RE: [asa] fun- an evolution test question ... a hint (was "riddle")

As I think about it more- maybe "riddle" was a bad word, because it implies a play on words or some kind of trick. Actually, I'm thinking this could be on an actual exam if Richard Dawkins was teaching a class on evolution.

And yes- it should say 'evolutionarily' not 'evolutionary.'

Here's a further hint:

If it was a picture of a mother big and a baby pig, you'd say "that is easy- the baby is the offspring, descended from, the mother." If I gave a picture of a fish and a human, you'd say "that's easy- they are 'cousins' because they have a common ancestor. All mammals directly descended from some kind of fish." This is expanding the range- can you see the evolutionary link, as proposed by Dawkins?

...Bernie

-----Original Message-----
From: Alexanian, Moorad [mailto:alexanian@uncw.edu]
Sent: Saturday, January 10, 2009 8:00 AM
To: Dehler, Bernie; asa@calvin.edu
Subject: RE: [asa] fun- an evolution riddle

To a strict materialist or physicalist like Hawkins, the biggest claim they can make is that, in principle, anything purely physical, viz. nonliving matter, can, via evolutionary processes, turn into a living being. In math format, matter + evolutionary processes = living being; or, equivalently, evolutionary processes = breath of God.
Moorad

________________________________________
From: asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu [asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu] On Behalf Of Dehler, Bernie [bernie.dehler@intel.com]
Sent: Friday, January 09, 2009 5:23 PM
To: asa@calvin.edu
Subject: RE: [asa] fun- an evolution riddle

I'm not sure what you mean- you'd have to explain more fully.

...Bernie

-----Original Message-----
From: Alexanian, Moorad [mailto:alexanian@uncw.edu]
Sent: Friday, January 09, 2009 1:38 PM
To: Dehler, Bernie; asa@calvin.edu
Subject: RE: [asa] fun- an evolution riddle

The picture represents the evolution of the living from nonliving matter. Is that it?

Moorad
________________________________________
From: asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu [asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu] On Behalf Of Dehler, Bernie [bernie.dehler@intel.com]
Sent: Friday, January 09, 2009 4:27 PM
To: asa@calvin.edu
Subject: RE: [asa] fun- an evolution riddle

Actually- the answer I'm thinking is real evolutionary science and not a joke, according to Dawkin's mindset.

An interesting alternative- think of a picture of a Catholic Cathedral (or a Baptist megachurch) instead of a VW bug, or the tallest building in the world, or a picture of the space shuttle, or a solar-powered calculator... lots of choices. The animal could also be any animal.

...Bernie

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Received on Sat Jan 10 13:21:22 2009