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Author Topic:   Why does evolutionary science seem to be
Prozacman
Inactive Member


Message 106 of 107 (86458)
02-15-2004 3:53 PM
Reply to: Message 50 by Jagz Beach
02-09-2004 7:06 PM


Sorry this took so long.
No, science is not religious in the "I have FAITH that evolution occures" sense. Science is about wonder and curiosity, and using logical and consistent ways(observation, experimentation, etc.)to find answers to what makes us wonder. The only way, I think, that science demonstrates "faith" is when scientists have come to rely on the methods of scientific inquiry, and this is due to the fact that these "methods" have worked so many times in the past in finding the answers. Although there seem to be more books these days written by scientist writers on the subject of God,(God & the New Physics, Paul Davies for example), these are usually popular works not written for scientific peer review. I may be wrong however on this as I don't know if "Science", a leading peer review journal has ever accepted for publication articles with "God" as a subject. This certainly shows the character of science in that it doesn't delve too deeply into religious questions. I personally do not deny the possibility of a creator-god, but the "...probabilty of a creator..." as you say is for me a matter that cannot be tested with the methods of science. Therefor I as well as scientists in general would agree, I think, that the question can be left to the theologians. Perhaps someday, science may create a test whereby God, or gods, can or can't be shown to exist, but faith in an "authority" (like the Bible) doesn't cut the mustard in science.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 50 by Jagz Beach, posted 02-09-2004 7:06 PM Jagz Beach has not replied

  
Mammuthus
Member (Idle past 6735 days)
Posts: 3085
From: Munich, Germany
Joined: 08-09-2002


Message 107 of 107 (86613)
02-16-2004 6:01 AM
Reply to: Message 99 by Loudmouth
02-13-2004 11:22 AM


Hi Loudmouth,
Here is one reference from total mtDNA genome sequences
Nature. 2000 Dec 7;408(6813):708-13. Related Articles, Links
Erratum in:
Nature 2001 Mar 29;410(6828):611.
Comment in:
Nature. 2000 Dec 7;408(6813):652-3.
Mitochondrial genome variation and the origin of modern humans.
Ingman M, Kaessmann H, Paabo S, Gyllensten U.
Department of Genetics and Pathology, Section of Medical Genetics, University of Uppsala, Sweden.
The analysis of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) has been a potent tool in our understanding of human evolution, owing to characteristics such as high copy number, apparent lack of recombination, high substitution rate and maternal mode of inheritance. However, almost all studies of human evolution based on mtDNA sequencing have been confined to the control region, which constitutes less than 7% of the mitochondrial genome. These studies are complicated by the extreme variation in substitution rate between sites, and the consequence of parallel mutations causing difficulties in the estimation of genetic distance and making phylogenetic inferences questionable. Most comprehensive studies of the human mitochondrial molecule have been carried out through restriction-fragment length polymorphism analysis, providing data that are ill suited to estimations of mutation rate and therefore the timing of evolutionary events. Here, to improve the information obtained from the mitochondrial molecule for studies of human evolution, we describe the global mtDNA diversity in humans based on analyses of the complete mtDNA sequence of 53 humans of diverse origins. Our mtDNA data, in comparison with those of a parallel study of the Xq13.3 region in the same individuals, provide a concurrent view on human evolution with respect to the age of modern humans.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 99 by Loudmouth, posted 02-13-2004 11:22 AM Loudmouth has not replied

  
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