Contingent evolution: what pushes it? (Introduction)

by dhw, Friday, November 07, 2014, 12:44 (3669 days ago) @ Balance_Maintained

TONY: Gradualism vs. Punctuated Equilibrium-Punctuated equilibrium is based on the idea that we cannot see changes in a species, so there must (this is typical language that means the evidence does not fit the theory)be very long periods of no changes of species. That is the equilibrium part of punctuated equilibrium. However, we do know that species do change (but not the extent, and no evidence of cross-species changes), so there has to be a period of time where those changes occur. Punctuated equilibrium asserts these changes over a relatively short amount of time "punctuating" the long periods of equilibrium.-One of your arguments against evolution was “the lack of time. (They explain it away with punctuated equilibrium)”. I pointed out to you that p.e. explains [I should have said describes] “the apparent jumps (probably associated with changes in the environment after periods of stasis).” This has nothing to do with lack of time, and as you pointed out yourself, it actually shortens the time available for change. As I see it, the theory does fit the evidence - there are long periods with no apparent change - but yes, it's a theory, not a fact. From the standpoint of theistic evolution, however, it strengthens the case for divine planning or intervention, though I don't see how it invalidates the case for common descent.-TONY: http://www.changinglivesonline.org/evolution.html-I agree with much of what they say about origins, which is a major reason for my not being an atheist, but they also inadvertently pinpoint a major reason for my not being a theist. In their attack on Hawking , “Lennox explains by saying: “If I say ‘X creates X', I presuppose the existence of X in order to account for the existence of X. To presuppose the existence of the universe to account for its existence is logically incoherent.” And to presuppose the existence of God to account for God's existence is also logically incoherent. 
 
TONY (quoting Aldous Huxley): "I had motives for not wanting the world to have meaning; consequently assumed it had none, and was able without any difficulty to find satisfying reasons for this assumption . . The philosopher who finds no meaning in the world is not concerned exclusively with a problem in pure metaphysics; he is also concerned to prove there is no valid reason why he personally should not do as he wants to do . . For myself, as no doubt for most of my contemporaries, the philosophy of meaninglessness was essentially an instrument of liberation. The liberation we desired was simultaneously liberation from a certain political and economic system and liberation from a certain system of morality. We objected to the morality because it interfered with our sexual freedom. "— *Aldous Huxley, "Confessions of a Professed Atheist," Report: Perspective on the News, Vol. 3, June, 1966, p. 19. (Grandson of evolutionist Thomas Huxley and brother of evolutionist Julian Huxley, Aldous Huxley was one of the most influential writers and philosophers of the 20th century.]-I think that's enough. Believe, choose not to believe, or choose not to choose whatever you like.-This is a truly shocking “confession”, taken (out of context, according to some critics) from a book entitled Ends and Means that Huxley wrote in 1937 - he died in 1963 - but I have no idea why you've offered it as a response to a rational discussion on the possibility of theistic evolution. I would also find it shocking if you genuinely believed that everyone who doubted your version of life and its history was driven to do so by the self-interest exemplified in the above quote. However, if in the context of theistic evolution or any other subject, you find my ignorance - which I fully acknowledge, though I would vehemently reject the charge of malice or self-interest - too frustrating, we should end that particular discussion. I remain as anxious as ever not to offend, and despite my stubborn refusal to come down from my picket fence, I find our exchanges extremely interesting and valuable!