Freethought & Rationalism Archive

tgamble · 11-01-2002, 04:12 AM

on the JCSM forums this quote was given:

"It is as if they were placed there without any evolutionary history." attributed to Richard Dawkins talking about the cambrian explosion.

I searched for it but couldn't find a thing except a lot of creationist sites parroting it. I seem to remember this being one of those out of context quotes creationists are so fond of. Details please! Thanks!

[ November 01, 2002: Message edited by: tgamble ]</p>

Blinn · 11-01-2002, 04:37 AM

p. 229 of "The Blind Watchmaker"

Quote:

Eldredge and Gould certainly would agree that some very important gaps really are due to imperfections in the fossil record. Very big gaps, too. For example the Cambrian strata of rocks, vintage about 600 million years, are the oldest ones in which we find most of the major invertebrate groups. And we find many of them already in an advanced state of evolution, the very first time they appear. It is as though they were just planted there, without any evolutionary history. Needless to say, this appearance of sudden planting has delighted creationists.

Found it <a href="http://members.iinet.net.au/~sejones/fsslrc03.html" target="_blank">here</a>.

Oolon Colluphid · 11-01-2002, 04:41 AM

Sounds like he may have been talking about the Burgess Shale via something on Gould...?

But anyway, unless where it comes from can be stated, it may as well be made up.

Here�s one:

�I realize now that I�ve been fooling myself all these years. Evolution is true.�
-- Duane Gish

I suggest that till the source is cited, you quote that one right back at �em.

Oolon

Blinn · 11-01-2002, 04:50 AM

Dawkins goes on to write:

Quote:

Evolutionists of all stripes believe, however, that this really does represent a very large gap in the fossil record, a gap that is simply due to the fact that for some reason, very few fossils have lasted from periods before about 600 million years ago. One good reason might be that many of these animals had only soft parts to their bodies: no shells or bones to fossilize. If you are a creationist you may think that this is special pleading. My point here is that, when we are talking about gaps of this magnitude, there is no difference whatever in the interpretations of 'punctuationists' and 'gradualists'. Both schools of thought despise so-called scientific creationists equally, and both agree that the major gaps are real, that they are true imperfections in the fossil record. Both schools of thought agree that the only alternative explanation of the sudden appearance of so many complex animal types in the Cambrian era is divine creation, and both would reject this alternative.

11-01-2002, 10:39 AM

Creationists trumpet the imperfections in the fossil record but they always neglect the imperfections in the gaps in the fossil records.

11-01-2002, 04:12 AM	#1
tgamble Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2000 Location: St. John's, Nfld. Canada Posts: 1,652	Dawkin's quote? on the JCSM forums this quote was given: "It is as if they were placed there without any evolutionary history." attributed to Richard Dawkins talking about the cambrian explosion. I searched for it but couldn't find a thing except a lot of creationist sites parroting it. I seem to remember this being one of those out of context quotes creationists are so fond of. Details please! Thanks! [ November 01, 2002: Message edited by: tgamble ]</p>

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11-01-2002, 04:41 AM	#3
Oolon Colluphid Contributor Join Date: Sep 2000 Location: Alibi: ego ipse hinc extermino Posts: 12,591	Sounds like he may have been talking about the Burgess Shale via something on Gould...? But anyway, unless where it comes from can be stated, it may as well be made up. Here�s one: �I realize now that I�ve been fooling myself all these years. Evolution is true.� -- Duane Gish I suggest that till the source is cited, you quote that one right back at �em. Oolon

11-01-2002, 10:39 AM	#5
Synaesthesia Guest Posts: n/a	Creationists trumpet the imperfections in the fossil record but they always neglect the imperfections in the gaps in the fossil records.

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