An Easy Way to Explain Evolution

Started by Pointless Digression, May 05, 2011, 07:27:25 AM

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Pointless Digression

         

Oniya

*snickers at the first sentence*

I actually have a colorblind friend who claims purple 'doesn't exist'.  Examples of purple that are shown to him are either 'pink', 'blue', or 'red', or he jokes that they are invisible.  (The purple bathing suit I had for a while was a great hit.)

As a cross-stitch artist who will frequently define colors by dye-lot (and works with blends), I approve of this example of evolution.
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Sure

I'd say this is more an argument for Intelligent Design, since, after all, someone typed this.  :P

Shjade

If it were Intelligent Design, he wouldn't have written "it's" when he meant "its."

Science doesn't respect grammar.
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Sabby

If it was intelligent design it would read "This is red, this is blue. Problem?"

Sure

Quote from: Sabby on May 07, 2011, 07:17:25 AM
If it was intelligent design it would read "This is red, this is blue. Problem?"

You're mixing up ID and creationism.

Tamhansen

If it were intelligent design, it wouldn't have come up with humans. I'm going for enviroment based microevolution
ons and offs

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Silk

Quote from: Sure on May 07, 2011, 08:42:12 AM
You're mixing up ID and creationism.
The difference being that one claims its the god of the bible while the other doesn't give a full definition which god did it. Even the courts declared that ID is just a rebranding of creationism.

Sabby

Yeah, Intelligent Design and Creationism are one and the same, they just thought the school boards were as thick as a literal board and changed the name when Creationism wasn't guna fly.

Tamhansen

ons and offs

They left their home of summer ease
Beneath the lowland's sheltering trees,
To seek, by ways unknown to all,
The promise of the waterfall.

Jude

ID and Creationism are, as theories, actually are significantly different.  ID for example, would be confirmed if we found evidence that alien species modified monkey DNA to give way to the creation of human beings.  That same piece of evidence would actually be dis-confirming to creationism, which is a more narrow version of ID that requires intelligent design by a god.

Teaching creationism was rejected because of Separation of Church and State, whereas ID was thrown out because it's not scientifically viable.  Now ID is most definitely an attempt at circumventing the former problem by pretending to be science tactically by those who support it in the US.  They're the same people, doing the same things, towards the same ends.

Pointless Digression

To nitpick whether or not there is a difference between ID and creationism, I'm going to refer to the decision of the district court in Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District.

Quote from: Judge Jones, pg. 43
The overwhelming evidence at trial established that ID is a religious view, a mere re-labeling of creationism, and not a scientific theory.
         

Branwen

Hi, science teacher here.

I'd use it in class to explain speciation.  It's rather clever and might help a student have an 'Oh!  I get it!' moment.

I live for those.  Thanks, Pointless Digression!

Will

So, tell me this!  If red evolved into blue, then why do we still have red!?

Boom.  Evolution disproved.  You're welcome.
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Zakharra

Quote from: Will on May 08, 2011, 10:50:00 PM
So, tell me this!  If red evolved into blue, then why do we still have red!?

Boom.  Evolution disproved.  You're welcome.

*SLAP*

That one thing evolved into blue. There are other thngs that are still red.

Tamhansen

If evolution only evolved smarter beings all the time, we wouldn't have creationists.

ergo creationists prove by their very existence that evolution is a random process.

ons and offs

They left their home of summer ease
Beneath the lowland's sheltering trees,
To seek, by ways unknown to all,
The promise of the waterfall.

Sabby

...now that I'm thinking on it... has there ever been a Christian in the X-Men? o.o

Tamhansen

yup. many even. Most of them as antagonists, though i believe storm was christian as well. (there were some hints of that at least) But many of the genosha people were christians
ons and offs

They left their home of summer ease
Beneath the lowland's sheltering trees,
To seek, by ways unknown to all,
The promise of the waterfall.

HairyHeretic

I seem to recall Nightcrawler having a rather strong Christian faith.
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Sabby

Any Creationists then? xD Jubilee doesn't count...

Tamhansen

Is jubilee a creationist?

I can think of only one who showed signs of creationism to be honest.  Senator robert kelly
ons and offs

They left their home of summer ease
Beneath the lowland's sheltering trees,
To seek, by ways unknown to all,
The promise of the waterfall.

Branwen

Quote from: Will on May 08, 2011, 10:50:00 PM
So, tell me this!  If red evolved into blue, then why do we still have red!?

Boom.  Evolution disproved.  You're welcome.
That's actually a question I get a lot, and it's a good one.  On the face of it, your point does seem to have merit and explaining the thinking behind the correct answer is critical.

It's not that all red evolved into all blue but rather that the Red began to show a change in gene frequency at the population level.  We must remember that evolution works at the population level, and in every population there will be random variation in allele types and frequencies.  So, some Reds had a slight mutation.

Obviously there was some fitness advantage to the mutation.  What that might be is often difficult to determine, but there was some else it would be selected against.  Perhaps the Somewhat Less than Reds were able to exploit a food source more effectively, or had a resistance to a disease, or were better camouflaged; it could be anything.  As time went on, and we're talking geologic time, some Reds maintained as Reds, and some Somewhat Less than Reds continued to show random variation and mutation in the alleles.  Over time, they became a separate, or even several separate species from the Reds.  At the far end, you have the Blues.  At the origin, you have the Reds.  And in between you show a clear progression of forms, some of which might have become distinct species, such as the Purple.

So, Red gave rise to the Purples and Blues, but not every Red evolved.  We see a spectrum, which is another reason why I like the graphic.

Will

Well, yeah.  I was being facetious.  The "why do we still have monkeys" thing gets trotted out quite often, and I was having a laugh at its expense.
If you can heal the symptoms, but not affect the cause
It's like trying to heal a gunshot wound with gauze

One day, I will find the right words, and they will be simple.
- Jack Kerouac

Branwen

Oh...

Erm, I apologize.  I didn't catch the tone.  Thank you very much for taking the time to clarify.

Will

No no, don't apologize!  You explained it very well.  :D
If you can heal the symptoms, but not affect the cause
It's like trying to heal a gunshot wound with gauze

One day, I will find the right words, and they will be simple.
- Jack Kerouac