>Bertvan
>An accumulation of marginally intelligent, individual choices, with limited
>goals, can design a culture, an economy or an biosphere, with no natural
>selection involved. Apparently there is no need for anything even approaching
>human intelligence for a complex system to be built up piece by piece. It
>seems a more likely possibility than chance. (I am not sure what you are
>suggesting about religion. I am an agnostic, not an atheist.)
When a business fails, that is "natural" selection. When a store as an item
that doesn't sell it has been "selected out." The local Wal-mart has lots
of variation to offer the environment. Some things are selected "for" and
some are selected "against." The things selected against are never to be
seen again. Lots of biospheres and even cultures have failed and
vanished--became extinct. I'm sure you've heard of the Anasazi.
>Bertvan:
> I don't take to the courts to try to ensure that my ideas be taught in
>schools to the exclusion of all other thoughts on the subject. I wouldn't
>try to discourage anyone, including YECs and materialists, from expressing
>their views. I regard diversity of opinion as healthy.
Nobody disagrees that a diversity of opinion is healthy. Nobody. However,
our social system is set up in order to keep one religion from being the
"government" religion. YECists and IDists are religionists. The founding
"parents" had seen the horror of what can happen when religion has the
force of government behind it. Iran would look just like 17th century
England to them. You don't seem to mind in the least that religionists use
their political clout to keep evolution from being taught. Few creationists
are the least bit interested in preserving a diversity of opinion. They
don't care about evidence (just as you don't) they don't care what people
have observed and recorded. They only care about their version of "truth"
even if it is contradicted by what is actually seen in the world (just as
you do).
Susan
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