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Author Topic:   Materialistic prejudice?
Jaderis
Member (Idle past 3425 days)
Posts: 622
From: NY,NY
Joined: 06-16-2006


Message 1 of 2 (461377)
03-25-2008 3:02 AM


In Message 154, Beretta says this:
Beretta writes:
Granny Magda writes:
Evolution seems weird and freaky to me, therefore it's not real."
No,not at all, it doesn't seem weird and freaky and therefore unreasonable. I fully understand why some people believe it but then those people start out with assumptions that matter is all there is. That's not weird and freaky, just prejudiced.
It is marginally on topic for that thread, but I wanted to take this statement in another direction so I am starting a new thread.
I will start out with a story (parts of which I have shared here before).
I grew up without a set religion. I was never told what to believe or not believe, but I was always told to ask questions. My mother is a biologist and was completing her degree when I was in elementary school. She often took me to the university labs with her in the evenings when there was no babysitter available and, eventually, because I was fascinated with the lab and her explanations of what she was doing. I knew the basics of evolution through her and through school and through my own voracious appetite for reading anything and everything about animals and nature past and present.
Just like any other child growing up I also had lots of philosophical questions and a fascination with the metaphysical. I had knowledge of the concept of ghosts, the soul, god(s), etc and I was never told that they were not real. My mother allowed and encouraged me to muse upon these concepts and as I got older the questions got bigger and my fascination got stronger. She never once told me that I should only accept things on evidence (I think she figured I would come to that conclusion on my own). She is somewhat spiritual herself, but it wasn't until I was in my late teens that we actually talked about her beliefs because she didn't want to influence me in any way (it probably would have because I look up to her so much and especially so, then).
Anyway, to bring this to my point, I grew up tacitly believing in the "unseen" and strongly believing in some of those things at various points in my life. I never started out with a "matter is all there is" concept. I had never even thought to think that. I still don't because I can't know, but those concerns are not a part of my life.
However, I accept the evidence for evolution. I knew the basics early on and I learned more and more as I grew up (and am still learning). I don't just accept it because it "makes sense" because it doesn't always automatically make sense. The science behind evolution is complicated (although the basics are pretty straightforward) and it takes time and effort to understand it all and then something new comes along the next day. I accept it because I took the time to learn. I didn't have any pre-conceived notions that kept me from learning or that forced me to accept it.
My early education in evolution was at the same time as I was exploring religion and other metaphysical concepts. I never once thought that they were contradictory because I recognized science and metaphysics as completely different areas. It just never crossed my mind that they had anything to do with each other. Of course, as I grew older and learned through both education and my own trial and error, I came to the point that I am at now where I pretty much only accept things that have evidence to back them up. I still wonder about things like the "soul" when I am in a particularly introspective state of mind, but I know that whatever answers I come up with are mine and mine alone and I can't convince anyone else and I don't normally worry about it.
So, what do you (Beretta or anyone else who thinks that "evolutionists" are biased towards materialism) say to someone like me (and I am sure countless others)?
Do you think that all "evolutionists" grew up in a materialistic vacuum and/or only accepted evolution once they dismissed all things metaphysical?
Do you think that all evolutionary biologists (regardless of religious affiliation) would just toss contradictory evidence (if ever found) in the garbage because they all think that "matter is all that there is?"
Or is the more parsimonious answer that the evidence is material and speaks of material things, so the person viewing the evidence (again, regardless of religious affiliation) should consider the material evidence as presented? They can have their own ideas about what was behind it (I mean, even though we have the germ theory of disease, Sakpata could still be responsible, no?)and nobody's stopping them, but the material evidence still speaks of material things and their own ideas about divine or otherwise metaphysical influence would be extraneous and unnecessary for the science.

"You are metaphysicians. You can prove anything by metaphysics; and having done so, every metaphysician can prove every other metaphysician wrong--to his own satisfaction. You are anarchists in the realm of thought. And you are mad cosmos-makers. Each of you dwells in a cosmos of his own making, created out of his own fancies and desires. You do not know the real world in which you live, and your thinking has no place in the real world except in so far as it is phenomena of mental aberration." -The Iron Heel by Jack London
"Hazards exist that are not marked" - some bar in Chelsea

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Message 2 of 2 (461401)
03-25-2008 8:54 AM


Thread copied to the Materialistic prejudice? thread in the Is It Science? forum, this copy of the thread has been closed.

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