Anyways its to complex a topic to understand fully unless one is a social scientist.
Are we saying that Darwin's theory of evolution has been indisputably proven in this book 'Greatest show on Earth'. My understanding is that this theory is still only a hypothesis. Nothing more. Scientifically speaking.
the human species has two varieties - males and females.
consider these, and not ardh-naris or hermaphrodites.
Never once, has a female engaged me in a conversation about God, truth, the meaning of life, and the suchlike.
Now,why is that?
THE FEMALES OF THE SPECIES DO NOT WANT TO TALK ABOUT SUCH THINGS?
Evolution is certainly considered a theory, and not just a mere hypothesis.
Any answers to the key question - if evolution takes so painfully long, how is that NOT a single fossil has been discovered that displays partially evolved physical structure?
Regards
While this thread is really interesting to read it could get ugly.
Frankly, this is one of the most thought provoking threads I have ever had the pleasure to read. Makes you sit up and think, and makes you feel proud to be part of an elite group that dares to think out of the box. I am sure the participants are mature people who enjoy a discussion and agree to disagree if needed politely and as good gentlemen.
Till about the age of 45, I was a confirmed atheist and to some extent never believed in God. I had to question everything. Writings by S. Radhakrishnan, Issac Asimov and a hoist of others were devoured ravenously and made it necessary for my head to see everything logically and scientifically. I would travel far and wide and stay in 'haunted' houses to meet a paranormal 'being'. Fortunately or unfortunately I never had the pleasure.
But after that I have a had a series of events in my life that has changed me completely and made me a firm believer in God. I suppose belief in God has a lot to do with age and the need for an external power to give you strength. When you are young, you believe most of the power is within you. When you start facing insurmountable hassles you realise you are not as strong as you thought you were.
Cheers
Frankly, this is one of the most thought provoking threads I have ever had the pleasure to read. Makes you sit up and think, and makes you feel proud to be part of an elite group that dares to think out of the box. I am sure the participants are mature people who enjoy a discussion and agree to disagree if needed politely and as good gentlemen.
Till about the age of 45, I was a confirmed atheist and to some extent never believed in God. I had to question everything. Writings by S. Radhakrishnan, Issac Asimov and a hoist of others were devoured ravenously and made it necessary for my head to see everything logically and scientifically. I would travel far and wide and stay in 'haunted' houses to meet a paranormal 'being'. Fortunately or unfortunately I never had the pleasure.
But after that I have a had a series of events in my life that has changed me completely and made me a firm believer in God. I suppose belief in God has a lot to do with age and the need for an external power to give you strength. When you are young, you believe most of the power is within you. When you start facing insurmountable hassles you realise you are not as strong as you thought you were.
Cheers
By definition, a theory cannot be indisputably proven. But it does not mean the theory of evolution is as weak as a hypothesis i may propagate as Ramanujam.
Tricky thing - the definition of theory and hypothesis. I may betray my ignorance with this explanation, but will neverthless try one.
Hypothesis is the beginning, an educated (or) uneducated guess of why things happen. Some practical observations may support this hypothesis. With repeated oberservations and experiments two things can happen. There could be a counterexample (or) consistency.
As you find more and more observations that fit the hypothesis, it acquires the character of a theory. i,e repeatedly verified and no contradictions or counterexamples. It then becomes a scientific theory. It is generally regarded as something true, not merely a paper statement. Hence it is very different from hypothesis.
Evolution is certainly considered a theory, and not just a mere hypothesis.
The next complication - Again, by definition, a theory can be disproved. In the future one may find a counterexample. Right now, all available observations and experiments still support the theory. However it does not mean that all theories WILL be disproven (or) you can disregard the current weight of evidence.
I think the next complication is Law, something which is determinate and can explain every observation. For example, law of gravity or motion or thermodynamics. Maybe i can avoid venturing further into that area.
What Dawkins' latest book assembles is a mass of obervations, experiments and examples in support of the theory.
To that extent, evolution is a theory, and not a hypothesis. Other alternatives to evolution are not even hypotheses, since there are many contradictions and counterexamples to them.
I guess, the burden for pro-hypothesis person is in finding the proof through experiements and observations, while the burden for a anti-theory person may be in finding the counterexample or contradiction through whatever means.
Oh, can we get back to valve amplifiers please.
Anyways, as things stand I believe that whatever has happened and is happening in the universe is an organic process without a plan, 'meaning' or creator, since I have seen nothing to suggest that this is the case.
Ramanujam - while I thoroughly enjoyed reading this exposition about the fine points of difference between hypotheses and theories, the bottomline appears to be that the evolution theory as put forward by Darwin is far from being proven scientifically.
As for contradictions and counter-examples, there are many to be found even in the theory of evolution. Hence I disagree with the statement that ALL available evidence (scientific) points to the evolution theory of Darwin as being right. On reading a couple of extracts from Darwin's signature book on this subject I also came away with the idea that he was virulently racist - not that this necessarily had an impact on his theory. Still...
To end this, your excellent post prodded me to try and see if I can learn more about how 'theory' is actually defined. And when I went to Wikipedia, this is what I found. Most fascinating indeed, but still a bit unclear - if you get my drift.
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The term theory has two broad sets of meanings, one used in the empirical sciences (both natural and social) and the other used in philosophy, mathematics, logic, and across other fields in the humanities. There is considerable difference and even dispute across academic disciplines as to the proper usages of the term. What follows is an attempt to describe how the term is used, not to try to say how it ought to be used.
Although the scientific meaning is by far the more commonly used in academic discourse, it is hardly the only one used, and it would be a mistake to assume from the outset that a given use of the term "theory" in academic literature or discourse is a reference to a scientific or empirically-based theory.
Even so, since the use of the term theory in scientific or empirical inquiry is the more common one, it will be discussed first. (Other usages follow in the section labeled "Theories formally and generally.")
A theory, in the scientific sense of the word, is an analytic structure designed to explain a set of empirical observations. A scientific theory does two things:
it identifies this set of distinct observations as a class of phenomena, and
makes assertions about the underlying reality that brings about or affects this class.
In the scientific or empirical tradition, the term "theory" is reserved for ideas which meet baseline requirements about the kinds of empirical observations made, the methods of classification used, and the consistency of the theory in its application among members of the class to which it pertains. These requirements vary across different scientific fields of knowledge, but in general theories are expected to be functional and parsimonious: i.e. a theory should be the simplest possible tool that can be used to effectively address the given class of phenomena.
Oh and did this thread at some point focus on Valve amplifiers??By the way what happened to your purchase decision?
Well not everything is chaotic. If you see nature, it falls into a definite seasonal events that repeat themselves every year. There are intricate sensors that force clouds to move in particular direction and rain where the land is parched. A cross section of cold and warm areas on the earth make this planet liveable. Birds (and animals) instinctively understand this and migrate. We humans, on the other hand, are stupid. We pride ourselves on our intelligence and get hammered by nature every now and then. We are slowly destroying the delicate ecological balance, and I fear, we may all end up paying a huge price for this down the line.
One thing I would advise to all 'non-believers' is do something very simple. Take a couple of days off, and disappear into nature - a wild life resort or something with no connection to civilisation. I once stayed for 4 days in a hut in the middle of nowhere in Aanamalai hills. No electricity, no toilets, no kitchen, no mobiles, no bed to sleep on, AND nothing to do. Believe me it changes the way you think. The rules of the game are completely different. You are protecting yourselves against insects, snakes and unknown animals, and everything else becomes meaningless. You will see a beautiful sequence of simple events that all participants of nature will adhere to. When breaking a traffic rule could mean death, you will never drive on the wrong side of the road. Such events cannot be repeated day after day after day without some rules, unwritten though they may be.
Chaos theory is just staring to mature and it is too early in it's evolution to explain anything in an understandable manner.
Cheers
Me too ...I am feeling quite embarrassed to accept that I cannot understand, forget about participating, in this new chain of thoughts. But trust me, it is turning out to be an amazing experience to read passively about people's opinion on science v/s nature.
On second thoughts it should be science and nature.
hey vortex......on the scale that you and ramanujam have mentioned......i agree evolution is a 'theory' but with a lot of solid observable phenomena in its favour. Using the same standards the following ideas are not even worthy of being called a hypothesis
(a)a supernatural force, phenomenon or plan ( or 'meaning') has dictated and dictates how the universe is unfolding
(b) all species somehow sprung up in their present form
Considering what we have for alternatives, evolution makes a pretty compelling case for itself. I am not even saying that the theory of evolution in its present form is perfect or even the 'right answer', but it's a compelling one given the available information. Whereas (a) and (b) really aren't compelling in light of the available information, as the only thing they have going for them is that our previous generations told us so.
and with regard to gobble's question about fossils. What are these 'partially evolved species?' If you want partially evolved species, look at chimpanzees.....there is probably no such thing as a partially evolved species.....evolution happens so gradually that it is unlikely that there will ever be something that is clearly 'half and half,' and species in various stages of evolution can co-exist. Can you explain exactly what you would expect in this 'partially evolved species' that you refer to?
Even assuming that such 'partially evolved species' did exist, the number of fossils that we have on hand is miniscule. There are possibly hundreds of thousands or even millions of species of which no trace has remained, and therefore it is not surprising that if such 'partially evolved' species existed, we don't yet have fossils of them.
Oh ya, and i just found he following on wikianswers:
What do you mean by "partially evolved"? Since evolution is an ongoing process, any existing species will always be in a state of change.
If you're referring to intermediate forms, some of the best examples to have been found in recent years are various fossils that show characteristics of both dinosaurs (scales, teeth, claws on all 4 appendages) and birds (beaks and feathers).