Re: Evolutionism and perception


Not Quite Extinct wrote:
> Hi, I'm new here so I hope you don't mind me butting in.

Welcome - and *** in all you like. :-)

> As a Brit, I'm amazed that Darwin - who appears on the currency over
> here (with Her Majesty on the ten pound note) - should still be so
> controversial in the USA. I'm sure that the real problem among some (by
> no means all) religious people is fear. Fear that science has shown us
> a universe that's vast, impersonal and clearly not designed for human
> beings to lord it over. We could be wiped out by a cosmic accident
> tomorrow.

I think there's something to that. While the Creationists are a
minority, they are quite vocal. I think some people resent it that
science takes away the "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm" view that people
used to be able to fall back on, with Adam and Eve and the six days of
Creation, etc. It's like taking Christmas morning away from them.

(Regardless, I was far more impressed with Darwin after I read "On the
Origin of Species," as I'm sure many others were.)

<snip>

> A related point that I hope won't cause offence - if I were Osama
> bin-Laden, I'd stop wasting my considerable fortune on terrorism and
> sponsor Creationism/ID. It has far more long-term potential to
> undermine the USA as a world power, by undermining science in schools
> and colleges. Still, the laws of nature work the same way for everyone,
> so if Americans surrender their (currently undisputed) scientific
> pre-eminence, I'm sure another power will pick up the baton.
>
> Anyone know of a good correspondence course in Cantonese?

Regardless of ID/Creationism's effect (which I personally predict will
be short-lived) I think China will be an economic force to be reckoned
with for the next century and beyond.

When I was a kid, it seemed all cheap toys were made in Japan. Yet
look at how Japan's economy has grown over the past 40 years. Now all
the cheap toys are made in China. Ergo...

(There's probably a Nobel prize in economics just waiting to be won by
somebody following up on that observation.)

> All the best
>
> Dave (the Atheist Who's Nice to Christians)

.

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