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Re: Evidence for "Big Bang Theory"
Carl J Lydick (carl@SOL1.GPS.CALTECH.EDU)
9 May 1995 06:07:37 GMT
In article <Yasha-0805951623200001@mac2wild2.tamu.edu>, Yasha@bigraf.tamu.edu (Yasha Hartberg) writes:
=In article <3olrq8$27jp@unix1.sncc.lsu.edu>, voels@bit.csc.lsu.edu (DANIEL
=C. VOELS) wrote:
=
= > If you take a Rolex apart piece by piece, then put all the pieces into
= > a box and shake it up... (sure, you can try this at home) and shake and
= > shake and shake... it will never, ever randomly "fall into place" to once
= > again be a watch. Would you not agree? And you guys _really_ believe
= > that something as sophisticated as a human being could have just "sprung"
= > up out of some primordial soup with no intervention from something?
=
=Well, first I would ask you to explain what the evolution of humans has to
=do at all with the Big Bang. Second I feel I have to point out the
=inherent weaknesses with your argument against evolution. Namely, your
=analogy is only appropriate if Rolex watches reproduce themselves. Since
=they don't, you haven't made a useful comparison. Additionally, evolution
=depends on intervention from a little something called natural selection.
To expand on that a little: Beneficial mutations are preserved; non-beneficial
mutations aren't. So take billions of Rolex watches. Shake the box once.
Examine all the boxes. Replace the contents of a fraction of the boxes where
no parts have lined up with copies of the contents of boxes where some parts
have lined up. Cemnent the aligned parts together with a soluble glue. Repeat
the process several billion times, preserving and propagating the instances
where you've come closer to reassembling the Rolex. Once you get a
fully-assembled Rolex, replace the contents of the other boxes with copies of
it. Dissolve the glue.
Note: Though the above analogy is closer to how evolution works than is the
standard fundamentalist bullshit originally posted, it's not strictly
analogous: Both analogies implicitly assume you've got a final design intended
from the outset. That's not the case with evolution; it's just another straw
man thrown in by fundies whose primary source of information about evolution is
the ICR.
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Carl J Lydick | INTERnet: CARL@SOL1.GPS.CALTECH.EDU | NSI/HEPnet: SOL1::CARL
Disclaimer: Hey, I understand VAXen and VMS. That's what I get paid for. My
understanding of astronomy is purely at the amateur level (or below). So
unless what I'm saying is directly related to VAX/VMS, don't hold me or my
organization responsible for it. If it IS related to VAX/VMS, you can try to
hold me responsible for it, but my organization had nothing to do with it.
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