Re: Why should average Joe trust scientists?

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"topmind" <topmind@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1144820462.026950.287010@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


And to reiterate. Average Joe can replicate many of the very same
experiments. Take Little Average out into the backyard and point a
telescope
at the Moon, or use a microscope to see little animacules swimming in the
pond, or build an incline to measure the acceleration of gravity, or
measure
the moment of the pendulum, or take a walk and compare the geological
strata
to what is reported on geological maps, maybe find a few common fossils,
play with magnets and iron filings, build a Faraday electric motor, or
help
Dad tinker with an internal combustion engine. Then take a trip to a
museum
and look with awe on dinosaurs.

But those are ideas tested for centuries and are relatively easy for
the laymen to verify. Not everything is that way.


Start with the easy stuff. Learn how science works. From dinosaur fossils,
we can reasonably infer that dinosaurs once roamed the Earth and that life
in the past was significantly different than life today. Even you should
have no problem with this inference. Then it is a matter of examining the
evidence to determine how that change occurred.



Maybe even read a book, or read an article
about scientists who spend years in Arctic wastelands to test the Theory
of
Evolution, and refine our knowledge of the History of Evolution. We stand
on
the shoulders of those who came before us.

What kind of evolution experiments or observations would you recommend
for the layman? Even if Joe fossil hunts, at most he might find say 5
to 10 fossils, which is not enough to draw any solid conclusions from.


Sure it is. It confirms the local geology as reported by geologists.


Joe cannot date the fossils himself, nor test the validity of dating
techniques.


All Joe has to do is compare his local geology with geological maps. This
gives him confidence in what he is being told. If he gets really energetic
he can take a road trip to seek out other areas to examine. We call this
process of driving, hiking and camping, a vacation.

Having confirmed the maps, you can explain to him about William Smith and
how he made the geological map that changed the world ? decades before
Origin of Species. Smith showed that the strata formed a column and that the
fossils were in the same order. There was a succession of faunal forms.
http://www.unh.edu/esci/greatmap.html

"From geology, the Principle of Superposition ... allows the relative
ordering by time of fossils found in the strata."
http://zachriel.blogspot.com/2005/08/principle-of-superposition.html



And I am sure Creationists have enough counter answers to anything
discoverable by Joe to wash the results with at least some doubt.


Yes, people do get confused, especially when people propagate falsehoods.
That's why smart people like you need to learn the science and positively
contribute to the discussion. However, you can always continue to wave your
hands. Only you can stop that long enough to look at the evidence.

"Evolution is .... The Theory of Evolution explains ...."
http://zachriel.blogspot.com/2005/08/evolution-defined.html



You have to admit, evolution is a tough sell.


It's an easy sell. Any kid looking at a dinosaur sees the truth. It's takes
a special knack to ignore the evidence.


It cannot be shown to
happen before one's eyes beyond minor variations in size or color.


Um, it's easier to see the big changes. Look at a dinosaur fossil. Repeat
until it sinks in: We infer. Dinosaurs once roamed the Earth. Life today is
not like life yesterday. Awesome knowledge! Science can be used to explain
how this change occurred. Some of that evidence is found in the rocks. From
this evidence, predictions can be made.

People can spend years in the Arctic looking for confirmation of these
predictions (Tiktaalik roseae). Or in a gorge in Africa (Australopithecus
afarensis)? Or the wastelands of Pakistan (Rodhocetus balochistanensis). Or
living for decades on a lonely Pacific Island (Geospiza). Or in a laboratory
to find confirmation of that elusive mechanism of "microevolution" (Crick &
Watson). Ask yourself, how did Johanson know where to find Lucy. Lucky
guess?


Evolution is like a Jigzaw puzzle with lots and lots of very small
peices such that none of the peices by themselves demonstrates much,
and many of the peices are still missing.

-T-



By the way, you are not acting the role of a skeptic, nor even a curmudgeon.
You are just being stubborn.



--
Zachriel
"The scientific method: hypothesis, prediction, observation, validation,
repeat."
http://zachriel.blogspot.com/2005/08/scientific-method.html




.

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