Category: Evolution
Posts about evolution, science, and the philosophy of science
Science vs. religion, evolution vs. creation, “blind watchmaker” vs. “intelligent designer,” and other related debates are a national undercurrent in America. The USA is quite unique among developed nations in that these debates remain, while in most developed nations “science” has “won,” and few people self-report as religious.
The following posts and discussions are intended to offer clarity about how science really works, what evolutionary theory really says, and how these facts impinge upon the plausibility of “supernaturalism” and spirituality.
Mainstream Fossil Interpretation
Mainstream evolutionists are well-represented by the following short video clip, as they use various inferences and argumentation to interpret what the fossil record shows.
Fossils and Transitional Forms — This 9-minute clip argues that the fossil record does beautifully support …
Ring Species–Ensatina Salamanders
Please first watch the 3:15-minute YouTube video (which opens in a new page/tab), and then come back to this page to read the analysis of the argumentation.
Now, let us consider the important points….
We do not find any hybrids …
Ring Species–Greenish Warbler
Start by watching this about 4-minute video on YouTube (which displays in a new window/tab), and then return here for critique.
First, of significant note are the comments on the YouTube page. The arrogance and stridency exhibited in the comments …
Speciation Events Continued
Now that we better understand what a “species” is and why some line of demarcation must be employed, we can look closely at some classic examples of supposed speciation events.
Remember that scientists really must point to speciation events (either …
Speciation Events
We often use terms without really thinking about what they mean: “Justice,” for example, or “lost.” Human beings are able to handle a lot of ambiguity without feeling too troubled by it. However, when an entire world view (or the …
Natural Selection
The defining characteristic of Darwinism is the mechanism of natural selection.
Natural selection is the theorized process by which members of a given generation (containing some “modification” in their genomes that is morphologically evident) get “selected” to reproduce or not.…
Modern Evolutionary Theory (neo-Darwinism)
We have thus far talked about a lot of terminology, and we are in a position now to pull more pieces of the puzzle together into a coherent picture of what so-called “neo-Darwinism” or the “neo-Darwinian synthesis” really is.
“Darwinism”
…What does “materialism” mean?
This term seems more straightforward than many of the others we are defining. But even this term has important subtleties that are too often overlooked. Evolutionists mean something very particular by it.
In short, “materialism” is a metaphysical commitment. It …
What does “naturalism” mean?
If ever there was a misunderstood term among religionists, this is it. Phillip Johnson has done more than anybody to clear up this term, but confusions remain, and even Johnson doesn’t go far enough. So, here we will attempt to …
What does “evolution” mean?
Many Christians think that the word means something much like this: “The progression of living things from ‘lower’ to ‘higher’ over time, where ‘lower’ sorts of creatures slowly turn into ‘higher’ sorts of creatures.” They imagine that evolutionists are committed …