Prayer in schools?

[feloniusteabag]

Dear August1991,

These numbers defy any possible attempt at comprehension. We are in a world of utter probability - almost anything is possible.

Close, but not quite. All things have one or two attributes in common, not the least of which is adhering to the 'rules'.

[I Miss Trudeau]

I don't think we can say conclusively that evolution can explain everything until everything has been explained.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I don't think anyone here believes that evolution in its current form can explain everything. The only relevant point is that alternatives to evolution explain precisely nothing and can therefore be ignored.

[kimmy]

That's like arguing that since transitional fossils have yet to be found, we can dismiss evolution.

Noooooooo. Transitional fossils have been found.

Indeed?

My survey of the subject seems to indicate that the paucity of transitional fossils remains an issue of concern and research to those in the field, and that the lack of transitional fossils and the sudden appearance of species in the fossil record seems to be a motivating factor behind some of the new theories in macroevolution.

Okay, we need to find some examples of IC systems.

...

....

.....

Your point?

Nope. It's not a step by step process of addition or subraction or parts. Existing parts get modified. Old, obsolete parts are retained. Usage changes over time and according to teh advantages confered. It's not a sequence.

I do not claim there must be a straight line path... I just believe that there has to be a path.

I am not a geneticist; I am more gooder at math. In math there is an intermediate value theorem, which is that if a continuous function, no matter how convoluted, goes from value A to value B, then at some point, the function crossed every value between A and B. And though genetics is not math, my reading over the past several days seems to show an analogy. Evolutionary theorists are working to both find those intermediate values (ie, transitional fossils) and to explain discontinuities (ie, punctuated equilibriums or homeoboxes or whatever).

I have a somewhat intermediate value theorem influenced viewpoint towards all of this. If the theory is that all of this started as a puddle with component atoms and heat and lightning, and has gone from there to here through natural processes with no unexplainable leaps that require intelligent intervention to explain, then we should be able to find the path by which we got from there to here. No matter how convoluted-- piggybacked genes and whatever else-- that path should be explainable. If there are discontinuities in the function-- the "gaps" from "god in the gaps," those gaps should be explainable by something other than "god."

And I'm not a religious person. I expect that such explanations will be possible some day, and I will feel more satisfied with my world view when they arrive.

I don't think we can say conclusively that evolution can explain everything until everything has been explained.

I hate repeating myself, but:

don't think anyone's saying it has. But evolutionary theory is, so far, the best explanation we have.

I agree completely. I merely point out that some people seem to be under the impression that we already have all the answers, and that some people seem to have exchanged one form of blind faith for another...

Who is left wondering? The people that cover their eyes when faced with the evidence and scream "No, you can't make me look!"

-k

[August1991]

In math there is an intermediate value theorem, which is that if a continuous function, no matter how convoluted, goes from value A to value B, then at some point, the function crossed every value between A and B.

It has to be a continuous function.

In several thousands year (not hundreds of millions), someone may well look back and be perplexed about how swiftly typewriters turned into computers. "It happened in a matter of months and there is no transitional evidence."

I merely point out that some people seem to be under the impression that we already have all the answers, and that some people seem to have exchanged one form of blind faith for another...

We most certainly don't have the answers and one of the questions concerns how evolutionary change occurs. (It's of relevance to the modern world because there are also questions about how technological change occurs.)

One researcher, Stephen Jay Gould, had one answer:

Gould, along with Niles Eldredge, a paleontologist at New York’s Museum of Natural History, developed an evolutionary theory called "punctuated equilibrium," where long periods of evolutionary stability are broken by shorter spurts of evolutionary change, perhaps sparked by external events such as climate change or the impact of a comet. The theory contrasts with more traditional evolutionists, who believe evolution is a slow, steady process occurring at a nearly constant rate.

Harvard Gazette

----

Close, but not quite. All things have one or two attributes in common, not the least of which is adhering to the 'rules'.

Those rules are themselves rules of probability; that is, the laws of nature are probabilistic.

But my point was that given the number of solar systems in the universe, and given the age of the universe, it should not be surprising that you and I exist and are capable of communicating with one another.

[Black Dog]

My survey of the subject seems to indicate that the paucity of transitional fossils remains an issue of concern and research to those in the field, and that the lack of transitional fossils and the sudden appearance of species in the fossil record seems to be a motivating factor behind some of the new theories in macroevolution.

See post #50.

[I Miss Trudeau]

I agree completely.  I merely point out that some people seem to be under the impression that we already have all the answers, and that some people seem to have exchanged one form of blind faith for another...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Mistaken impressions are common when you don't bother to read the text. Fortunatly, we don't need God to cover the gaps between what I said and what you think I said. Only a little common sense.

[thejollyroger]

Hello All,

School has started again and I was searching for current Canadian policy on prayers in our schools.

Does anyone know if there is such a policy in writing somewhere ?