>From: Bill Payne <bpayne15@juno.com>
>No, I was thinking more along the lines of things evolutionary theory
>has, to date, not been able to touch: the origin of the universe, the
>origin of life, the origin of sexual from asexual reproduction, the
>origin of human consciousness, the failure of natural selection to
>explain the rise of information, the failure to mutations to explain the
>rise of complexity. We don't have all of the answers; we should state
>that fact clearlly instead of trying to hide it.
>
>Bill
It is my understanding that evolutionary theory (presumably biological
evolution, given your latter entries on the list of not-yet-touched) has no
obligation to explain the origin of the universe and possibly life. These
may be questions of great interest to anyone looking at biological
evolution, but are simply context. If one is a philosophical naturalist
then the matter is different. Left unanswered, such questions present
troubling seams or rifts in what could otherwise be viewed as a God-less
fabric -- ID notwithstanding. So they have some motivation to engage in
hand-waving around the thin spots.
I agree that we should state clearly that we don't have all the answers.
However, hiding FROM that fact does not seem to be much of an improvement
over hiding the fact of our present ignorance. Recourse to the supernatural
(ala YEC or ID) seems to be a highly ineffective use of the reason God gave
us, if we're going to call it science. As is ignoring what we do know about
the above questions. Shooting down plausible answers because they're not
certain, and then putting in their place implausible answers doesn't strike
me as a good strategy in the long run. But then I'm hardly the first to
have thought so.
We can get so all-fired serious when it comes to "removing God" from the
equation when sleuthing out what he's created (ie, doing science), but then
none of us would expect to call up tech support for a problem with our PC
only to have the tech say, "Well God did it. Thanks for calling." God may
well have -- that's the divine right. But I'd sure like to know HOW he did
it.
Jeff Witters
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