Monday, October 12, 2009

I guess I have been Evolutionized

Via facebook I became aware that Answers In Genesis, that paragon of stupidity, is warning people that they might have been "Evolutionized"

Evolution can become so ingrained in our thinking that we don’t even notice it. Our government schools and universities are entrenched in evolution, from biology to philosophy and even English class. There is no escaping evolution after we graduate, either. We encounter it in the newspaper, on the radio, on television, and in blockbuster movies.


Yes, it's funny how science can become ingrained in our thinking isn't it? Concepts like the fact that our world rotates around a sun, and not the other way around, that it's round, and that there is something called gravity, also seem to be ingrained in our thinking.

So, how do you know if you’ve been evolutionized? Here are a few questions to find out:


Given the fact that AIG hasn't ever demonstrated that they understand evolution, I am quite doubtful of their ability to make sensible questions related to it. But let's go through the questions, shall we?

Are tribes in the South American rain forest more primitive forms of humans than we are?


And BAM! Straight away, stupidity strikes. Biologically speaking, there is no difference between humans, so the question makes absolutely no sense. It's like asking: "Which of these forks are most fork-like?" Forks are forks, like humans are humans.

The concept of "primitive" humans is a socio-economic construct, and has historically been propagated by, among other things, organized religion.

Did dinosaurs live before humans?


We know that dinosaurs roamed the Earth in the period from 230 to 65 million years ago. We also know that the oldest known fossil of Homo sapiens is approximately 200,000 years old. Do the math.

Even if we take the oldest know fossil of an ancestor (or, more likely, a species which shares a common ancestor with us), Ida, is approximately 47 million years old.

Were the people who lived in caves and used simple tools not very intelligent?


Depends on what you mean by "people" and "intelligent".

Chimpanzees use spears for hunting and Rooks can use tools as well, yet I think few people would claim that they are as intelligent as us. Ancestors to Homo sapiens also used tools, and some even lived in caves, and it's quite likely that they were less intelligent than what we are now.

If we are only talking about Homo sapiens, then they quite intelligent. They figured out to use tools after all. What they were lacking however, was all the knowledge we now have, including such things as common languages and writing.

Did Noah lack special tools or equipment to build the Ark?


The Ark is supposed to have carried 14 (or perhaps 7) or 2 of all animals, depending upon their cleanness. Given the number of species which exist, this would require an extremely large boat - way beyond the skills of the time. Even now, it's not possible to build a wooden boat large enough to fit them all, or even to just accommodate the measures given in the Bible

This of course ignores all the other problems with the global flood story.

So, this question is much like asking: "Does Santa Claus lack special tools or equipment to maintain his sled?" The problem is not the tools, but the fact that what is described is fundamentally impossible.

Are the stars older than the earth?


Yes. As a matter of fact, most, if not all, stars are older than the earth.

What does this have to do with evolution anyway? I can see why the global flood and Noah's Ark might relate to evolution, but the age of stars?

Is there more than one race?


Race is a social construct, so this has nothing to do with science and evolution.

Does it take millions of years to form fossils, oil, coal, or diamonds?


Yes. What's more, diamonds are formed from coal.

Did Adam have to learn how to speak, read, and write after he was created?


Quite often people misuses the phrase "begging the question", but this is actually a very good example of it. For this question to make sense, we have to grant the premise of Adam having been created.

Well, guess what, I am not going to grant that premise.

Unless AIG can provide any scientific evidence of the creation of a human male approximately 6000 years ago (heck, give or take a few millenniums), by some divine being, I am going to say that this question is nonsense.

We understand the evolution of our species pretty well, and know that it's much older than the mere 6000 years that AIG and other Biblical literalists claim.

We also know that many species communicates (or speak if you prefer), so it's quite possible, even likely, that our ancestors communicated before becoming Homo sapiens.

Anyway, that was the questions which should demonstrate whether the reader was evolutionized. If you answered yes to any of them, then you are supposedly evolutionized - which presumably means that answering no, would mean that you reject evolution, even if the questions didn't make sense or were based on a wrong, even grotesquely warped, understanding of what evolution entails.

If you can bear the stupidity, try to see the answers to the questions accordingly to AIG - they also give the answer from the evolutionary side as well. As horribly wrong as anything else they say.

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1 Comments:

Blogger Sqrt(D) said...

I did read their answers, and I'm not sure that these people even know much about evolution. They seem to see evolution as another form of religion, pure belief.

It might sound great to the uneducated and those that have already decided to believe what AIG promotes, but why even act like it's going to change the mind of an educated person with basic critical thinking skills?

October 13, 2009 9:25 PM  

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