Was reading a Scientific American article on 15 answers to creationist nonsense (http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=15-answers-to-creationist). Nice article, but since it was published by reputable publishing house, they could not use words like Bullshit, which are slightly more appropriate for the subject. But, the article got me thinking about creationists and other things. The article goes on to say why doubts raised by creationists are not valid science. For example, macro evolutionary processes are not understood, but the fact of macro evolution or speciation having occurred is beyond doubt. The article goes into greater details about these things. The final answer is on the "Paley principle". Simply stated it goes as follows : "a watch is a complex thing and tells time by a specific arrangement of a lot of smaller parts. Somebody must have put them into place otherwise it would not work. We work (or rather our bodies work), and we are a complex assemblage of smaller complicated parts, so we must have a designer". Some people believe that this designer was God, failing which at least Aliens were involved. It just could not have happened on its own.
But if you really think about it, a watch did not spring upon us fully made. Or for that matter any complex artifact. Take for example a jumbo jet. Marvelous piece of engineering, and something surely made by design. But dd it spring upon us fully made ? No. The first flying object was perhaps a paper plane or something similar. Then gliders came along, and then bigger and better planes which finally led to the jumbo jet. So, even in man made objects, we see hints of 'evolution', so I dont understand how people can be stupid enough to give the "Paley principle" as proof that evolution cannot take place. If anything, looking at almost anything that we use, we can be sure that it has undergone an evolution in its design.
But if you really think about it, a watch did not spring upon us fully made. Or for that matter any complex artifact. Take for example a jumbo jet. Marvelous piece of engineering, and something surely made by design. But dd it spring upon us fully made ? No. The first flying object was perhaps a paper plane or something similar. Then gliders came along, and then bigger and better planes which finally led to the jumbo jet. So, even in man made objects, we see hints of 'evolution', so I dont understand how people can be stupid enough to give the "Paley principle" as proof that evolution cannot take place. If anything, looking at almost anything that we use, we can be sure that it has undergone an evolution in its design.
Comments