I love the "you're with us or you're against us" mentality in this thread. Just because somebody prefers Intelligent Design theory does not mean they are an ignorant hillbilly. It just strongly implies it. This is just personal opinion, but believing the whole Theory of Evolution from the Big Bang to the present happened without divine intervention of any sort and is all random chance seems to me to require every bit as much faith as believing a higher power pulled a few strings along the way.
I sometimes wonder if there will be an old creation story such as the following taught in some class in the distant future: "Once upon a time, everything in the entire universe was crammed into a really tiny dot which then exploded and eventually coalesced into galaxies, stars, and planets. At least one planet happened to be just the right distance from its parent star and had just the right mix of chemicals and conditions for them to combine in exactly the right way to start reproducing. Nevermind that we have no idea how to recreate this, but the god of Chance surely could have done it (Step 2, anyone?). Over several billion years, these simple organisms went through millions of changes, some of which had to have been a hindrance for survival until the final product was done a few millenia later. And that's where babies come from."
The Theory of Evolution is simply the scientific community's best guess for how we came to be. The details are still way too sketchy. Is the Big Bang the only explanation for the universe's expansion? Does dark matter drive it? Or is it gravitons? Does either even exist or is it something yet unknown? How could meiosis have instantly just happened, or would it have been possible for that complex process to evolve in parts over time? Science knows a lot, but is it enough to be so certain? Are any of you even real? Maybe I'm actually in a padded room right now and my life is all a vast hallucination. What I'm trying to say is that it can't be scientifically proven and in the end doesn't affect our daily lives (although our arguments over it certainly do), so why do we make such a big deal out of it?
Why do we have to run with it because it's the best we've got? For all its usefulness in everyday life, the scientific process seems to be a hindrance when it comes to abstract theories that don't affect daily life one way or another. Yes, the Theory of Evolution is the best we've got. No, I don't have a better suggestion. But why can't we at least leave it in beta until a lot more kinks are worked out before rushing it to production? Let the scientists do their research in peace before accepting it as fact and making fun of its critics. It's called the _Theory_ of Evolution for a reason.
Personally I'm from the "God created the world in 6 days" camp, but I'm not going to run around trying to back it up with selective scientific tidbits or attack established scienctific theory because the two beliefs clash. If you don't believe it, fine - I'm not going to ram it down your throat. I'd just like the same treatment in return. If I attack any theories, it will be because I see a logical problem, or at least potential for one. I'm just an IT worker that gets really bored at work - not an expert in astrophysics or genetics - so I apologise in advance for the dark matter/meiosis thing if it doesn't fit, but it's mostly there to back up my "overall, we don't know jack about shit" argument.
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I love the "you're with us or you're against us" mentality in this thread. Just because somebody prefers Intelligent Design theory does not mean they are an ignorant hillbilly. It just strongly implies it. This is just personal opinion, but believing the whole Theory of Evolution from the Big Bang to the present happened without divine intervention of any sort and is all random chance seems to me to require every bit as much faith as believing a higher power pulled a few strings along the way.
I sometimes wonder if there will be an old creation story such as the following taught in some class in the distant future: "Once upon a time, everything in the entire universe was crammed into a really tiny dot which then exploded and eventually coalesced into galaxies, stars, and planets. At least one planet happened to be just the right distance from its parent star and had just the right mix of chemicals and conditions for them to combine in exactly the right way to start reproducing. Nevermind that we have no idea how to recreate this, but the god of Chance surely could have done it (Step 2, anyone?). Over several billion years, these simple organisms went through millions of changes, some of which had to have been a hindrance for survival until the final product was done a few millenia later. And that's where babies come from."
The Theory of Evolution is simply the scientific community's best guess for how we came to be. The details are still way too sketchy. Is the Big Bang the only explanation for the universe's expansion? Does dark matter drive it? Or is it gravitons? Does either even exist or is it something yet unknown? How could meiosis have instantly just happened, or would it have been possible for that complex process to evolve in parts over time? Science knows a lot, but is it enough to be so certain? Are any of you even real? Maybe I'm actually in a padded room right now and my life is all a vast hallucination. What I'm trying to say is that it can't be scientifically proven and in the end doesn't affect our daily lives (although our arguments over it certainly do), so why do we make such a big deal out of it?
Why do we have to run with it because it's the best we've got? For all its usefulness in everyday life, the scientific process seems to be a hindrance when it comes to abstract theories that don't affect daily life one way or another. Yes, the Theory of Evolution is the best we've got. No, I don't have a better suggestion. But why can't we at least leave it in beta until a lot more kinks are worked out before rushing it to production? Let the scientists do their research in peace before accepting it as fact and making fun of its critics. It's called the _Theory_ of Evolution for a reason.
Personally I'm from the "God created the world in 6 days" camp, but I'm not going to run around trying to back it up with selective scientific tidbits or attack established scienctific theory because the two beliefs clash. If you don't believe it, fine - I'm not going to ram it down your throat. I'd just like the same treatment in return. If I attack any theories, it will be because I see a logical problem, or at least potential for one. I'm just an IT worker that gets really bored at work - not an expert in astrophysics or genetics - so I apologise in advance for the dark matter/meiosis thing if it doesn't fit, but it's mostly there to back up my "overall, we don't know jack about shit" argument.