"Extraterrestrial drop-offs could be both non-evolutionary and
a natural explanation for a hypothetical species. Who made the
extraterrestrials? Who knows? But if you can't find 'em you
can't claim that they were products of evolution. You could only
examine the crop circles their landers left. So while the idea
may put evolution beyond the range of falsifiability, it may also
put it out of the range of _verification_. This is an important
consideration because I don't think that "falsification" is the only
goalpost in science."
I think the point here (which both Moorad and Al Plantinga also makes),
is that in such a case, indeed, in ANY case, SOME sort of evolution,
including abiogenesis or chemical evolution, is the only NATURAL
explanation anyone's ever though of, since
"assembly-by-a-non-natural-creator" is necessarily ruled out. Your
closing two sentences are, of course, true.
I wrote:"What it would do is move the debate as to where it happened to
some
place other than our earth."
You wrote:
"Yes it would. But in so doing, it would leave the question open
indefinitely. It would also falsify the current theory that life
evolved on earth -- This is not a trivial point."
Agreed. Good point, and one I had not considered.
You wrote:
"So the real question is, what would
be required for most reasonable scientists to abandon the idea of
evolution on earth?"
Again, I agree. Thank you for helping me gain a wider perspective on
this.
Burgy
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