RE: The phenomenon atheists haven't been able to explain - The Golden Ratio?
June 2, 2010 at 5:31 pm
(May 26, 2010 at 9:54 pm)Tiberius Wrote: The nautilus / golden ratio link is a well known exaggeration of truth in mathematics.
http://www.shallowsky.com/blog/science/f...tilus.html
Whilst it is true that the golden ratio can be used to draw very nice looking spirals, it is a falsehood to say that these same spirals are found in the natural world. Mathematics uses very exact and "perfect" measurements; the natural world doesn't reflect this at all. In mathematics, there are no limits to size (in either direction), whilst in the natural world, size has very specific limits.
Yes, turns out the golden ratio is bullshit. The nautilus shell is a logarithmic spiral, and while the golden ratio can also be used to draw logarithmic spirals, they are not in any seashells that we know of.
I think the creationist argument to this would be something like "so what, perfect logarithmic spirals just created themselves?" And while I'm sure there has to be a deterministic mathematical explanation as to why seashells are logarithmic spirals, I don't know it.
