That evolution is not based on science is easily shown in the following principle - �The theory of evolution can be denied without denying one single fact of science.� This principle has been set forth by many who disagree with the Darwinian theory and has gone unanswered. The logic in this argument is readily accepted when applied to other pseudo-scientific theories. For example, one might teach the theory that rats arise spontaneously out of old rags. Challenging that position another might say: �I can deny that theory without denying any fact of science.� Since the supporter of such a theory could not show any point of science which must be rejected, it is concluded that his theory has no scientific basis! But when evolution is tested with the same logic, the conclusion is simply brushed aside. The following syllogism establishes the argument: 1) A theory is unscientific if it can be denied without denying any fact of science. 2) Evolution can be denied without denying any fact of science. 3) Therefore, evolution is unscientific.
Actually one must deny an ark-load of facts in order to deny biological evolution.
It is a fact that evolution happens; that biodiversity and complexity do increase, that both occur naturally according to the laws of population genetics amid environmental dynamics. It is a fact that alleles vary with increasing distinction in reproductive populations, and that these are accelerated in genetically isolated groups. It is a fact that natural selection, sexual selection, and genetic drift have all been proven to have predictable effect in guiding this variance both in scientific literature and in practical application. It is a fact that significant beneficial mutations do occur and are inherited by descendant groups, and that several independent sets of biological markers do exist which trace these lineages backwards over myriad generations. It is a fact that birds are a subset of dinosaurs, in the same way that ducks are a subset of birds, and that humans are a subset of apes in exactly the same way that lions are a subset of cats. It is a fact that the collective genome of all animals has been traced to its most basal form through reverse-sequencing, and that those forms are also indicated by comparative morphology, physiology, and embryological development, as well as through chronologically correct placement of successive stages revealed in the geologic column. It is a fact that every organism on earth has obvious relatives either living nearby or evident in the fossil record, and that the fossil record holds hundreds of clearly transitional species even according to the strictest definition of that term. It is a fact that both microevolution and macroevolution have been directly-observed and documented dozens of times, both in the lab and in naturally-controlled conditions in the field, and that these instances have all withstood critical analysis in peer-review. It is also a fact that evolution is the only explanation of biodiversity with either evidentiary support or measurable validity, and that no would-be alternate notion has ever met even one of the criteria required of a scientific theory. These are the facts of evolution, ways which we can sufficiently prove -even to your satisfaction- that evolution is an inescapable reality both of population genetics and evident phylogeny. What facts can you show me that will distinguish your preferred beliefs from the illusions of delusion? � AronRa
Oh, and a syllogism that begins with a false premise is invalid.
Regards, Wolf
One unerring mark of the love of the truth is not entertaining any proposition with greater assurance than the proofs it is built upon will warrant. John Locke, 1690
