"Kansas repeals science guidelines questioning evolution" — OZONE Asylum, home of the Mad Scientists

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"Kansas repeals science guidelines questioning evolution"

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Your Text: Insert Slimies » Insert UBB Code » Close Last Tag \| All Tags UBB Help	Oh no, here we go again! long, drawn out, exasperated sigh [quote]There are problems with Evolution. Last time I read my textbook, I sure didn't see anything about the fossil record missing "transitional forms" and the outright contradiction of thermodynamic's 2nd law. You'll notice that this isn't, "It contradicts my beliefs..." it contradicts science.[/quote] First of all, there are no "problems" with Evolution. You need to study it more. Second, you did not see anything in your textbook about any "missing trasitional forms" because evidence of transitional forms have been found. Again, you need to study it more - see [url=http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/faq-transitional.html]Transitional Vertebrate Fossils FAQ[/url] And third (and this is the most absurd accusation of Anti-Evolution loonies), the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics has not been contradicted in any way, shape, or form by the Fact of Evolution - see [url=http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/faq-misconceptions.html]Five Major Misconceptions about Evolution[/url] especially this part [quote]"Evolution violates the 2nd law of thermodynamics." This shows more a misconception about thermodynamics than about evolution. The second law of thermodynamics says, "No process is possible in which the sole result is the transfer of energy from a cooler to a hotter body." [Atkins, 1984, The Second Law, pg. 25] Now you may be scratching your head wondering what this has to do with evolution. The confusion arises when the 2nd law is phrased in another equivalent way, "The entropy of a closed system cannot decrease." Entropy is an indication of unusable energy and often (but not always!) corresponds to intuitive notions of disorder or randomness. Creationists thus misinterpret the 2nd law to say that things invariably progress from order to disorder. However, they neglect the fact that life is not a closed system. The sun provides more than enough energy to drive things. If a mature tomato plant can have more usable energy than the seed it grew from, why should anyone expect that the next generation of tomatoes can't have more usable energy still? Creationists sometimes try to get around this by claiming that the information carried by living things lets them create order. However, not only is life irrelevant to the 2nd law, but order from disorder is common in nonliving systems, too. Snowflakes, sand dunes, tornadoes, stalactites, graded river beds, and lightning are just a few examples of order coming from disorder in nature; none require an intelligent program to achieve that order. In any nontrivial system with lots of energy flowing through it, you are almost certain to find order arising somewhere in the system. If order from disorder is supposed to violate the 2nd law of thermodynamics, why is it ubiquitous in nature? The thermodynamics argument against evolution displays a misconception about evolution as well as about thermodynamics, since a clear understanding of how evolution works should reveal major flaws in the argument. Evolution says that organisms reproduce with only small changes between generations (after their own kind, so to speak). For example, animals might have appendages which are longer or shorter, thicker or flatter, lighter or darker than their parents. Occasionally, a change might be on the order of having four or six fingers instead of five. Once the differences appear, the theory of evolution calls for differential reproductive success. For example, maybe the animals with longer appendages survive to have more offspring than short-appendaged ones. All of these processes can be observed today. They obviously don't violate any physical laws. [/quote] And please, do NOT reply back until you have read and UNDERSTOOD what is posted there. [url=http://faq.ozoneasylum.com/397/]WebShaman[/url] \| [i]The keenest sorrow (and greatest truth) is to recognize ourselves as the sole cause of all our adversities. - Sophocles[/i] Loading...
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