Finally! More Young Americans Accept Evolution than Believe in Creationism...

[Rick O'Shez]

But this, "absolute reality" you talk of, is nothing more than mystic gibberish.

Indeed, and people think that starting the words with capital letters somehow makes them more credible. So is "Ultimate Reality" more real than "Reality"? And is "Reality" more real than plain old "reality"? It's all a load of nonsense.

 

[Revoltingest]

It's actually sad that we're happy for such a news. It would be like being happy because finally the majority of Americans can tie their shoes on their own

I can do that now!

 

[metis]

Evolution is more than just change over time.

That depends on how one is using the term, and in this case I used the simplest of definitions that also applies to the ToE.

 

[cambridge79]

I can do that now!

i don't believe in shoe laces. i believe in velcro

 

[Rick O'Shez]

i don't believe in shoe laces. i believe in velcro

Velcro, non-stick frying pans and pens that write upside down. It's good to know that something useful has come out of space exploration.

 

[gnostic]

So 'absolute' is meaningless when used as an adjective to describe noun 'reality'...you sure about that? The physical universe is only 5% of the estimated absolute whole...the unknown 95% is still a mystery to science....plenty of room for mystics to exercise their prescience...

The word "reality" is reality. Either it is a reality or it isn't.

There is no need to prefix it with the word "absolute".

People, who prefix something that needs no prefixing, are just playing word game.

Like Spiny said:

Indeed, and people think that starting the words with capital letters somehow makes them more credible. So is "Ultimate Reality" more real than "Reality"? And is "Reality" more real than plain old "reality"? It's all a load of nonsense.

...it is just nonsense, and it is only ever used by religions, which actually bear no reality. What Hinduism and Buddhism (the ones that use "Ultimate Reality") is often distorting the definition to the word, "reality", for its own sake.

 

[Revoltingest]

That depends on how one is using the term, and in this case I used the simplest of definitions that also applies to the ToE.

The context of this thread is the theory of evolution, rather than the mere observation of evolution in the fossil record.
The latter would be mere change.
But the former is a complex stochastic process.
To call it "change" can reinforce the idea that evolution is all about luck & chance.
To embiggen others, we must keep it simple without being simplistic.
I'm sure you agree.

 

[Revoltingest]

Velcro, non-stick frying pans and pens that write upside down. It's good to know that something useful has come out of space exploration.

Velcro & non-stick cookware preceeded the space program.
Upside down pens? I don't know when they originated.

 

[metis]

The context of this thread is the theory of evolution, rather than the mere observation of evolution in the fossil record.
The latter would be mere change.
But the former is a complex stochastic process.
To call it "change" can reinforce the idea that evolution is all about luck & chance.
To embiggen others, we must keep it simple without being simplistic.
I'm sure you agree.

Ya, since I taught this in my anthropology course for roughly 30 years, I think can agree.

 

[Reverend Rick]

No offense Phil, I have evolved to the point where it really don't even matter to me any more what other people think.

 

[metis]

No offense Phil, I have evolved to the point where it really don't even matter to me any more what other people think.

I've been getting much closer myself to that point myself on these message boards. There are many here who post excellent points and I've learned a lot from them, but there's also an element here who seem to want to argue for argument's sake-- facts be damned.

 

[Rick O'Shez]

Velcro & non-stick cookware preceeded the space program.

If that's true then nothing useful has come out of space exploration.

 

[Reverend Rick]

I have grown and changed my opinions by participating in this forum. What I dislike is when people try to demonize other opinions. Evolution is a theory. I see religions who ignore indisputable facts. Thing is, global warming has become a religion as well. Funny how we only hear what we want and disregard the rest. There is hypocrisy on both sides.

 

[metis]

Communications satellites, spy satellites, weather satellites, ...

The one think that's predictable about scientific study is that it is unpredictable what eventually will emerge that could be game changers.

 

[gnostic]

There is no assumption....those reading your user name gnostic will naturally think logically that you are a gnostic....you are being obtuse to pretend that those who assume you are a gnostic are reading things that are not there and that gnostic actually means agnostic to your sense of (il)logic... I mean, it would not take more than a few tics to change your avatar name to agnostic..

At the time I joined RF, I was reading and researching Gnosticism, especially from the Nag Hammadi codices.

It just a name, Ben.

Whether I called my avatar gnostic or agnostic, I don't think anyone wouldn't be making such a big fuss that you are making with my avatar's name.

If I called myself Jesus, Brahma, Vishnu, or Zeus, would you really believe that's my name? If I call myself tiger or dino, would you really think I am big striped cat or a dinosaur?

Stop making such big stink over name, Ben, because you are sounding petty.

 

[Revoltingest]

If that's true then nothing useful has come out of space exploration.

Pretty pictures!

 

[metis]

I have grown and changed my opinions by participating in this forum. What I dislike is when people try to demonize other opinions. Evolution is a theory. I see religions who ignore indisputable facts. Thing is, global warming has become a religion as well. Funny how we only hear what we want and disregard the rest. There is hypocrisy on both sides.

Why do you think global warming is a "religion", may I ask? It is scientifically based using real measurements collected for over 200 years now, and I would suggest that climate scientists are probably not idiots.

BTW, I do not want to derail this thread, so I really don't want to pursue this any further here, but I do have to ask what I did above.

 

[gnostic]

So 'absolute' is meaningless when used as an adjective to describe noun 'reality'...you sure about that? The physical universe is only 5% of the estimated absolute whole...the unknown 95% is still a mystery to science....plenty of room for mystics to exercise their prescience...

None of the scriptures in the world of the current religions have even a fraction of quarter percent of any real knowledge of the universe, because religions only revolve around make believe pseudoscience.

The whole "absolute reality" or universe being "conscious", because you equate the universe with God or Brahman, just show how little you know about the universe.

 

[Reverend Rick]

Metis, data is skewed, many time disregarded if it don't support the theory. Thing is, I'm a truly green person, always have been. I just see how much is fact and how much is politics.

 

[Father Heathen]

I have grown and changed my opinions by participating in this forum. What I dislike is when people try to demonize other opinions. Evolution is a theory. I see religions who ignore indisputable facts. Thing is, global warming has become a religion as well. Funny how we only hear what we want and disregard the rest. There is hypocrisy on both sides.

I could've sworn that on multiple occasions in the past we've explain what the term "theory" means in scientific context. (Hint: it doesn't mean "just an educated guess")
Also, there is plenty of scientific study and evidence to support climate change. Some politicians have tried to brush it under the rub only because it threatens the pockets of certain industries.