paul30

All science is based on evidence and inference; and the evidence now seems to support the Big Bang and evolution.

On a personal level, I really like evolution because it means the (other) animals are our mothers and brothers.

I really like them.

I am you are
he is you and we are
all together.

Since I am a mystic, I have many moments when it becomes radiantly apparent to me that there really are no divisions between things and there really is no time.

So the fact that all of us are related to all living (and ultimately, non-living) things makes psychological sense to me.

scigirl

hello paul30, and welcome!

Oh boy - someone's using I am the Walrus as a philosophical explanation - we are in trouble!

scigirl

Edited to add- I agree that the more animalistic/naturalistic religions make way way more sense to me than the Judeo-Christian war god. If there is a spirit-like thingee, it sure ain't him.

scigirl

Wounded King

'I am the Walrus' actually goes

Paul30 seemed to be starting off by conjugating the verb 'to be' and then eliding into 'I am the Walrus'

MortalWombat

Nope, they're the same species
Given the physical logistics, I would be surprised too.

Jack the Bodiless

Apart from the obvious physiological problems of crossing certain dog breeds: is there any evidence that some crosses are more likely to work than others? Are some combinations of dog less interfertile than others?

This would indicate speciation beginning within the dog "kind" itself.

Duvenoy

The problem with dog breeding is that none are bred to survive in any, given habitate, including field dogs. All are for our own use and pleasure. And this brings on problems.

For example, German shepards often have hip problems, wiener dogs have spine troubles, and some types have to have their puppies delivered by ceasaiern (sp?) section. Small breeds with large heads like the Boston bulldog are known for this.

On the other hand, feral dogs are mostly tough mongrels that can do well. Like wolves, they run in small packs with pretty much the same social hiarchy. Indeed, many if not most successful, feral individuals bear a resemblence to a small wolf. They are also very crafty and damned hard to get a shot at.

So, as I see it, one cannot use domestic dog-breeding to either support or debunk the ToE. For all practicle purposes, dogs might as well be considered an artificial creation of our own.

doov

Paul2

Oh i get it, i read another thread and he's playing the devils advocate. much luck. oh hey, another paul. HI.

caravelair

"Universal gravitation: Given that all matter tends to attract to itself, and will always attract to the center of mass, the Big Bang is impossible."

you seem to imply that there is no force which opposes gravity. if that is so, how exactly did we get into space?

"Since such an "explosion" would result in an equal distribution of mass, all gravity would be towards the central point--not multiple, spread out points."

radiation pressure moved things outwards. however, after recomination, gravity was pulling everything together. we get "multiple spread out points" due to minor inhomogeneities in the way matter was initially distributed, and the fact that such inhomogeneities would result in a net force of greater than zero acting on most matter, causing it to "clump" through gravitational collapse.

"But even assuming that magically this matter manages to get out, the soalr system would be impossible. Since gravity draws to the center of mass, the formation of planets would be impossible--all mass would have ended up in the sun, leaving a very uniteresting situation. This means that God MUST have created the universe and the solar system."

gravity pulls inwards, but dynamical "heating" opposes the force of gravity through the conservation of angular momentum.

SULPHUR

the last comment should have been omitted because of nonsense

LostGirl

Humans may not have succeeded in inducing speciation in dogs and wolves (which is questionable, but I'll leave it alone) but mightn't we have succeeded with various other domesticated species both plant and animal?

I'll sure be glad when this exam period is over and my surreptitious breaks to the boards here can last longer. Otherwise, I'd pull up some journal articles, but off the top of my head I'll suggest several flowering plants that can't cross-pollinate, and I'm sure some of the ruminants we've domesticated produce sterile offspring with their wild counterparts. Anybody got anything to back me up here, or am I totally out on a limb?