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Author Topic:   An accurate analogy of Evolution by Natural selection
Percy
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Posts: 22391
From: New Hampshire
Joined: 12-23-2000
Member Rating: 5.2


Message 21 of 49 (512001)
06-13-2009 6:44 AM
Reply to: Message 20 by slevesque
06-13-2009 4:54 AM


Re: Analogy -- not!
This is off-topic, but just to clarify what Dr. Jones is saying, the coelacanth is considered a legitimate living fossil, but it is also true that it is not unchanged from 60 or 70 million years ago (the age of the most recent known fossils). The coelacanth species alive today are not the same ones as those fossil species. Coelacanth doesn't even refer to a species, it's an order. That's three levels up from the species level (species, genus, family, order). Other living fossil species like the horseshoe crab are in the same situation, very similar to remote ancestors but not the same species.
I agree with others that your first attempt at an analogy to evolution, the video copying, should be abandoned.
The purpose of an analogy is explanatory, to render understandable something unfamiliar by showing how it is similar to something familiar. But there is nothing similar to evolution in day-to-day experience - if there were then evolution would have been figured out long before Darwin, and there wouldn't be so much difficulty understanding it today.
You mentioned the creationist "tornado in a junkyard" analogy, and it isn't an analogy to evolution in any recognizable way. Random parts just flying together to create a 747 is a miracle, not evolution.
I'd never heard of the creationist house blueprint analogy, but it sounds like something that might have potential. How's it go?
--Percy
Edited by Percy, : Grammar.

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Percy
Member
Posts: 22391
From: New Hampshire
Joined: 12-23-2000
Member Rating: 5.2


Message 24 of 49 (512022)
06-13-2009 11:01 AM
Reply to: Message 22 by Dr Adequate
06-13-2009 10:05 AM


Re: Analogy -- not!
Dr Adequate writes:
* We don't need any analogy. The ideas in evolution are not so abstruse that we need it put into baby-talk for us.
Maybe it only seems this may to me because we're discussing with people with such a big stake in not understanding evolution, or who have already been exposed to a lot of misinformation and miseducation, but the poor science background of Americans in general leads me to believe that maybe the process of evolution, even at just a general level, isn't anywhere near as obvious to them as it seems to us.
--Percy

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 Message 22 by Dr Adequate, posted 06-13-2009 10:05 AM Dr Adequate has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 27 by Dr Adequate, posted 06-13-2009 1:27 PM Percy has replied

  
Percy
Member
Posts: 22391
From: New Hampshire
Joined: 12-23-2000
Member Rating: 5.2


Message 32 of 49 (512032)
06-13-2009 3:53 PM
Reply to: Message 27 by Dr Adequate
06-13-2009 1:27 PM


Re: Analogy -- not!
The theory of evolution, as it actually is, has to be repeatedly shoved in their faces for them to turn to their last resort and try to find something wrong with the actual theory. If you offer them any excuse not to confront it, they won't.
Yes, sir, Mr. Rumsfeld!
Anti-evolutionism remains strong in the US and is increasing its influence in countries like the UK, Turkey and Australia. I don't think we've found a workable strategy yet.
--Percy

This message is a reply to:
 Message 27 by Dr Adequate, posted 06-13-2009 1:27 PM Dr Adequate has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 33 by Dr Adequate, posted 06-13-2009 4:20 PM Percy has not replied

  
Percy
Member
Posts: 22391
From: New Hampshire
Joined: 12-23-2000
Member Rating: 5.2


Message 49 of 49 (512703)
06-20-2009 5:21 AM
Reply to: Message 48 by slevesque
06-20-2009 5:02 AM


Re: Analogy -- not!
There are both random and non-random causes of mutation. The transposase enzyme is one cause of mutations, but it is not necessarily non-random. According to the Wikipedia article on transposons, some types move specific DNA to specific targets, while others act more randomly.
--Percy

This message is a reply to:
 Message 48 by slevesque, posted 06-20-2009 5:02 AM slevesque has not replied

  
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