Re: [asa] American Vision- anti-evolution

However they are popular YEC and form the staple diet of many evangelicals

Michael
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jon Tandy" <tandyland@earthlink.net>
To: "'AmericanScientificAffiliation'" <asa@calvin.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, January 07, 2009 7:58 PM
Subject: RE: [asa] American Vision- anti-evolution

>I would have to ask, is astronomy science? It's not "repeatable" (no one
> can make a supernova explode over and over, to observe it multiple times).
> It's not "testable" for the same reason (no one can make a solar system,
> to
> see how it responds to certain inputs or conditions). And astronomy is
> not
> "observable" in the same sense as I'm sure the article is saying that
> evolution is not observable -- generally no one was there when it happened
> (i.e. no one was there when the star was formed, or the supernova
> occurred,
> so all we have are evidences of the event billions of years later).
>
> The "observable" claim is easiest to deal with -- there's plenty of
> evidence
> to observe. The "repeatable" claim is wrong two ways -- assuming a
> controlled experiment is necessary for science, and in defining what is
> repeatable. In both biology and astronomy, the repeatability is not the
> same as in chemistry class, but it comes through large numbers of
> observations of similar phenomena, and drawing inferences to explain the
> data. Both are testable in the same way -- drawing inferences on the data
> leads to creation of hypotheses, which become testable predictions of yet
> unknown or unseen features, and further discovery and observation either
> confirms or contradicts the hypotheses. The testability also comes in
> astronomy with computerized models of simulated conditions, and in biology
> there are experimental aspects that can be demonstrated.
>
> These are nonsensical objections, even if one doesn't accept current
> evolutionary hypotheses as the correct explanation.
>
> Jon Tandy
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu [mailto:asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu] On
> Behalf Of Dehler, Bernie
> Sent: Wednesday, January 07, 2009 12:02 PM
> To: AmericanScientificAffiliation
> Subject: [asa] American Vision- anti-evolution
>
> I just got this link from an email today:
> http://www.americanvision.org/article/evolution--epistemology/
>
> Excerpt, saying evolution is not science:
> RE: Evolution
> "And so there the myth is, in large part, right out there in the open for
> all to see. And upon what is it based? Faith, and faith alone. Why?
> Because
> it's not repeatable, observable, testable science and therefore it's not
> science at all."
>
> I would argue- take the DNA evidence for evolution- studying genomes of
> animals and cross-comparing. That seems repeatable, observable, and
> testable to me.
>
>
>
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Received on Wed Jan 7 15:42:32 2009