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Re: 45% of Americans believe that humans did not evolve [message #333861 is a reply to message #333436] Sat, 07 June 2008 12:39 Go to previous messageGo to previous message
NukeIt15 is currently offline  NukeIt15
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Just to throw in something worthy of consideration- even though I know it will be bowled over and ignored in light of the beaten-to-death and never-to-be-resolved pseudo-debate over Evolution vs. Creationism- humanity, regardless of anything else, is something of an anomaly in the history of known existence, however you believe that existence came to be. We are, alone among other known species, gifted both with extraordinarily capable minds and bodies which compliment them almost perfectly. Whether or not a higher power influenced our development (or creation, if you'd have it that way), we have the power to radically adapt ourselves to almost any situation (indeed, to any we've encountered thus far) through the use of tools and reasoning skills.

With that in mind, I'd like to pose a series of questions. Not one-liners, but actual questions which may actually require some thought and which do not have definite answers:

- With all our ability to adapt through the use of clothing, tools, vehicles, and structures, is it possible (assuming for a moment, if you're up to the task, that evolution is factual) that we have actually stalled our own development? Have we become so adept at non-biological adaptation that we have cut ourself off from processes of natural selection? How long has this been happening, if at all, and- most significantly- might our lack of further development due to our own meddling have led to the belief that we never had evolved in the first place?

- As Galileo once so eloquently put it: Our Creator (assume for a moment, if you can, that such a being exists and is in fact responsible for our existence) endowed us with the capacity for rational thought. Are we truly intended to not make use of it? If, indeed, all the evidence we presently have is false and was planted there by our Creator, should we not assume that we were meant to find it? This may be interpreted as a Tower of Babel situation; we have free will and a vast array of talents, but can we determine with any reasonable certainty that we are meant to limit ourselves? How do we know that past experience is not merely part of the road to true understanding, and that in every case our being cast down again was merely the doing of a being who knew far better than we did that we simply were not ready for it yet? If we make no further attempt to understand our existence beyond what we have already been given in the form of the Bible, are we simply giving up? In the days of the Old Testament, it was presumed to be the ultimate truth, the sum total of all spiritual knowledge, and never to be supplanted. Yet now there is also the New Testament (and, if you count them, the Koran and other latter-day scriptures such as the Book of Mormon). Is that not proof enough that, whatever the nature of our Creator is, that being is not by any means done with us? How can we be so arrogant as to assume we know what lies in store for us next? Certainly, nobody expected the coming of the New Testament, so how, exactly, do we know that there isn't yet another to be revealed at a time only the Creator is aware of?

- All that exists must, by definition, be knowable; merely knowing that it does, in fact, exist, implies some possibility of further understanding. Can we all agree that the sum total of human knowledge and experience is positively insignificant compared to the vastness of all that exists, whether we believe in chance or design; that question which divides our opinions is rooted not in the scope but rather in the nature of our understanding? When we do not know even a fraction of all that may be known, what do we have besides faith and faith alone to support any belief regarding our origins? Science supports the theory of evolution, yet science is fluid; what we considered fact- unchangeable law centuries ago- is now the stuff of classroom humor and history. Does it not require an amount of faith equal to that of any belief in God to accept as fact what the evidence tells us is true, despite the fact that it may be overturned tomorrow by yet another discovery?

- Finally, what exactly does true belief in something mean? Beyond holding something as true, is it possible that validating our beliefs requires more than just faith? Perhaps we cannot truly believe something without continually testing that belief and challenging it with new ideas, new experiences, and fresh knowledge. Is it, perhaps, that truth can only be found in those beliefs which withstand that test time and time again? If you believe in God, and witness something which shakes the very foundations of that belief, and yet come out the other side still believing, have you found something true with which to justify that belief- even if it is not something tangible or explainable? If you put to the test a scientific theory and, despite a new discovery which challenges the assumptions it rests upon, it continues to make sense, has it become any less valid? When tested in such a way, is a person wrong for continuing to believe or have they come to understand something that another could not without sharing that experience? Consider that, regardless of how the world has changed, there remains an overwhelming majority of humanity which believes that some form of higher power had a hand in shaping existence as we know it. Also consider that elements of even the most thoroughly trounced scientific theories of the past have endured and found themselves incorporated into later, more accurate models.

I realize that most of you will skip right over this, but for those that don't... well, food for thought.

"Arms discourage and keep the invader and plunderer in awe, and preserve order in the world as well as property. Horrid mischief would ensue were (the law-abiding) deprived of the use of them." - Thomas Paine

Remember, kids: illiteracy is cool. If you took the time to read this, you are clearly a loser who will never get laid. You've been warned.

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