Oolon Colluphid

What, ALL of it?! ‘Ludicrous’ is not in the cretinist dictionary, is it!

It never fails to amaze me how these idiots can point to gaps and unknowns in the fossil record and say this floors evolution.

Assume that every creature that ever lived had in fact made it to fossilisation. It would just be a case of digging them up. Suppose that we’re only part the way through that job. What should we conclude from the fact that EVERY FOSSIL FOUND SO FAR supports evolution? Now add in the (I’d have thought obvious) fact that not every thing would get fossilised. Still the fact remains that all the ones we HAVE found support evolution.

Given that creation says evolution (grand scale) cannot happen, the simple presence of just ONE intermediate refutes creationism. See the TO transitional fossil FAQ for more than just one. The gaps do not matter. They are ot a problem for evolution. Introduce this idiot to the concept of the 'god of the gaps'.

Suppose a gap exists between land animals and whales. Evolution predicts a link; creation denies it outright. So, if a swimming mammal with diminutive legs were found, what should we make of it? Now the crunch: this has happened. Several examples. In chronological order, gradually more whale-like. Not in the pre-Cambrian, not in the Triassic, not in the Pleistocene not the Devonian, but slap-bang in rocks of about the right age for the evolutionary prediction. And in the same general region of the globe.
<a href="http://www.freethought-web.org/ctrl/gould_leviathan.html" target="_blank">http://www.freethought-web.org/ctrl/gould_leviathan.html</a>
Are we to conclude that, okay, whales evolved, but bats (for which the fossil record is poor) did not?!

<a href="http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/collections/micro.html" target="_blank">http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/collections/micro.html</a>

or do a Google search for ‘microfossils’. Or ‘Precambrian fossils’. The depths of creationist ignorance knows no bounds.

Oolon

nogods4me

Gee I wonder if perhaps we should ask the same of the creationist.

Mr. Creationist:
Would you please provide the complete genealogical records of every person on earth from Adam and Eve thru today 6/24/2002. I am particularly interested in the names and lineages of the wife of Cain, and the other progeny of Adam. In addition I would appreciate a manifest for Noah's Ark as well. Thank you for your time. You may send then to me via email at sauceforthegoose.com

[ June 21, 2002: Message edited by: nogods4me ]</p>

Quetzal

Bokonon

I thought that stupid thing looked familiar. <a href="http://www.evcforum.net/ubb/Forum10/HTML/000014-2.html#22" target="_blank">Here's an almost identical argument</a>. Now I'm not saying that your interlocuteur got the argument from the same place, but it sure looks similar.

Heading to Hell

Hmm. Bokonon, I think you do not comprehend the timescale involved here. There is good evidence (which, yes, I will find for you if you ask for it) that life has been around for 3 billion years. Now, assume fossilizable life (ie not bacteria) has been around for 1 billion years. There have been an inconceivable number of organisms on this planet, and only a microscopically small proportion of them have ever been fossilized. On average, a fossil appears for every group about every hundred thousand years. That's five hundred times longer than Ol' J has been knocking around. Plenty of time for enormous evolutionary change.

And how does your creationist view fit dinosaurs in, anyway?
Regards.

scigirl

Heh, interesting name for an atheist!

I think Bokonon is in fact not a creationist, but rather arguing with one, and that post was an example of the creationist argument. (Correct me if I'm wrong B!)

Welcome to II btw - you may want to introduce yourself <a href="http://iidb.org/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=forum&f=43" target="_blank">here</a>. Enjoy the boards!

scigirl

Koyaanisqatsi

Wow, that's incredible that something that actually happened was that narrow!

Like winning the lottery! Oh, wait, don't people win the lottery every day?

Well, then, that's like saying, the chances of my typing coherent symbols into a mass communication device and having there be another sentient being out there hooked up to the same mass communication device who was capable of correctly interpreting those symbols in order to respond to me are astronomical, therefore no such sentient being could possibly exist beside myself and typing coherent symbols is comprelkaknmn e ;hal;eleljae.

Post hoc, ergo proptor hoc, doo dah, doo dah!

Everybody sing!

Mageth

Anyone have any fossils of a microscopic organism? Anyone?

Ever hear of stromatolites? There's are some from Australia which are between 2.5-3.5 billion years old (anyone know of what the commonly accepted oldest fossil is? My guess the 3.5b year old one might be it...)

<a href="http://www.mnh.si.edu/museum/VirtualTour/Tour/First/Early/early2.html" target="_blank">3.5b yr. old stromatolite</a>

Go to google and do a search on "stromatolite" for a ton of references and images.

[ June 21, 2002: Message edited by: Mageth ]</p>

nogods4me

Joan Collins?

beausoleil

That's what is currently accepted. Evidence for older life is isotopic rather than fossils. It dates back to the end of the lunar cataclysm.

<a href="http://www.brookes.ac.uk/geology/rock.html" target="_blank">http://www.brookes.ac.uk/geology/rock.html</a>

Bokonon

Look back. I came here around April I think. I took May off cause I devoted to much time to reading this forum and fell behind in schooling. While not quite a regular, I'm no newbie. I've been lurking, just not posting. But thank you for the welcome anyway.