RE: Why the religious will never admit you won the argument (and why they don't care)
June 23, 2016 at 4:42 pm
(June 23, 2016 at 3:52 pm)ohreally Wrote:(June 23, 2016 at 3:23 pm)SteveII Wrote: Did my point go over your head or are you just ignoring it because you have no answer? See bold above. I'll try again:
1. You admit to gaps in our knowledge/understanding of evolution (in the all-encompassing sense of the word)
2. Gaps in knowledge = facts not known = not full understanding of how the complete theory works.
3. If you still believe evolution (in the all-encompassing sense of the word) is true, it is a belief because you have bridged the gaps with something other than knowledge. You even used the word "consensus" which means a common belief. You don't need consensus for facts. For example, decent with modification is a fact. Natural selection is a fact. Don't need consensus, don't need them to sign a statement, don't need to take a poll.
Perhaps you think the gaps (irreducible complexity, biological networks, "tree of life" doesn't appear to be a tree, fossil record/intermediate forms, convergent genetic evolution, junk DNA perhaps not junk after all, natural selection not enough for traits with a low selection coefficient, etc.) are trivial. Then it would be you that would need to do some reading.
-"tree of life" doesn't appear to be a tree - What exactly do you mean by that? How is that a gap?
There is no tree anymore thanks to genetic studies. Different genes tell contradictory evolutionary stories. "Webs" or "networks" of relationships are now hypothesized. Interesting stuff. It illustrates that an idea (the tree) that was believed to be true since Darwin drew it is even still believed to be the case today on a popular level, but really is/has been tossed out in favor of other theories by scientist.
