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From: Arthur V. Chadwick[SMTP:chadwicka@swau.edu]
Sent: Monday, September 06, 1999 2:11 PM
To: evolution@calvin.edu
Subject: Re: Popper's so-called `recantation' (was The science educators' Vietnam)
At 11:30 AM 09/06/1999 -0700, Chris wrote:
>Frankly, I don't care much one way or the other about what Popper said. The
>fact is that the primary claims of evolution are definitely testable by
>prediction in ways that ID theories (for example) are not. For example, I
>predict that if polar bears are progressively but slowly moved to warmer and
>drier climates, they will evolve in such ways as losing hair, chainging
>their eating habits, changing their metabolism, etc. If their environment
>eventually reaches Sahara Desert conditions, they will have become a new
>species, no longer able to live in polar habitats. This is a testable claim.
>Any takers?
No, but why not try peppered moths. Predict that if the tree trunk color
should change, the population of peppered moths would shift towards a
darker variant. Then if the trees changed back to a lighter color, the
peppered moths would shift back to a lighter variant. Then carry out the
experiments. This is an easily testable claim. Any takers?
No? I thought not.
Art
http://geology.swau.edu