From: Bertvan@aol.com <Bertvan@aol.com>
>Hi Richard,
>However you eventually define "random", you are going to end up with two
>groups of people who are in disagreement. And most of them are aware of
>where their difference of opinion lies. One group believes evolution
>occurred without plan, purpose or design. The other group, ID, believes
>"variations" in organisms occurred according to some presently unknown plan
>or purpose. Most ID supporters argue that natural selection acts to ensure
>stasis and has contributed nothing toward the creation of complexity. This
>is a legitimate difference of opinion, for which evidence for either side
can
>be cited. There is no way for either to be conclusively demonstrated at
this
>time. I don't see how redefining terms might contribute to resolving the
>controversy.
My posts about randomness are not addressed to IDers. I know that agreement
with them is impossible, because they're not open to rational argument.
It is, however, by no means impossible that Brian and I will reach agreement
over the meaning of randomness in the context of the theory of
evolution, and clarifying the theory of evolution is certainly a useful
objective.
I realize that you are not interested in understanding the theory of
evolution, Bertvan, so I doubt that this discussion will be of any interest
to you.
Richard Wein (Tich)
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Sat Sep 09 2000 - 12:35:39 EDT