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archier wrote: >Hi Paula > >I'm not certain how this is relevant to Parkinson's, but much of the >evidence for "intelligent design" is very weak. Most of the things you >mention here are criticisms of evolution rather than talking points for ID. >My spin on a tiny bit of it > >Complexity does not imply a master creator. Take the complexity of our >society for example. There's no way any of us could understand more than an >infinitesimal portion of it; many of us can't even handle the complexities >of running even our own lives! Yet 6 billion people interact every day and >keep the world fed, clothed, housed, and emailing -- not through one >pre-ordained plan, but through the independent actions of each of us. > >The micro-evolution/macro-evolution distinction is a bit of a red herring. >To take a silly philosophical exercise: when does a bald man become bald? >Each additional hair that falls out does not make much difference...but >summed together over years they do. It's the same with micro and macro >evolution. Growing something so distinct that you'd call it macro evolution >-- like the trunk of an elephant -- could take thousands of generations, but >at each generation you'd only see a slight "micro" change -- in the >elephant's trunk case, a slightly longer nose. > >In other cases we have seen evolutionary jumps toward macro evolution, but >these giant leaps usually fail miserably. Two-headed snakes appear in nature >occassionally. In some case having an extra head might be an advantage (say, >if an eagle bit one of your heads off) but for the most part two-headed >snakes are at a big disadvantage relative to single headed snakes. They >can't ever decide which way to go, can't fit through thin openings, and >constantly fight over food. They don't often lead long, healthy lives. For a >human example: I have a friend who was born with six fingers. You could call >it "macro" evolution but he really didn't have much need for the sixth >finger, so he had it chopped off. > >As far as ID researchers being censored by their peers, science, like any >social organization, can be very cliquish and set in its ways, but one thing >to remember is that there is an army of graduate students and professors out >there trying to make their mark on the world by discovering something new. >If some indisputable evidence of ID shows up, the person who tapes his name >to it will be famous. > >Lastly, you are correct that carbon-14 dating is affected by changes in the >environment, but scientists have built calibration models to account for >this. In any case, carbon-14 is not usually used to date fossils, as they >are much older than 60,000 years -- the limit of carbon-14 dating. From the >wikipedia: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiocarbon_dating) > >The raw BP date cannot be used directly as a calendar date, because the >assumption that the level of 14C absorption remains constant does not hold >true in practice. The level is maintained by high energy particles >interacting with the earth's upper atmosphere, which may be affected by >changes in the earth's magnetic >field<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth%27s_magnetic_field>or in the >cosmic ray background, >e.g. variations caused by solar >storms<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_flare>. >In addition there are substantial reservoirs of carbon in organic matter, >the ocean <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean>, ocean sediments (see methane >hydrate <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methane_hydrate>), and sedimentary >rocks <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedimentary_rock>; and changing >climate<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate>can sometimes disrupt the >carbon flow between these reservoirs and the >atmosphere. The level has also been affected by human activities -- it was >almost doubled for a short period due to atomic >bomb<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_bomb>tests in the >1950s <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1950s> and >1960s<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1960s>and has been reduced by the >release of large amounts of CO >2 from ancient organic sources where 14C is not present -- the fossil >fuels<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossil_fuel> > >used in industry and transportation. > >The BP dates are therefore calibrated <http://www.calpal-online.de/> to give >calendar dates. Standard calibration >curves<http://www.calpal.de/calpal/manual/calibration_curves.htm>are >available, based on comparison of radiocarbon dates with other methods >such as examination of tree growth rings >(dendrochronology<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dendrochronology>), >ice cores <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_core>, deep ocean >sediment<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sediment>cores, lake sediment >varves <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varve>, >coral<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coral>samples, and >speleothems <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speleothem> (cave deposits). > >Hope this helps. >Archie > > > Archie: What a fine piece of work you have compiled totally debunking ID. * "Nothing sways the stupid more than arguments they can't understand."* * Cardinal De Retz* Ned ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn