's been proven by NON-CREATIONIST scientists to have been known to be WRONG and NOT what it was said to have represented, yet was displayed and proclaimed as such anyhow - that's fraud, it's a lie... BUT that's not the point here...); This comparison claims to be on the same level of importance and uses that earlier finding as justification for the assumption of this one being relevant to what they are claiming it is. Basically "that one was a link, and since that's one, this has to be another." Well, not really. It COULD be something totally unique.
Second, the assumption that this thing lived and died, therefore had offspring of another type of animal is just plain silly. We breed dogs with all sorts of other types of dogs, sometimes wolves, coyotes, and even Jackals and Hyenas (all in the "canis" family) and we always get offspring that are DOGS! If we suddenly found a skeleton of a St. Bernard no one would think to claim it's a rabbit's ancestor in a transitional period of evolution. It's just not logical. A fossil/remains can tell you ONE THING and only one thing... that the creature to which those remains belonged to LIVED AND DIED. It can't tell you how many offspring it had (it's suspect whether most can tell you if they had ANY - forget that half (give or take) of most all species is of a non-childbearing gender)), whether those off spring survived or not, and certainly not what those off spring looked like - other than to assume that in the "millions of years" of human record of the animals of our world that the off spring would be just like the parents; as we've seen billions of times in humans alone (much less the thousands of variants of animals and all their offspring!)
Third, they simply claim that this previously undiscovered creature is something "in transition" from one being to another when this is the first one found. How do they know that it's not just a unique creature that died out (ie: gone extinct). We've seen entire animal groups wiped out by over-hunting or poaching (the Dodo bird comes to mind), if this happened many years ago and it was not recorded by someone for us to know today, how would we know?! We're always finding new information about animals that have been long since extinct... And we're finding new ones once in a while too...
Fourth, they seem to ignore the fact that we have aquatic animals today that have feet-like appendages, fin-like appendages, and live in the water more of their life than not. Most are reptilian, but there are mammals too. That is a problem... Reptiles are cold-blooded and egg-laying. Mammals are warm-blooded and bear live young... There's no way to prove that this was an "adaption" to moving from water to land - else, why do animals like ducks still lay eggs (or the platypus, et al) and some mammals (whales, dolphins, seals, etc) live entirely in the water (but not breathe in the water like fish and some reptiles) bear live young like mammals if this is indeed an evolutionary change... Frogs are reptilian but they live more of their life on land than in water (so it's believed currently, this has been a back-and-forth debate for years)... and look at gators or crocs- reptilian, breathe oxygen without gills, and still are cold-blooded and not mammalian breeding...
There's too much speculation along the lines of "this is what we expect to see therefore it's what we see, and what was/is" thinking in these types of articles.
The sad and simple truth is that you have to take it on faith that "this must have happened" to truly make the evolution theory work. That's fine, and that's ok... but it's not scientifically sound. You can not test it, it can not be duplicated to ensure the theories hold out true, and the scientific principles of the methodology of study can not be applied to the evolution. When you take this into account and say "well we're here
-- "You must be the change you desire to see in the world." Mahatma Gandhi --
What IS surprising, is that there is no image - not even the obligatory 100-pixel-across thumbnail, which links to a lame-ass 200-pixel-across "Large Picture".
That qualifies as the missing link then, doesn't it.
How do creationists explain the nice skin colour of children from black/white parents? That is evolution in one step visible to the naked eye.
Yous can say all yous want but I know Satan put it there
(Even though the events have "already occured", as we have not yet seen the fossils they are still "predictions", as the observation has NOT already occured, and when it comes to testing theories, it is when the observation is made that really matters.)
This proves, once and for all, that this viewpoint is the correct one - that evolution is a "true" science. It DOES make testable hypotheses* and it CAN be invalidated through observation**.
*These predictions are interpolations of the data set, rather than extrapolations, but they're still predictions. If the data was discontinuous or chaotic, it would be impossible to make predictions as it would be impossible to produce a coherent chain.
**It's very important that a theory be subject to tests that could break the theory. In the case of evolution, finding an intermediate fossil in an impossible location (eg: in igneous rock, in completely the wrong location, etc) would falsify evolution. A trivial example of location - limestone is predominantly formed in shallow, warm oceans (although cold, deep-water coral does exist). If you were to find something that could never, ever reach such water, you'd have something that could potentially break the theory.
If you were to find plant or animal life that could only occur in extremely deep oceans (megalodon springs to mind), the Arctic tundra, or in the middle of continents, excluding anything that could simply be very very lost (trees don't generally get lost a whole lot, for example), in any significant amount in limestone rock, you'd have a good argument that the predictions of evolution don't match observation.
It is significant that whilst predictions demonstrably HAVE matched observation, no such falsifying observation has occured. (Claims of such observations are either known to be fakes or are so carefully protected against examination that they are usually seen as fakes by default.)
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
...is that the the existance of those intelligent-design proponents is the number 1 piece of evidence that evolution cannot exist.
The revolution will not be televised... but it will have a page on Wikipedia
Before this fossel was found there was only one missing link between fish and land animals. Now we have to find a link between fish and Tiktaalik roseae and another between Tiktaalik roseae and Land animals. Every Fossel found makes us more ignorant!
This is clearly why the creationists are right... by ignoring the facts they are clearly less ignorant about evolution than someone who has studied them and therefore must be closer to the truth
"(...) most important fossil finds in history (...) showing how creatures first walked out of the water and on to dry land (...)"
Image
For those of you who don't follow paleontology, archaeology, or paleo-anthropology; every new discovery touted by media (and unfortunately sometimes the academics as well) as the 'oldest' or the 'missing link'.
Re: showing how creatures first walked out of the water and on to dry land more than 375m years ago
Not so. Arthropods (millipedes and centipedes etc) first conquered the land around 500 million years ago and were walking around long before this newly-discovered beastie. Their fossilised footprints have been found. "The oldest body fossil of a land animal is a 430-million-year-old millipede."
"Our own ancestors, fish-like amphibians, first lumbered ashore a mere 370 million years ago. There they found a world teeming with plants and giant creepy crawlies."
Reduce, reuse, cycle
why do people always assume the little bugger was coming ut of the water and not going in? everything else we see in the world tends to go toward chaos rather than order. although they say the whales are more advanced than us anyway. And by they I do me the hitchhikers guide.
Because people such as yourself don't want to know the truth. My advice, don't even read the article, just go to your church instead. :/
Why did the sea creatures decide to go on land?
Does "Intelligent Design" have an answer for "Why did the chicken decide to cross the road?"?
It's more detailed: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4879672.stm
Life should have never walked out of the water.
But you would think- at least I would -that for a lynchpin turn in the evolutionary progress of a species that one could dig up more than just one sample, look at it and point "missing link!". After all, it was a successful natural selection and should therefor be fairly wide spread.
I guess my question is why aren't we tripping all over these damn things instead of busting our asses finding just ONE, especially given the copious amount of fossil record we do find. I find it hard to believe that preservation is THAT hostile.
But then, I'm not the sort to hang all my Evolutionary hopes and dreams on exactly one sample either, like half the slashnot scientists here.
You need a FREE iPod Nano
right here.
> What IS surprising, is that there is no image
i cleID=000A040D-36A2-1434-B6A283414B7F0000
Lots of other places covered the story, some do have pictures.
http://news.google.com/news?q=Tiktaalik+roseae
e.g. http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa003&art
rant
...But isn't the principle behind the "steps" of evolution simply mutation? Couldn't it have been possible that there WAS no missing link, and that suddenly a fish was hatched with legs, capable of breathing air? Does there HAVE to be an intermediate stage? Or is the idea of an intermediate stage perhaps based upon observations of other species' evolutions'(in which case that sounds like bad science)?
found this from anandtech forums, it didnt require me to register, has a pic and a model, interesting.
By and large, language is a tool for concealing the truth. -- George Carlin
Boffoonery - downloadable Comedy Benefit for Bletchley Park
I had some thoughts along these lines a while back: that by insisting on Biblical inerrancy, the fundamentalists are guilty of idolatry, and that by ignoring evolution they're missing one of God's finest works.
Ah, here it is:
Real Daleks don't climb stairs - they level the building.
Ya'll are just looking for reasons to blast the religious community... I think it's awesome that they found this evidence, but I don't think it gives me the right to go out trying to tear down people's beliefs.
You can see it in his post. He quivers in submission. He does not want to face the gods, and reason with them. Because he has been told and has known somewhere deep down that the gods are unreasonable. He is the tool by which the religious fanatics rule the world. He will bear arms for them. Will cause the destruction of another World Trade Center. There is no difference between men of any religion who cannot reason. If only reason was more common the world would be a better place, and maybe somewhere the entity that started it all would be happy. I say maybe because who has the time (even for the creators of the universe) to care for the happyness/unhappyness of the ape descendent people of this insignificant little planet which cannot be observed from just a few million light years.
I'm not saying I'm against darwinism, but where is the proof? A poorly written article on a no-name website? That dosn't exactly scream nobel prize winning work.
See, from where I stand I'm not going to belive until I get pictures of the fossil and a computer generated image of what they think this thing looked like, oh, and I'd have to read all of that in some snooty scientific magazine.
Allthough, I have to admit that it's a pretty awsome discovery... but I'm sceptical (sp?) if it's real, these things get hoaxed alot...
...I'm still on the wrong side of that evolutionary transition, you insensitive clod!
/me flops back into the deep sea out of shame for posting this joke
-Tom Caudron
http://tom.digitalelite.com/science.html
-Tom
I just can't wait until this Fossil turns out to be irrelevant or even false. like many other "missing link"s that have been discovered before. And all of a sudden all the Evolutionnists will change subject, talk about an other "missing link" that has been found. Its a nice pattern ;-)
Let me respectfully point out that the word you are trying to use in your subject is "cue" and not "queue"
No but, yeah but, no but...
I heard an interview with the scientist who helped find this and he said it was 'one of many' missing links to the evolution of land animals from fish, but certainly not the only one.
That being said, this is a wonderful discovery.
He who knows best knows how little he knows. - Thomas Jefferson
Humor on
/. reader, I for one find it hard to believe in evolution.
As a former lurker and long time
Devolution, maybe but Evolution, no.
Humor off
What if the Hokey Pokey really is what it's all about?
Why does this "god" creature/slave-master/pet(human)-owner need/like to be worshipped.
Why does the need of "god" to be worshiped have any bearing on whether or not this "god" exists? It's really irrelavant to the central question of whether a super powerful being created most/all of what we know of the universe and humans.
What I want to know is, why do most self-proclaimed "athiest" not smart enough to come up with more intelligent arguments that crap like the above or, my personal favourite, "if there is a god, why is there suffering on the earth". Lame. FWIW, I am an agnostic, not a christian (or any other religion/belief).
You're talking about Abiogenesis here rather than evolution aren't you. Unlike evolution, abiogenesis is one of the those areas of science which we have little evidence supporting any of the hypotheses. All current indications are that this happened just the once, several billion years ago making this one of the most difficult theories to deal with.
The only difficulty here is out inability to produce an extremely unlikely event under laboratory conditions.
Abiogenesis is not impossible. It is simply an extremely unlikely event. So why did it happen? Simple. Exponentiation.
Let P= probability of abiogenesis occuring in a suitable region over a period of one second. This is a very small number. However, what is the likelihood of it not occuring at all in a multitude of regions and over a long period of time?
Let N= number of locations. Let T=Numbers of seconds in period. Probability of abiogenesis not occurring in one region in one second is 1-P. This is a number which is very close to 1, but is less than one.
Therefore, probability of abiogenesis not occurring in N regions over a period of T seconds is given by: (1-P)^NT
1-P is a number which may be very, very close to one. But if N*T is large enough, the probability of abiogenesis not occuring will eventually drop to zero. Simple example: Let P=10^-10. Despite the extreme unlikelhood of P occuring, for N*T=10^12, (1-P)^NT ~ 3.72*10^44.
In other words, given only one location; after ~31,709 years, the probability of abiogenesis having occured at some point is a virtual certainty. The expected time interval for actual abiogenesis is I belive of the order of 1 billion years. There's considerable "margin for error" here.
May the Maths Be with you!
You mean this sucker is important evidence of evolution, has been missing for who knows how long, they found it, and now they tell us about it? Where was all the hoopla when it was missing?
Before they found it. I don't recall any scientists saying "This theory of evoution might be convincing if we could find a fish with toes, but until then...."
Nor do I recall anyone saying "Well we had this link, but Mortimer apparently slipped it into his pants and took it out of the Smithsonian, and since then it has been missing..."
What else are they missing and not telling us about?
Whole thing just deepens my suspicion. I want an accounting of all the links they claim to have, but for all we know have also gone missing.
Despite the extreme unlikelhood of P occuring, for N*T=10^12, (1-P)^NT ~ 3.72*10^44.
Whoops! That should have read:
Despite the extreme unlikelhood of P occuring, for N*T=10^12, (1-P)^NT ~ 3.72*10^-44.
(1-P)^NT is an extremely small number.
May the Maths Be with you!
The fish that crawled out of the water
I fully comprehend the difference between abiogenesis and speciation through evolution.
It's vain of you to claim that you know how I think. In fact, you don't know me, or my thoughts. Lumping me in with the stereotype in your head of thoughtless religious nuts is really pretty small minded of you as well.
Let me ask you this, smart guy. It seems to me that the problem is somewhat greater than spontaneous generation from existent matter.
Where did the first matter come from?
Science is about observability and repetition of the observed phenomenon.
Scientists did not observe the initiation of the existence of matter, and were not present at the genesis of this universe. As such, they are limited to the facts that they can collect today. It is not possible to repeat the genesis of the universe, either. As such, it's not possible to follow the scientific method to evaluate the therories. Origins is not the stuff of science because it's really speculation. Note that I am not disputing that evidence can be collected, relationships between pieces of evidence can be noted, and explanations can be created, but not TESTED!
WRT speciation, it's true that we see differentiation between members of the same species and it is demonstrable fact that an evolutionary process exists within a kind of creature. However, it is not conclusive that lots of adaptation leads directly to speciation given enough time, adaptation and mutation.
We're not mindless religious zealots. We have the same evidence you have, and have differing theories about the activities behind the evidence. You don't have to like it, but it's pretty thoughtless of you to generalize our worldview as the province of morons or the deluded.
Anomaly
But Herr Heisenberg, how does the electron know when I'm looking?
For anyone looking for more info plus a picture of Tiktaaaaaahtingy check:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiktaalik
I'm always impressed how fast wiki is with its updates, whoot!
.sigh
APRIL FOOL!
"I think the original poster would be happy if you could answer him why the big bang occurred when there was no time"
It didn't. Time didn't begin until the big bang occurred. That appears to be the part that you're having trouble with.
"The government grants you rights, not the other way around."-- beav007. Yes, these people really exist...
Is to find the missing link between Firefox 1.5.0.1 and Bon Echo (2.0 Alpha).
There's always more to the story:
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.htm
Religion is the opium of the people. Evolution is the opium of scientists.
According to the Evolutionary timeline the first fish "arise" 500 to 450 million years ago. According to that same timeline, land animals first "appeared" 420 million years ago. So how does a fossil aged at 375 million years show proof a "missing link?" Stop making stuff up to prove that you're right. Microevolution makes since, this is bogus.
Here I am in Europe, looking at USA one of the most technologicly advanced nations in the world, with things like NASA, Apple, MIT, and even Microsoft (though I am not sure they have evolved) ...and there is a discussion going on about whether or not evolution is true.
No serius man in Europe believes in creationism, or intelligent design.
It leaves me baffled as to why these ideas have sprung up in USA in recent times.
http://www.zelda.com/universe/game/legendzelda/
The discovery of this croc is old, but the research and announcement is new. They finally have enough "evidence" to bring the case to light. Many scientists are upset with how science has been made a mockery lately. However whatever is told to us is what we will believe. Other scientists have found soft tissue in dinosaur fossils, coming up with evidence that dinosaurs aren't really that old and MAY have lived on the planet with man. Most scientists, have considered this a travesty of science, even after a year of study. (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7285683/) Either way what makes it to the history books is what our kids will believe and listen too. The endless debate between Creationism and Evolution will only result in the destruction of man. One side doesn't like what the other side thinks and vice versa, one will have bombs and one won't. I really wish that they could have open and realistic debates on this on television and radio. Sorta like C-Span but for science. If this is already happening, it should happen more.
No, I think it remains meaningless. As you mention, though, our definition of 'time' is probably too limiting.
If we do go on to deal with multiple universes, the braneworld, or whatever multiverse system turns out to be most realistic, then I doubt we'll be talking about it in terms of 'time'. Using 'time' beyond the universe would indeed be meaningless, as time is inextricably linked to space and mass and motion; going back to the North Pole analogy, it would be like mapping things out in terms of North and West, and then trying to determine in those terms how to get to Mars.
I'd guess you'd use a more abstract parameter to describe such relationships; 'space' and 'time' are only useful within a universe, not between them.
Real Daleks don't climb stairs - they level the building.
http://images.google.com/images?q=Tiktaalik+roseae &hl=en&btnG=Search+Images
i'm sure i could find more if i tried
"I think it's funny how very common it is for scientifically-minded and non-religious people to arrogate in precisely the same manner when it comes to religious issues."
How can it be precisely the same when, in the case of science, there is evidence, and in the case of religion, only superstition and ignorance?
You see, that's the problem. People like yourself seem to think that there is some equivalence between the conclusions reached by religion, and those reached by science.
That is the worst kind of arrogance.
"The government grants you rights, not the other way around."-- beav007. Yes, these people really exist...
On se Internetz nobody noes your German.
I must use PREVIEW. I must use PREVIEW. I must use PREVIEW. I must use PREVIEW. I must use PREVIEW. I must use PREVIEW...
Real Daleks don't climb stairs - they level the building.
"you are in danger of putting a whole lot of philosophers out of a job..."
There's a joke there, but I don't have it. Anyone?
"The government grants you rights, not the other way around."-- beav007. Yes, these people really exist...
Finally, the ultimate question in science has been answered: where is the missing link between fish and fish fingers
Lets not jump to too many conclusions here! One stupid fossil and the worlds belief system is supposed to be forever changed? Here is the image (in Jap but you get the idea) http://www.chosun.com/economy/news/200604/20060406 0131.html
Lets face it, ID was a nice try but its a joke even to creationist.
Look here for some more scientific evidence. http://www.answersingenesis.org/
That thing looks like one of those one-use Muppets from a musical number.
Is it just me, or does this happen a lot? Clearly, this is an article that would be greatly improved by a picture of the thing in question. Not even a thumbnail. Ridiculous! If I was elected Supreme Chancellor of Teh Intarwebs, I would mandate high-resolution images for all news articles concerning things that it would be easy to take a picture of.
This one isn't the worst I've seen, though-- the worst are articles *about pictures* that don't include the picture in question. Frequently, they don't even make it up to the 1000-word level that is proverbially regarded as equivalent to a picture.
Note to reporters: if you write about a legged fish fossil, include a picture of the damn thing! How else am I supposed to get it made into some sort of bumper magnet?
2. Why did the sea creatures decide to go on land?
To get to the other side?
You can't take the sky from me...
Your assertion that intelligent design comes only from the ignorant is just that, an assertion. It never ceases to amaze me how a proponent of evolution can sound exactly as ignorant as they fantasize their detractors to be. One of my favorite archived stories about the growing number of educated and PhD.'d who subscribe to the notion of intelligent design:
H OLTLT.html?ex=1144468800&en=7edd724c54c5cc80&ei=50 70
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/14/books/review/14
So, have another drink, while the rest of us continue reading our books.
Religion is the opium of the people. Evolution is the opium of scientists.
Well, he could mean the verb form of queue, as in "Line them up!", but yes, traditionally it's cue as in a sound cue or mic cue.
He isn't. By definition, the Judeo-Christian-Muslim God just IS.Because God != the big bang.
God does not "get away without being created".
Again, by definition, God was not created, he Is/Was/Always will be.
When you're debating these issue, you have to make sure you're using the same definitions for specific words. Otherwise, you end up with asshats stating that a "scientific theory is just a theory".
Your post is only semi-insightful, because it makes the same type of flawed argument that creationists and IDers do.
The difference between the big bang and God, is that we hope someday to figure out what caused the big bang, religion already has a ready answer to "what created God", so they don't need to search any further.
[Fuck Beta]
o0t!
Where did the first matter come from?
If you're requesting an abiogenesis viewpoint, I think the Miller-Urey experiment is an interesting experiment made to replicate these circumstances on an early Earth and its present basic components, and they actually made some quite surprising discoveries.
Beware: In C++, your friends can see your privates!
It's vain of you to claim that you know how I think. In fact, you don't know me, or my thoughts. Lumping me in with the stereotype in your head of thoughtless religious nuts is really pretty small minded of you as well.
Strike one. Your ad hominem response is typical. I'm not like those other ID/creationist proponents, how dare you lump me in with them. When you use the same logic and and misdirection as the usuall ID proponents, you are thinking just like the crowd. Further, by promoting a non-scientific claim promoted by a movement with a poor understanding of the nature of both science and religion, you are doing a disservice to both science and your religious beliefs.
Where did the first matter come from?
Strike two. Another typical reponse is to attempt to redirect the argument when things get sticky. Where did the first matter come from indeed. If you really knew any physics you'd know that this is a pretty rediculous question. Why not just ask what caused the big bang? At least then you would be asking a question that science hasn't answered to any satisfaction.
We're not mindless religious zealots. We have the same evidence you have, and have differing theories about the activities behind the evidence. You don't have to like it, but it's pretty thoughtless of you to generalize our worldview as the province of morons or the deluded.
Strike three. You're out. And finally the inferiority complex comes in. I didn't call you a mindless religious zealot. I said ID/creationism is an idiotic idea pushed by people that misunderstand both science and religion. That does not mean you are a mindless religious zealot. It doesn't even mean that you're stupid. Ignorant perhaps, but not stupid. I happen to think that William Dembski is a pretty bright guy. He's wrong on several levels, and I question his motivations, but he's not stupid.
Shop Smart, Shop S-mart!
Ambulocetus was predicted by evolution
Evolution doesn't predict this. Saying it does is a common mistake. Prediction involves things that haven't happened. The fact that creatures are on dry land and the assumption that life began in the sea (which I am not arguing against) requires some transition to get from water to land. Working backwards from what is observed today, creatures on dry land to what is believed about the past is what requires this required transitional creature (or missing link). Evolution doesn't predict it, it requires it.
A creationist, which I am not, having a different origination belief, would not need to have the ambulocetus exist. The fact that abulocetus did exist is just one more creature that existed and is now extinct.
Again, to restate my point, evolution doesn't predict a creature like ambulocetus, it requires it.
An atheist believes that there is no God. The only way to know that is to have "perfect knowledge" or be God.
"Then you must answer the question how there can be an event when there is no time."
No, I don't. Time did not exist until the big bang occurred. The big bang and the beginning of time happened simultaneously. There is no "before" the big bang.
"The government grants you rights, not the other way around."-- beav007. Yes, these people really exist...
That's not a technological issue. It's geo-political, socio-economic, but not technological.
Dark Reflection
"without implicitly assuming that there exist values of T 0"
should of course have read
"without implicitly assuming that there exist values of T < 0."
Real Daleks don't climb stairs - they level the building.
"Evolution theory" is a science. Constantly repeating the same old rehashed "theories aren't scientific" nonsense is absurd.
"It assumes that the half-life of C-14 remains constant"
Yes it does. It makes this assumption based on massive amounts of hard evidence. The half life of EVERY radioactive isotope remains constant. We observed it over and over again with all sorts of different radioactive elements, with all sorts of different half lives. For the half life of carbon 14 to have changed, physics as we understand it must be seriously wrong.
"It assumes the amount of carbon that was in the bones in the first place."
No it doesn't. Its based on the amount of carbon 14 vs the amount of carbon 12. We know exactly how much carbon is there, cause we measure it. Its assuming the amount of carbon 14 vs carbon 12 is consistent. And there's mountains of evidence to support that.
I've always wondered if these supposed ancient fossils are so old (millions of years) and some survive those millions of years that we find today...how come there's so few...? Shouldn't there be a lot more fossils in the course of millions of years if we're to believe that even one can survive?
If we're so close to monkeys then how come it doesn't appear that way in reality? The dumbest human is far and away more advanced than the most intelligent ape. Why isn't there truly a species closer to humanity?--not just patterns, bone structure, and all that, but actual intelligence?
Evolution is a crock of shit, sorry. Right up there with "global warming." It's all politics, man. Call me crazy but it always seems like science is trying really hard to prove evolution and is becoming more and more desperate, asserting even more assumptions than what proponents of ID want you believe. If evolution is so correct than why does science seem so afraid of any other explanation? Humans STILL can't accurately predict weather and we're supposed to believe that they can predict anything over a million years ago? Please, save this nonsense for science fiction.
The Hunter
#8,3,13,21
One thing I found interesting about the NYTimes article was the out-and out blunt way in which the paleontologists involved said that this answers specific challenges from Creationists. In the past, even though this would still be seen in scientific journals as a "transitional" species, the cultural relevance to the battle between science and creationism would never get mentioned, or even explored.
l _fossils) prosynosychus is one that I saw when I took a tourist trip to Cambridge a few years ago. The fact that scientists are bluntly calling this a transitional fossil is almost as interesting as the fossil itself.
So my theory is, after the recent battles between the two ways of thinking in the educational world, and after Eugenie Scott's seminars at the recent scientist convention (I can't remember the name of the organization) wherein she basically said that scientists need to play hardball and come right out and oppose creationism in a very public fashion, I wonder if these paleontologists were doing just that when they mentioned this creature as a transitional form.
There are lots of other transitional creatures out there; (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_transitiona
Every fossil 'link' always makes sense from a functionality perspective.
For instance, why don't we find fossils of creatures with developed hind legs and not front legs? One would think some of these failures would be found. (or can only workable configurations get fossilized)
Obviously a mudskipper wouldn't work very well will rear fins/legs... and this creature probably wouldn't either.
To get new habitat, of course. Let's say there were plants up there already, then the first animal to make it would become enormously successful.
I cried real tears when Li Mu Bai died.
It's so heartwarming to see the new Hitler Youth here on /. Just because a theory is worshiped and 'believed' to be true doesn't mean it is no matter how many professors pound their propagandist doctrine into your heads. You young 'scientists' are nicely bound to your religious beliefs: evolution is true and we will prove it! It's funny watching you flail around professing an unproven theory to the extent that you begin to see fact where there is none. Some might call what you practice 'faith'. Interesting, because I thought you agnostic evolutionists were against faith and grounded in fact.
Very interesting indeed. But, no matter what you say, do, shout, believe, etc., EVOLUTION IS A THEORY. A hypothesis. Nothing more. Maybe some of you need to get back to basics... maybe check out a dictionary and look up the words 'hypothesis' and 'theory'.
FACT: plants and animals 'adapt' over time, perhaps developing different appendages, a difference in height, skin color, etc.
UTTERLY FALSE: plants and animals evolve/change into different species.
Why is it that every topic discussed on this site can quickly devolve into the same old argument of creationism vs. intelligent design, and all of you willingly jump into the discussion, but as soon as there is a duped article, all of you want to be the first one to cry about it? In either case, you end up discussing the same thing, right?
Our environment demands constant change for it itself is constantly changing. As already mentioned, there is no "missing link" for we are always in a "transitional" phase. More accurately, we (organisms) are always adapting to the new environment. There isn't a final organism, just a species that fits extremely well with all the others. Which begs the question: we don't seem to be playing nice with our planet or anything else on it... does that mean we're inferior to other species?
As we all know that the Bible is an unerring account of Creation, it is obvious to all believers that this fossil is yet another ploy by Satan to delude the so-called "scientists" who are blinded by logic and the scientific method. It's unbelievable to what lengths these "scientists" will go to accommodate these unholy scams into their imaginary, contrived model of "evolution" while it's all given in the Bible, plainly told for all who are just willing to open their eyes and believe...
I want to play Free Market with a drowning Libertarian.
1. Observation
2. Hypothesis
3. Prediction
4. Testing
Let us see how well Darwin's theory of evolution holds up to the scientific method.
Observation: Darwin's theory of evolution will never be proven with the traditional scientific method, because it can't even meet the first qualification of this method, namely observation. We have no way to actually OBSERVE the actual process of evolution that takes billions of years to occur. At best we might speculate based upon micro-evolution of one species into a slightly different one, but human lifespan and history are far too short to do any real observation of the actual phenomena.
Things are already not looking so good for Mr. Darwin's theory, but for the sake of argument let's move on to step 2.
Hypothesis - Darwin's hypothesis was that variations in genetic distribution would cause some members of a species to be better adapted to survive than others, allowing those members to pass on the useful genetic traits to future generations. Eventually this process of natural selection is supposed to create brand a new species. Ok, we can move on to step 3.
Prediction - The submitted article has some element of prediction, eg, here's where we thought the fish with legs would be located, and how old it would be, etc. But this finding tells us nothing about FUTURE evolution, which is required for us to do step 4. So to meet the qualifications of step 3, someone needs to predict how, when, and under what specific conditions one species is going to evolve into another species.
Testing - Here's where the whole theory completely falls apart. Because of the inability to do step 1, eg, actually observing one species turn into a completely different one over millions of years, there's no way to even test the hypothesis!
Flame me all you want, but Darwin's theory of evolution is NOT a proper scientific theory, because it doesn't conform to the scientific method. It's unfortunate that it's presented as a factual proven theory by our schools and universities.
Hey everyone, here is some more info. They offer some rational explanations as opposed to the rather irrational news media of today!! AiG
All they have actually found is a fish that is another example of a lobe-finned fish (one of which still lives today--the coelacanth) that has bones similar in position to those seen in the arm and wrist of land-walking creatures--except these structures support fins with rays in them, not digits like fingers and toes.
We have seen that living things are too improbable and too beautifully "designed" to have come into existence by chance.
'First, a background question: you know that a transitional species- a missing link- will itself be a species? Because "species" are actual lifeforms, everything else is just a clade- a grouping. So if you have a an animal species that becomes another species, the transitional form can't be anything but a species.
'Also, you know that evolution is nothing but changes in allele frequency in a population over time, so at no point, with either modern scientists or Darwin himself, was anyone ever expecting to see a transitional form that wasn't itself a functioning, living species? Its not like the transitionals are going to be half-melted blobs melting from human into porcupines, like some frozen outtake from Species the movie.'
'If you're talking about genetic missing links, that's really, really easy to find. For example, chimps and humans don't have the same number of chromosomes- we have one less- but funny how human chromosome 2 is almost identical to chimp chromosomes 2p and 2q. We even have broken bits of telemorase right in the middle of 2, exactly what you'd expect if 2p and 2q had fused together. All primates have to eat vitamin C, we can't produce it ourselves, unlike all other mammals except guinea pigs. One prediction scientists made (see the excellent and reference-rich essay 29 Evidences for Macroevolution for the details) was that we'd eventually find that primates have a broken vitamin C gene. Funny how they recently found that exact gene, the identical broken bit shared by all primates (The gene also has further 'chips and scratches,' where the additional broken bits correlate highly with the type of primate. Guinea pigs also have a broken gene, but in a completely different place. The designer sure spent a lot of time on making broken genes correlate with morphological similarities. You'd think the designer could be a lot more creative in being a plagarist, no?)
So, going back to the post title, here's an analogy: given the existence of you and your brother, then both your mom OR your mom's siblings act as a missing link. They have traits common to both you and your brother. Given the existence of you and your cousin, then your grandmother OR your great aunts and uncles could act as a missing link. They don't have to be direct ancestors to be a link. They don't have to be dead to be a link- just older.
Given the existence of modern chimps (brain size 400cc) and humans (brain size 1200 cc), science expected to find hominids with traits similar to both. (Here the 'relatives' analogy doesn't quite work, because chimps live where fossilization is rare. Be like one side of you family always cremates their dead.) So far we have 20 main hominids. Look at the set of skulls science has. They're all fairly human, and they're all fairly ape-like, and they all are distinct species. Each is slightly different from its neighbor, but very different from a few neighbors down. No, the earliest ones could not be confused for modern humans, no matter how much you shaved and suited them up. (And for kicks, you still have some morphological leftover traits-- take a look at your teeth, and notice the giant roots for your tiny little canines. Note how earlier humans used to have much larger canines.)"
I'm a catholic and I spent 4 years at a catholic boarding school where I was taught mostly by priests. I think that the IDers who believe that the bible trumps evolution completely misusnderstand the purpose and the style of Genesis, and I got a lot of that belief from the priests that taught me.
Even the vatican has denounced ID as misguided.
That having been said, I don't believe that the validity of evolution and the existence of a god are at odds with each other. They're really disjoint questions. Answering yes to one doesn't require answering yes or no to the other.
_____
AFAICT, the heart of ID is that the 'proof' of evolutionary theory is nothing more than a godly prank on the scientific community, and the reason why there are (or rather, aren't) "missing links" is that the all-seeing, all-knowing God somehow 'forgot' to create some of the missing intermediate links in the palentelogical record.
They seem to further believe that 'we're right' is sufficient scientific cause to throw out a couple of centuries of accumulated proof and refinement.
Free Software: Like love, it grows best when given away.
Anyone can go to a sperm bank and get some money in exchange for their precious bodily fluids. It's how I paid for CS books in college. There's probably a billion little copies of me running around somewhere, since I was tall, smart, and a college student.
Actually, that random link I found has a kinda cute picture of a duck looking down his pants. Heh. He looks sad!
Man, you really need that seminar!
Oh yea, verily I say unto you--it sure seems people are unlearning a lot about science these days. So, one more time for the record:
Claiming that a scientific theory is weak because it has not been proven is like claiming that Peter Forsberg is a poor athlete because he didn't make a single homerun last season. Wrong game. Science deals in evidence, which makes a theory more or less likely. Biological evolution has a lot of evidence, non of which proves it, but enough to make it very, very likely. Similarly, the theory of gravity (you know, the theory that stuff falls down) has lots of evidence, but not enough to prove that it's true. Nor did Charles Darwin make a single homerun last season.
Bonus redundant explanation: the end product of science is theory, not fact. Facts are things observed in nature, that may constitute evidence to corroborate or refute a theory. (For the logically inclined, facts tend to be existentially quantified, theories universally quantified.) Theories are what scientists produce and work with, and they never stop being theories to become facts, just like baseballs don't become hockey pucks. They just become more or less likely. Evolution through random mutations and natural selection is more.
When discussing evolution (or Apple, etc) you're supposed to turn humor OFF at the beginning of your post. Hope this helps!
Man, you really need that seminar!
OMG... I was joking. But, in this joke, the Cave Man just happens to have fallen into someone's uncovered, unfenced swimming pool. Then, his harried/hairy ass drowns next to the pool filtration extension.
Course, if he was leaning or listing up against the poolside, he'd be the Lis'ing Mink instead of the Missing Link...
Curious, though... I wonder if a DA would sue the pool owner for letting or facilitating the cave man's gene pool die in the swimming pool. (I'm assuming a reconstituted caveman would have SOME kind of rights, or, would he have been multi-grandfathered to get these rights we (supposedly) have today...)
image word... "octane"
(pool-preserved bar-b-qued cave man, anyone? Cave man Jerky, anyone? (Add that to the list of Alien Jerky sold in Nevado near/past Bakersfield))
(No, I don't really have a "beef" with missing links...I usually leave'm at the store cuz they cost too much to bring home that bacon...)
Previously: "Linux... Toward the Sunrise..." Now: "Linux... Toward the-- No, now, part of Every Sunrise"
I can't explain how much I respect the fact that you use a tone of derision while failing to address any of the meaningful components of my response. It's admirable how much you demonstrated the capabilities of your intellect.
Want to score some points? Drop the ridiculous attitude, and start conversing like an adult. I brought up some points that are *not* misdirection, ad hominem, or "inferiority-complex" related and you ignore those. Thanks for your ad hominem attack against me personally, and against people like me, though.
Hind-quarters of a large rodent, indeed.
I appreciate that you can respect Dembski's intellect. For what it's worth, Gould was brilliant - although his worldview affected his science to the point of making his intellect lack productivity. He was, simply, wrong.
But Herr Heisenberg, how does the electron know when I'm looking?
Evolutionists should be forced to not use facts,
as there are no facts supporting the Talking Snake Theory of Intelligent Designers...
Ya mean they found ole George Bush's great grandparents?
Q: Why does the need of "god" to be worshiped have any bearing on whether or not this "god" exists? It's really irrelavant to the central question of whether a super powerful being created most/all of what we know of the universe and humans.
A: The motivation of the "god" creature is important, first just for believablity, but if you actually believe, it is important to know if worshipping the creature is beneficial to your existence.
If you are a slave, and an you think an invisible master owns you and wants you to do things. Whether or not you should believe that the owner exists and has good intentions is directly relevent to you. Your options are:
1. Invisible slave owner exists and has good intentions.
1a. You could try to follow what you thing the invisible slave owner wants.
1b. You could decide there is not enough evidence of the invisible slave owner. The slave owner wont hold it against you, because he purposely hides himself, and being fair, decides you descision is reasonable.
2. Invisible slave owner has bad intentions.
2a. perhaps worshipping and obeying helps get along, or perhaps not.
2b. Try to "escape"
2c. You decide not to believe in the bad invisible slave owner, because doing so evidently and logically would not do anything.
3. Invisible slave owner does not exist, because 1 and 2 are silly.
No less than the same day, what story is on the front page of this very site:
Sun Research Yields Unexpected Results
Posted by CowboyNeal on Thursday April 06, @07:20PM
from the fact-and-theory dept.
Space Science
Syberghost writes "There are two major theories about the composition of the Sun. One says that it has similar composition to the planets. The other, that it has enriched levels of oxygen-16. NASA has been doing research on the soil samples Neil Armstrong brought back from the moon, to determine which of those theories is correct. Today, we have the results; they're both wrong. It looks like we're going to have to look more closely at the composition of everything in the solar system to figure this one out."
And in this particular case, they actually have samples!!! I fucking said it and I'll say it again, science knows nothing. Don't listen to them, don't believe what they say, do your own research and ignore these liberal bastards. They are WRONG time and time again. Go with God.
To anyone who has wondered why or how we know what we know through science and also anyone who loves 'blowing their mind' on really cool facts and figures I have to recommend "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson. Many of the questions asked above are well and truly answered in this wonderful book especially in relation to our knowledge of the fossil record and the incredible improbabilitys of an organisim ever actually becoming a fossil.
Exactly. So how did the change occur if there was no time?
The Archaeopteryx bridged nothing. It's been proven to have been a real bird and not just a midpoint of evolution.
Giving you the benefit of the doubt, by supposing that wasn't just a Troll post:
There are some things that you say in your post that suggest that you don't really know much about religion.
1- "Religion provides a great numbing effect"
If you make a good study of the effects of religion on the lives of many adherents I think you would quickly clear up for yourself the misconception that "numbing" is a universal effect of religion truth.
2- "It's easier to just give in to religion"
Having "given in" to a religion, and feeling pressures all around me to not live as I believe, I would have to disagree with you there. I can't think of any person that I know (from any religion) that feels like religion is the easy way out.
3- "All this killing in the name of religion is nuts."
The fact that I, and everybody I know (especially the strongly religious) agree with that statement, suggests that you've missed the point somewhere.
The trouble is that there are some religions that have exactly the effects that you've described. If you're looking for reasons to discount religion, you can definitely find enough bad examples. If, on the other hand, you're not trying to fit data to a pre-conception of what religion is, it is very easy to see that there are religions that are valuable to humanity.
Exam 4/C again. Maybe I'll do better this time.
You all sound like a bunch of buffoons. None of you have even seen it. I was able to see a drawing but that is it. The article I read said "Researchers found several fossils between four and nine feet long. The creature was a fish -- with scales, fins and gills -- but it moved its head independently of its body, could drag itself along on land as today's seals do, and may have walked, although the research team did not find fossil hindquarters to test that hypothesis." Where is are the lungs? More hopeful (faith?)banter about nothing. Maybe you can find another old monkey tooth and draw up another caveman(see Piltdown man and Ramapithecus). Maybe you should drop the agenda and really look at the facts. You have been looking at fossils for years and still have the same old tired "theory." First of all, how did what ever was there before "Big Bang" get there? What was it? Second, the principal steps en route to the origin of life as envisioned by evolutinary theory, are (1) the existence of the right primitive atmosphere and (2) a concentration in the oceans of an organic soup of "simple" milecules necessary for life. (3) From these some proteins and nucleotides (complex chemical compounds)that (4) combine and acquire a membrane, and thereafter (5) they develop a genetic code and start making copies of themeselves. NONE OF WHICH HAVE BEEN PROVEN. The chance of life forming apart from a creator on this rock is 1/10 followed by 113 more zeros. Any thing over 1/10 followed by 50 zeros is considered never to have happend. Getting the correct left handed 20 amino acids to line up and form a protein, considering there are over 100 some are right handed and some are left handed, is ridiculous. If somehow the amino acids did reach the organic soup the idea of polymerization is contrary to what takes place in that environment. More than likely a depolymerization would have taken place, breaking them up. If some how they survived this volatile envirenment either the oxygen in the atmosphere or if no atmosphere at this point, harsh ultraviolet radiation would have destroyed them. So before you go (again) adding this unseen, unstudied, artists rendition to my family tree the basic begining needs to be solved. Evolutions can't even get us to the first and oldest fossil let alone "bridge", "transition" or any other term you may use, to any creature. The uneducated, bible thumping, cretins know the beginning and it makes perfect sense. See Genesis chapter 1, its all in there.