22 replies to this topic

[ApostateDave]

Why Evolution is True by Jerry Coyne is one of the best books I've ever read. The video is by the same author and is long, but well worth watching it.

[John09]

Got to watch this video later. Thanks for sharing it.

I'm still trying to finish the book. I'm on the sex drives evolution chapter. So far, I have enjoyed his book very much, and have learned a lot from it.

[Margee]

Can't wait to watch this tommorrow with my morning coffee! Thanks ADave!

[Thought2Much]

Can't wait to watch this tommorrow with my morning coffee! Thanks ADave!

Margee, I'm just randomly trying to bump your reputation to 1000 here.

[Margee]

Can't wait to watch this tommorrow with my morning coffee! Thanks ADave!
Thought2 much.......Margee, I'm just randomly trying to bump your reputation to 1000 here.

thank you my dear friend... very much! I am thrilled today to be at 1000 points!

I really am looking forward to watching this at one point today. I am now just beginning to learn about evolution and I want to know everything about how we actually got here!!

[ApostateDave]

Can't wait to watch this tommorrow with my morning coffee! Thanks ADave!
Thought2 much.......Margee, I'm just randomly trying to bump your reputation to 1000 here.

thank you my dear friend... very much! I am thrilled today to be at 1000 points!

I really am looking forward to watching this at one point today. I am now just beginning to learn about evolution and I want to know everything about how we actually got here!!

No prob. BTW, congrats on 1k points! Evolution is one of the most interedting subjects I've ever studied. I'm planning on majoring in biology, btw. Do you mind if I share some websites with you that I highly recommend for studying and videos you may like?

Also, evolution is not the ORIGIN of life, evolution is the DEVELOPMENT of life. Abiogenesis explains how we got here. It's a common misconception and you may want to know that.

[ApostateDave]

Got to watch this video later. Thanks for sharing it.

I'm still trying to finish the book. I'm on the sex drives evolution chapter. So far, I have enjoyed his book very much, and have learned a lot from it.

I just finished reading it a few weeks ago actually. My favorite part was when he spoke on vestiges and bad design. I thought that was interesting. It's also interesting to note in his chapter on the geography of life that,"I have never seen any Creationists book or article attempt to refute the evidence based on geography." (Coyne 2008, paraphrased)

[Inqui]

Why Evolution is True by Jerry Coyne is one of the best books I've ever read. The video is by the same author and is long, but well worth watching it.

^^^^ What I wish I'd learned in school. I was fascinated by the evolution of the whale and the Vitamin C deficiency in humans, particularly as I recently saw the latter as an example of bad design given how much we need the stuff.

Btw, the standard response to the vestigial organs is that there almost certainly is a use, just that we don't know it yet. I'd say that's the most scientific part of Creationism though.

[ApostateDave]

Why Evolution is True by Jerry Coyne is one of the best books I've ever read. The video is by the same author and is long, but well worth watching it.

^^^^ What I wish I'd learned in school. I was fascinated by the evolution of the whale and the Vitamin C deficiency in humans, particularly as I recently saw the latter as an example of bad design given how much we need the stuff.

Btw, the standard response to the vestigial organs is that there almost certainly is a use, just that we don't know it yet. I'd say that's the most scientific part of Creationism though.

If you read his book, he shoots the argument out of the water:

But this response completely misses the point. Vestiges are not function-less; rather, they are traits which have lost all or almost all of the function for which it evolve.

By that definition, an ostritch wing is vestige.

[Inqui]

Why Evolution is True by Jerry Coyne is one of the best books I've ever read. The video is by the same author and is long, but well worth watching it.

^^^^ What I wish I'd learned in school. I was fascinated by the evolution of the whale and the Vitamin C deficiency in humans, particularly as I recently saw the latter as an example of bad design given how much we need the stuff.

Btw, the standard response to the vestigial organs is that there almost certainly is a use, just that we don't know it yet. I'd say that's the most scientific part of Creationism though.

If you read his book, he shoots the argument out of the water:

But this response completely misses the point. Vestiges are not function-less; rather, they are traits which have lost all or almost all of the function for which it evolve.

By that definition, an ostritch wing is vestige.

I might have to try find this book. If they're being given away at the museum it can't be too expensive.

What I also find interesting is how the school I was at had no problems teaching Mendel's genetics (evolution in action) and radioactive decay (how we know carbon dating is reliable), but Darwin's works were a heresy.

[Margee]

Also, evolution is not the ORIGIN of life, evolution is the DEVELOPMENT of life. Abiogenesis explains how we got here. It's a common misconception and you may want to know that.

OK Dave..I'm going to sit here and watch this tonight. What you said above??? this will be VERY interesting to learn. Here I go...I'll report tomorrow!! I got popcorn and hot chocolate for this!!

[ApostateDave]

Also, evolution is not the ORIGIN of life, evolution is the DEVELOPMENT of life. Abiogenesis explains how we got here. It's a common misconception and you may want to know that.

OK Dave..I'm going to sit here and watch this tonight. What you said above??? this will be VERY interesting to learn. Here I go...I'll report tomorrow!! I got popcorn and hot chocolate for this!!

Creationists often criticize evolution for not being able to explain the origin of life or making it appear that evolution explains how we got here. However, it does not. What I mean is that if you want to know the theories of how life GOT to earth, study abiogenesis and not evolution. If you want to understand the DEVELOPMENT of life, study evolution.

[FeelHappy]

The book is my favorite introduction to evolution that I've read thus far. I need to watch this video soon.

Edited by FeelHappy, 17 June 2012 - 11:33 PM.

[Ouroboros]

Btw, the standard response to the vestigial organs is that there almost certainly is a use, just that we don't know it yet.

That's true to some degree. It's very likely the vestigial organs have taken on new functions that have some benefits and therefore are not selected against, but even nun-functioning organs (or superflous organs) can stay for a very long time without being selected against. Only when some function/organ effects the survival (positive or negative) will it stay or go. Sometimes, it can be selected against just for the simple fact of being too "costly" for the organism to develop. Sometimes it can be too costly to get rid of. So it's not a guarantee that a vestigial organ has a new function, but there's always a chance it has.

[scriptor]

Looks very interesting. I'll have to watch it later. Thanks for sharing!

[scriptor]

Just watched the video, and found it really interesting. Thanks again for sharing it!

[ApostateDave]

Just watched the video, and found it really interesting. Thanks again for sharing it!

No problem. Glad you found it interesting. I will post some more excellent videos on evolution.

[TrueFreedom]

I shared this video with a creationist. It almost convinced her to at least re-examine a few things but it ultimately offended her and turned her off to evolution when he joked at the end about having to kill off creationists in order to move forward.

[Citsonga]

Thanks for sharing the video. I liked the book, and the video is good too.

I shared this video with a creationist. It almost convinced her to at least re-examine a few things but it ultimately offended her and turned her off to evolution when he joked at the end about having to kill off creationists in order to move forward.

While Jerry probably shouldn't have mentioned it at all, he was actually referring to what someone else had said, and Jerry himself said that he didn't condone it.

[Akheia]

I thought it was an awesome lecture. The bit about shooting religious people was an off note, but it's sad that Citsonga's religious friend let herself get tone trolled out of learning something.

It was shocking to me how many people believe creationism, but even more so it shocked me how much science has shown evolution to be the truth. I knew it was already, but hadn't realized how far the science had come in the last few decades (it's been a while since I graduated high school, which is where I learned the bulk of what I knew about biology up until the last few years). I don't think scientists have done a very effective job of getting that info out to people, but even more than that I have to think that creationists themselves are doing their level best to block science education in the USA. There's no way in hell an upper-level creationist (like the King of Asshats himself, Michael Behe) could look at the evidence and not only refuse evolution's validity but also demand that his snake-oil version be taught as if it were true. There's just no way.

Chicken or egg. Do we have a dysfunctional society because theocrats have run roughshod over facts for the last half-century? Or are theocrats so comfortably privileged because we are dysfunctional?