Unreasonable Faith» Evolution

Evolution and Everything

vorjack — Mon, 07 May 2012 09:00:37 +0000

Connor Wood wrote a piece titled Darwinism: It’s true. But it ain’t pretty, which I found via Leah at Unequally Yoked. In it, Wood suggests that evolution has left us with psychological drives that are inhumane, and that religion might be a useful corrective.

I’m not exactly sure how to react to much of it. Much of it is hung on the nail of evolutionary psychology. I’m not fit to pass judgement on the academic field, but what trickles out into the popular sphere has a low signal-to-crap ratio. Wood mentions that his exposure came as an undergrad. That makes sense, because he sounds like that friend everyone had in college who took two philosophy courses and suddenly understood everything. I’m hesitant to take him seriously.

This hesitation isn’t helped by some jumps he makes. Early on, he conflates evolutionary success with economic success. The fact that these are not the same should be obvious.

It doesn’t matter how many “large-screen televisions and other flashy toys” I have. If I don’t breed, I’m an evolutionary failure. I think the popularity of this this conflation – at least in America – comes from the Protestant work ethic. And that leads to a second problem.

Wood states that “Religion can offer a proud and defiant response to evolution,” but does it actually play out that way? There’s nothing magic about religion. It’s a human creation that is subject to the same drives and forces as the rest of human culture.

I think Wood has a heavily idealized view of the origins of religion. But even if we accept that Mohammad was the bold re-envisioner of human society that Wood makes him out to be, what has happened since then? Like the rest of our culture, religion has adapted to fit the needs of the people within it. And if Wood is right with his view of evolutionary psychology – (and to be clear, I don’t believe he is, and I’m not sure he believes it either) – then we should expect to see religion quickly come to serve those base drives that underlay human behavior.

Why You Should Fear Darwin

vorjack — Sun, 06 May 2012 09:00:21 +0000

Connor Wood wrote a piece at Science on Religion about why some people have an antipathy towards the theory of evolution. Leah at Unequally Yoked responds with a post, “Scared of Darwin for All the Wrong Reasons.”

I should probably respond to the content of the posts. I might do so later. Right now, I’m going to be a bad blogger and just use Leah’s title as an excuse to post an old strip from Queen of Wands:

Queen of Wands, December 8, 2003 by Aerie

… and this is the REAL reason you should fear Charles Darwin.

Crock-o-Duck Strikes Back

vorjack — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 09:00:32 +0000

The banana was amusing. It was easy to refute and easy to skewer.

Crock-o-duck is annoying. Every time I run into it, I realize that we’re going to have to start from the very beginning and dispel all the common misunderstandings about evolution before proceeding. It’s fractally wrong.

This is from Way of the Master: Prague, part of the dynamic duo’s trek through Europe spreading the good news of crock-o-duck. Sorry, Europe, but religious ignorance seems to be the only thing that America can export these days.

Via American Jesus.

(Note: Do we really need separate “Oh the Stupidity!” and “Ray Comfort Mania” tags? Isn’t the second just a sub-category of the first?)

The Banana Bending God

Daniel Florien — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 17:10:12 +0000

From Science, Love, and LSD:

From Dust

vorjack — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 09:00:34 +0000

It’s really embarrassing that we still occasionally have to deal with the question, “If humans evolved from apes, why are there still apes?” It’s a nonsensical question. At least now there’s a useful rejoinder:

Via Exploring our Matrix

Isn’t God’s Design Amazing?

Daniel Florien — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 01:19:06 +0000

[via]

Human Evolution

Daniel Florien — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 20:08:40 +0000

[via]

Ken Miller Explains How We’re Related to Apes

Daniel Florien — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 18:00:57 +0000

And he does it without a single fossil.

[via]

Our Ancestors Had Tails

Daniel Florien — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 16:00:39 +0000

1/3 of Texans Believe Humans and Dinosaurs Co-Existed

Daniel Florien — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 22:00:13 +0000

If God existed, I’d wish he would help his ignorant followers in Texas:

Nearly a third of Texans believe humans and dinosaurs roamed the earth at the same time, and more than half disagree with the theory that humans developed from earlier species of animals, according to the University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll.

38 percent said human beings developed over millions of years with God guiding the process and another 12 percent said that development happened without God having any part of the process. Another 38 percent agreed with the statement “God created human beings pretty much in their present form about 10,000 years ago.”

Did humans live at the same time as the dinosaurs? Three in ten Texas voters agree with that statement; 41 percent disagree, and 30 percent don’t know.

Also here’s some evidence that Texas Democrats are smarter than Republicans:

Democrats (28 percent) are less likely than Republicans (47 percent) to think that humans have always existed in their present form and more likely (21 percent to 7 percent) to think humans have developed over millions of years without God’s guidance. Republicans are less likely to believe that humans developed from earlier species of animals; 26 percent agree, while 60 percent disagree. Among Democrats in the survey, 46 percent agree that humans evolved from earlier species; 42 percent disagree. Perry’s voters were most hostile to this premise — 67 percent disagree.

Looks like there’s a good part of Texas that needs to be told about the last couple centuries of scientific enlightenment.