Re: [asa] Darwin only biological evolution?

On Mon, 12 Jan 2009, Gregory Arago wrote:

> Hi Gordon,
>  
> Please excuse if I misunderstood you and that you were thinking on topics
> related to natural sciences. Since you mentioned 'language' and 'knowledge,'
> I assumed these were not topics for natural-physical sciences proper. Aren't
> they rather for human-social sciences?
>  
> Gordon wrote: "In addition to biological evolution and cosmological evolution
> we have evolution of language, evolution of knowledge, and many others..."
>
> Now the issue is even further problematic. Do you personally Gordon, think
> 'evolution' *IS* synonymous with 'change-over-time' or are there significant
> differences between evolution and change? Yes, you wrote 'supposedly,'
> perhaps in order to soften the statement or to distance yourself from it. But
> I'm just trying to understand what you think, rather than to hear repeated
> what other people say (which I can discover by reading their own thoughts).  
>  

Gregory,

I knew when I posted it that my statement was probably too sweeping, and I
hoped to qualify it a little. I was responding to a claim that all evolution
was a single theory. I also object to YECs who classify all old-earth science
as being (Darwinist) evolutionist.

I think it is hard to find details in common to all theories of evolution in
the various fields except that they involve evolution. In most cases I find
little that couldn't have been done without Darwin's work.

I have seen 'change over time' used as a definition of evolution, especially in
the context of arguments for it avoiding mention of the particular details.

I think that linguistics qualifies as science just as anthropology does.

Gordon Brown (ASA member)

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Received on Mon Jan 12 16:02:41 2009