Empirical Evidence for Evolution

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Originally posted by Fred Williams:
Yes, evolution is capable of explaining EVERYTHING, that is one reason why it is a bad theory (in fact it doesn’t even deserve theory status, at best it’s a low-grade hypothesis).

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Wow, I only intended to lurk here but this is just too rich. Fred thinks that because a theory explains "everything" it's a bad theory. So Fred, tell us how evolution explains "everything" and then tell us why it is bad to have things explained. Then tell us how your theory does not explain "everything." I've got to hear this!

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Originally posted by Fred Williams:
Edge, I never said it is bad to have things explained. I said it is bad if the theory explains EVERYTHING. Do you understand the difference?

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Well, I just hope that physicist never come up with a grand unified theory. They'd obviously be wrong. First, you have not shown me that the ToE explains "everything." Second, I don't suppose it would occur to you that the theory of evolution explains so many things (everything?) might be because it is robust.

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Why is it bad for a theory to accommodate and explain everything? It means it is not *falsifiable*, a classic criterion for the validity of a theory.

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You are wrong here. There a plenty of lines of evidence that would falsify evolution. In fact most real evolutionists would enjoy seeing the revolution that the downfall of evolution would bring.

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Very few, if any, tests puts the theory at risk. The most common prediction you get from an evolutionist is that you won’t find a mammal in Cambrian strata. The problem is, 1) vertebrate fossilization is very rare, 2) due to its rarity such a find, if it ever occurred, would be explained away as a local flood within the appropriate geologic time (its quite convenient for the evolutionist that stasis, a creationist expectation which has been borne out by the evidence, comes to their rescue here).

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Sorry, Fred, but if there were solid evidence that the fossils were contemporaneous, it would be accepted. Do you really think that we cannot recognize transported fossils or geological processes the would juxtapose them? Do you think that geology has just been made up? The point is that it hasn't happened.

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Even from a creationist POV it would be extraordinarily lucky to find such a fossil buried with a bunch of cambrian animals. There are plenty of examples already of out-of-place fossils that have been explained away by evolutionists. The test is toothless.

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Funny that we do find mammalian vertebrate fossils so commonly in the later Phanerozoic, isnt' it?And of course the test is toothless because evolution explains the fossil record. If it really happened, the teeth would be very big, and sharp.As to the out of place fossils, I'm afraid that these are hoaxes that you have fallen for. If you would like to discuss any specific examples, I, or someone else would be glad to show you the logical fallacies involved in their discoveries. Probably your frustration occurs because evolutionary explanations are so compelling.

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I also hear that finding evidence of a modern day dino, or evidence of dinos with man, would falsify evolution. However, I also have heard from many evolutionists that this would not falsify the theory because it would be explained as a living fossil.

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Fred, we have been over this before. It does not matter when a fossil disappears from the record, so much as when it appears. A modern dinosaur would be a shock but not a test of evolution.

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Like I said, the theory is set up to explain everything, which means it explains nothing.

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What do you mean by everything? It does not explain abiogenesis. It does not explain some specific features developed by living organisms. It does not explain gravity. If it truly explained "everything" you wouldn't even be here. [QUOTE]Things that would put creation theory at risk:* Clear cut lineages and clear cut ancestor-descendant relationships in the fossil record
* Large-scale transposition
* Lararckian inheritance
* Concrete examples of increases in complex information in rapid reproductive cycle organisms such as bacteria & fruitflies.[/b][/QUOTE]You forgot one. The fossil record. In fact that is the main line of evidence leading to abandonment of creationism by the scientific community.

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[This message has been edited by edge, 01-10-2002]

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[This message has been edited by edge, 01-10-2002]