Mageth

I asked HOW you have the free will to do that. Not "show me you have free will". HOW do you have that free will to do more than produce offspring.

Dolphins, chimps, gorillas, and baboons, among many other species, obviously do more than produce offspring. They play and exhibit emotions (happiness, fear, etc.) strikingly similar to ours. Another strawman.

And just a question for anyone, what other animals in this world do more than eat, sleep and breed?

Dolphins, chimps, gorillas, and baboons, among many others.

Also, what makes us different from other animals who only eat, sleep and breed? Why should/can we do more than them? That is what I, as a creationist, ask atheists.

In the first place, it's not true that all other species only eat, sleep and breed. Do a little research on chimpanzee or baboon culture, would you?

Our brains have evolved beyond those of other species. We've developed the capacity for language and for more complex and abstract thought than other species. With such a powerful brain, we've developed the ability to ask such questions as "why?" With such a complex, amazing brain, why shouldn't we do more than other species?

the atheistic viewpoint I was going for was that we are merely an evolved form, not much different from all other species. And therefore we just want to pass on genes and reproduce.

Once again, the Appeal to Nature.

To more correctly state this in a form I might provisionally agree with:

We are an evolved form, not much different from some other species. Therefore, we may pass on our genes through reproduction. However, we are not limited by nature to only reproduce and have no other aspirations or goals, nor are we required by nature to pass on our genes.

tribalbeeyatch

All of them, basically.

hezekiah jones

Originally posted by LadyShea
What's an Eagel?

That's a Chrysler built on Friday afternoon shift.
Probably has an empty beer can in the rocker panel.

Ensign Steve

???

That power is innate in me. I was born with it. Nothing had to "give" it to me.

As a theist, what gives you that power?

Mageth

As an atheist, what gives you the power to decide what your point in life is?

I do. Why would I want to let some external influence decide for me?

If you are just another animal which evolutionists should think, I mean, we got here because animals had a lot of sex,

That must really excite you, esp. if it was heterosexual sex. Don't ever watch any videos of a group of bonobos, though.

and that's the only reason humans are here, that means your point in life is to continue the cycle and reproduce. Anything else would be a defect.

Get off this idiodic Appeal to Nature fallacy already, would you? If that was Shakespeare's only point in life, we wouldn't have his works. If that was Einstein's only point in life, we wouldn't have the theories of Relativity. Lots of people come up with lots of different "points" for their lives than just fucking. Sheesh.

Now, notice that I DO NOT think that being infertile is a defect. I am merely arguing on different grounds than I believe. I think this is something that you all do not understand. For you to understand how I am attacking this issue or my point of view, you must first understand the above paragraph.

So your point is to troll?

If you have a different point of view or some other motive for arguing this way, post it and quick screwing around.

Eagel4Jesus

Daleth - brain size has been proven to hold no barring on intelligence. Dolphins and humans are considered the more intelligent species around, while blue whales and elephants have bigger brains but aren't considered extremely intelligent.

How did we get the capacity for language?

I asked the question about other species doing more than eat, sleep and sex just for my own knowledge.

Matt

Doubting Didymus

Wrong. Very wrong. Completely wrong, in fact. The truth is that macroevolution doesn't mean anything you would even recognise. It's about the effect of large scale patterns on the course of evolution. It's about speciation, but it doesn't mean speciation specifically. It's also about the influence of ecological principles, geology, and still more advanced concepts than I think we even understand. It's NOT about "one sort of thing changing into a different sort of thing". That's the childish oversimplistic definition that leading creationist preachers made up. It's an insult to biology to suggest that it would use such a worthless subjective distinction.

I really shouldn't blame you, as this misconception is lamentably widespread. However, consider yourself corrected henceforth.

Ensign Steve

It's not the size that counts. The brain's structure makes a big difference.

Sensitive creationists, cover your eyes. There are some big grown-up words coming. IT EVOLVED!

PS: How come you haven't answered my question?

Mageth

How did we get the capacity for language?

In short, like ever other capacity we have, we started out small (with simple communication, as is exhibited in many other species) and evolved the capacity for language over a long period, which either contributed to our increasing brain complexity, resulted from our increasing brain complexity, or more than likely a bit of both.

The Lone Ranger

To quote Monty Python, an argument is "a connected series of statements to establish a definite proposition." What you're saying bears no resemblence to an argument.

This is not in any way meant to sound mean-spirited, by the way. My point is that if you have a case to make, you can't expect anyone to take your claims seriously unless you actually make your case. You might want to read up on basic logic.

Quote:

As an atheist, what gives you the power to decide what your point in life is?

A functioning brain.

Quote:

If you are just another animal which evolutionists should think, I mean, we got here because animals had a lot of sex, and that's the only reason humans are here, that means your point in life is to continue the cycle and reproduce. Anything else would be a defect.

Non sequitur.

Quote:

Now, notice that I DO NOT think that being infertile is a defect. I am merely arguing on different grounds than I believe.

You're not arguing at all. You're stating completely unjustified opinions. There's a difference. You also show no conception whatsoever of the point of view you claim to be "arguing" from.

Quote:

I think this is something that you all do not understand. For you to understand how I am attacking this issue or my point of view, you must first understand the above paragraph.

With respect, the problem here is that you don't have the slightest comprehension of the point of view from which you're supposedly arguing.

It makes you look insufferably arrogant at best, and utterly foolish at worst.

Cheers,

Michael