SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
Darwin Day is a celebration of Charles Darwin's birthday, the theory of evolution and science in general. This year marks his 210th birthday and 160 years since the publication of The Origin of Species. Those looking to celebrate or learn more about Darwin and evolution will find a wealth of events going on, or if you'd rather not leave the house, try a Darwin Day card with designs generated by simulated evolution.
Recently, an important finding in man's evolution was announced; the so-called Missing Link was confirmed. Australopithecus Sediba fossils were found in 2010 but it took a decade of research and debate for scientists to confirm that this was indeed the missing link that connects man's evolution in an unbroken chain back to primate ancestors.
Not everyone is down with Darwin. The Pew Research Center reports, "In spite of the fact that evolutionary theory is accepted by all but a small number of scientists, it continues to be rejected by many Americans. In fact, about one-in-five U.S. adults reject the basic idea that life on Earth has evolved at all." In Indiana, senator Dennis Kruse introduced a bill that would, among other things, "require the teaching of various theories concerning the origin of life, including creation science."
(Score: 2, Disagree) by FatPhil on Monday February 11 2019, @07:39PM (2 children)
https://www.thecollegefix.com/more-than-1000-scientists-sign-dissent-from-darwinism-statement/
[* The cynic in me tells me that some of those "scientists" are women's studies scientists or ethnic hair braiding made up history scientists. (No, I've not read it yet, I've only just come across the link myself, and was hooked by the headline.)]
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 3, Informative) by NewNic on Tuesday February 12 2019, @12:01AM
Most appear to be hard scientists. Here is the list:
https://www.discovery.org/m/2019/02/A-Scientific-Dissent-from-Darwinism-List-020419.pdf [discovery.org]
lib·er·tar·i·an·ism ˌlibərˈterēənizəm/ noun: Magical thinking that useful idiots mistake for serious political theory
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Thexalon on Tuesday February 12 2019, @12:22AM
So let's say you're the sort that incorrectly believes argument from authority, and you read that 1000 people claiming to be some sort of scientist affiliated with some sort of prestigious-sounding institution sign a petition.
You see "1000 Helens agree", and think "Wow, that's a really big number!" But it isn't even close to being a really big number: There are approximately 3,150,000 working biologists in the world. Which means that 1000 people actually represents at most about 0.03% of the population with an educated opinion on the matter.
And a hallmark of people who think this way tend to ignore their ability to go to places like La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles or the Field Museum in Chicago and examine some of the evidence for themselves. In part because they wouldn't know what they were looking at, and in part because it would challenge their worldview in a way that the Ark Encounter doesn't.
If you're going to believe 0.03% of the relevant authorities over 99.97% of the relevant authorities, and you refuse to even glance at evidence, I'm going to conclude that you're rejecting the data and the 99.97% of relevant authorities for reasons that have absolutely nothing to do with facts, education, or the truth of the matter.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.