(March 7, 2013 at 4:52 am)genkaus Wrote:(March 7, 2013 at 4:23 am)i win you lose.com Wrote: Lol... single celled organisms coming into existence through natural selective processes
That doesn't make any sense. Selection implies picking from a pre-existing set. Natural selective processes wouldn't bring anything into existence, they'd simply select pre-existing objects.
You would probably do well to read some popular science articles on the theory of evolution, they will give you a broad overview in language that will be palatable for you. The emergence of single cell life and its subsequent evolution into complex life forms is not a simple one-step process that can be encapsulated in one word.
Adopting a semantic approach is somewhat disingenuous as the word does not determine the process. You could call it 'colin" for all it matters, the process would still carry on the way it has for millions of years.
There are more accurate words that could be employed to describe the process you are discussing, 'filtering', 'sieveing', 'sifting' all describe the process better than the word 'selection', but even these are not exact in isolation.
MM
"The greatest deception men suffer is from their own opinions" - Leonardo da Vinci
"I think I use the term “radical” rather loosely, just for emphasis. If you describe yourself as “atheist,” some people will say, “Don’t you mean ‘agnostic’?” I have to reply that I really do mean atheist, I really do not believe that there is a god; in fact, I am convinced that there is not a god (a subtle difference). I see not a shred of evidence to suggest that there is one ... etc., etc. It’s easier to say that I am a radical atheist, just to signal that I really mean it, have thought about it a great deal, and that it’s an opinion I hold seriously." - Douglas Adams (and I echo the sentiment)
"I think I use the term “radical” rather loosely, just for emphasis. If you describe yourself as “atheist,” some people will say, “Don’t you mean ‘agnostic’?” I have to reply that I really do mean atheist, I really do not believe that there is a god; in fact, I am convinced that there is not a god (a subtle difference). I see not a shred of evidence to suggest that there is one ... etc., etc. It’s easier to say that I am a radical atheist, just to signal that I really mean it, have thought about it a great deal, and that it’s an opinion I hold seriously." - Douglas Adams (and I echo the sentiment)