8-18-06 Let's Be Scientific
An article on Wednesday describes the recent discovery of genetic material specifically related to the size of the brain in humans. It's a curiously interesting article, since (from my reading of it) it lends much more credence to the claims of the Intelligent Design crowd than it does to the Evolutionists...
http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology/060816_har1_gene.html
...despite obviously being written within the context of a complete acceptance of evolutionary theory.
Here's the key quote from the article, "In the time since humans and chimps split about 6 million years ago, HAR1 has racked up 18 base substitutions when only one or none would be expected by chance."
Well, now, let's see... the "by chance" theory says that this is how humans evolved. Yet, the changes in this particular area of the human genome, unique to humans, has changed over the past 6 million years in a manner that completely goes against the odds of it happening "by chance". The odds are either 18 to 1, or they are 18 to infinity!
Within the dogma dichotomy between scientism and religionism, I'd be very understanding if the scientists involved never said another word about it. But outside of that war between faiths, I'd consider it an affront to science for anyone to skew this line of inquiry with either dogmatic assumption.
Evolutionary theory is applied in much too defensive a manner. If it weren't for the cultural dichotomy, long standing and quite emotional, between the embracing of science versus the embracing of traditional religion, objectivity in these matters would be so much easier.
http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology/060816_har1_gene.html
...despite obviously being written within the context of a complete acceptance of evolutionary theory.
Here's the key quote from the article, "In the time since humans and chimps split about 6 million years ago, HAR1 has racked up 18 base substitutions when only one or none would be expected by chance."
Well, now, let's see... the "by chance" theory says that this is how humans evolved. Yet, the changes in this particular area of the human genome, unique to humans, has changed over the past 6 million years in a manner that completely goes against the odds of it happening "by chance". The odds are either 18 to 1, or they are 18 to infinity!
Within the dogma dichotomy between scientism and religionism, I'd be very understanding if the scientists involved never said another word about it. But outside of that war between faiths, I'd consider it an affront to science for anyone to skew this line of inquiry with either dogmatic assumption.
Evolutionary theory is applied in much too defensive a manner. If it weren't for the cultural dichotomy, long standing and quite emotional, between the embracing of science versus the embracing of traditional religion, objectivity in these matters would be so much easier.
posted by Jeff Barnard at 5:58 AM
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