quote:
Originally posted by Tranquility Base:
Schraf
IMO, if you think historical geology is 'science' in the same sense as Netwonian mechanics, electrodynamics or chemistry I think you are mistaken.
The scenarios of histroical geology, whether flood or mainstream are simply that, scenarios. We have our scenario and you have yours. They both have pros and cons. There is no analogy in gravitation or electrodynamics. Of course one can always delve deeper into electrodynamics to get a better understanding but on the issue of the geo-col we disagree at the big picture level, not on fine details.
One of us is right and the other is wrong. Both of us are doing science to try and show that our model reproduces the geo-col. You like a model of eons we like one with a huge flood. We're both doing science, we both habve hints we are right, but with all due respect to the historicial geologists here from both camps, the scenarios produced are not comparable in reliability to those of simple physical, chemical or, for that matter, geological systems. The geo-col is not a simple object.
The 'trade secret' I was talking about was the paleontological boys' club misdemeanor of not telling us that there were systematically almost no transitonal forms as eventually admitted by Gould et al.
JM: A quick interjection. I have little time at the moment for these debates since being handed some new editorial repsonsibilities, but I can't let this one go. Geologists worked within the flood paradigm 150+ years ago. The paradigm failed to match the observations. 150+ years of observations has not made things better for flood geologists only much, much worse. There are no critical scientists who accept a Noachian-type global flood because there is nothing (at all) in the rock record to support such an event.
As to the transitional story, Gould was exaggerating to make a point. There are indeed some very nice, fine transitionals in the fossil record (for example amongst the foraminefera). Quote-mining is an old tactic used by creationist, but seldom is substance included.
Cheers
Joe Meert
PS: I should be clear of this cloud by mid-January to early Feb
{Fixed quote box - AM}
[This message has been edited by Adminnemooseus, 12-27-2002]
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