omnipotent beings discussion

[manlyfan76]

G'day Manlyfan,

Grab a coffee...I feel like typing...hahaha!!

Mate, right from the get go...I like myself the way I am. I like a laugh, a drink, a naughty and I don't mind a blue. A lot of Christians, atheists, agnostics and other religious people are the same. That's what digging around really opened my eyes to. It's all mirrors. Everyone mirrors everyone (if that makes sense) The whole show here (life) is a parody.

Atheists go about their business with the same fervour and bullheadedness that the religious folk do. Human rights activists go just as hard in the efforts to right the wrongs committed as the committers of the wrongs do. Law enforcement battles crime and drugs just as hard as the criminals fight back.

It goes around and around in every aspect of life. Cause and effect. Who stamps out who? What is right? What is truth? It's all subjective. Christians will argue the point of subjective truth and claim there are objective truths and moral absolutes. There is merit in that argument. Atheists mirror this by saying it all boils down to time, evolution and the need for the group/tribe to do the right thing by each other in order to ensure they not only survive, but thrive. Makes sense.

I didn't grow up anything remotely like a Christian (by a long, long way lol) I went to public school for the footy, fights and girls. I've never been to a church service and I see no sense in ever attending one. I've read Dawkins, Hitchens and Harris. I've read The Grand Design by Stephen hawking (Interesting side note; in this book Hawking announces that philosophy is dead and that science had killed it)

On the flip side...if I could...I'd recommend that you read The Irrational Atheist by Vox Day. That should be compulsory reading for ALL agnostics. Vox is a Christian, but this book is not about god or trying to convince or convert anyone. It's a systematic pull apart of the new atheists views and books using history and statistics. And he goes deep to the root of all the atheistic arguments. He is one Christian that takes people on and not only challenges their views and statements...but proves them wrong point by point. You will find answers and questions about historical "atrocities" in this book. If you are truly agnostic (which I think is the only true standpoint we can have...I now class myself as one) it's a must read. I think you can find the intro on youtube (robotic voice...cringe) This book is full...and I mean FULL of references to historical evidence that you can check for yourself. Heaps of it is secular evidence.

I've also read, I Am That by Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj. Very interesting (if a little difficult at first) read. When you weigh it up with quantum physics it's even more interesting. Then again...if you weigh Jesus and his teachings up with quantum physics it's very interesting. Was he in India for those missing years between 12 and 30??

Christians, I've found, get defensive because of the snideness that comes with how questions are put to them. I reckon they view this...and how couldn't they...as the questioner assuming they are more intelligent. Childish stuff to get a bite like...Christians believe the earth is flat or that they believe neandertal weren't human. To read the bible (and you have, so you'll know) and come to the conclusion that they believe the earth is flat would be the same as saying pretty much everyone on earth today thinks the earth is flat. Why? Because of the speech we use..."People came from the four corners of the earth to watch the Olympics" and such. Also, christian scientists know full well that humans can't breed with animals...so they know through DNA that neandetal were fully human. Creationists believe they were the people of Noah's time.

To be truly or genuinely agnostic (which I view as very solid ground) you need to not only ask questions with respect...they need to not be preloaded with a countering belief. Then, when you get your answer, use unbiased techniques to research it. Any other approach is just wasting your time. To be truly agnostic...you are either an honest and unbiased searcher for the core reasons for any or all religions...or you need a "Who cares, I'll find out in the end...one way or another". I strongly recommend including atheism in that search. Not just what the atheistic high church pastors put in their books for their followers to blindly believe, because it suits their world view...see?...mirrors again!...but the historical evidence that screams atheism is not a good idea if you want freedom and justice for all.

Good luck on your journey, mate. I can honestly tell you that...after making fun of the religious...then wondering if I was silly to do so...then investigating for the truth...then marrying up religion and science...I realised you have to be hard with yourself. Really, really hard. It's easy to fall into the trap of looking for evidence to support your theory or current worldview. It's harder...but more rewarding to look at the big picture with a calm, nonjudgmental mindset. Some people find their truth and never go back to their old ways. Some arrive where they started. Some shoot off in totally different directions altogether.

What I found is that the whole show is nothing but a mirror maze. I think everyone might just have their own truth...and therefore destiny...which is fine. Agnosticism leads me to question or search...not so much the spiritual side of things, but the material side of things.

Strangely...I remember a quote YOU made on this site once. You said something along the line of "The only truth is in history" I'm sure that wasn't it exactly...but that is what it meant. I think you are correct with that! What we know for sure is what has already happened. History! That's why I find atheism so unappealing. Sorry to all the atheists.

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj would tell you that atheism is fine because atheism is true in the atheist's reality. Agnosticism is fine because agnosticism is true in the agnostic's reality. He believed it all to be....meh...because there is something else going on altogether that we don't get. I'll let you discover what he's talking about...if you want to investigate that. Or don't. That's fine!

As for me......I like myself the way I am. I like a laugh, a drink, a naughty and I don't mind a blue...although in truth...I'm probably getting a bit old for the latter. I'll still have a lash though lol. It's human nature

All very interesting points. What is jumping out to my biased (Jung inspired ) mind is your Shadow. Carl Jung speaks of our shadow. Basically we must all confront the monsters in us to be complete, you must look deep within and truly understand that you are the monster, accept it and then be able to control it. To admit you are indeed somewhat crazy and to embrace it, not push it away for those who only push away these things infact feed their shadow. Eventually the shadow becomes you and you are crazy, murderous or violent.
A question to ponder is while you love yourself, do you love all of yourself? Do you love whats in your shadow or do you try to push it down and never look at your shadow? Because your shadow is there, how big it is depends on how much light there is. (i can hear you saying "know thyself", wonder where that came from...)

A thought for those of very firm views one way or another.
I have a mind block on whos quote it is but: what you hate in someone else, you really hate in yourself.

The Jesus in india story makes a lot of sense. They had universities of sorts and his teachings / parables are more Buddhist than any of the previous religons of the middle east. There are some Indian stories that he was there too. One of the things i most admire in the bible is the way the jesus gets people to see the issue in their mind through his parables. Have a skim through this book if you want to see what i mean

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...Vaw2rAjAZRdVcDwa6N15T0GuF&cshid=1589195055028

[/URL]

There is alot of good to be found in hindu and Buddhism that the west would do well to learn from. i have taken on many teachings about the self, acceptance and helping others. -Side note have you seen how marvellous the ancient indian architecture is?

You come across as pretty firm in you definition of Atheism, and what they are like. Probably from the image the big name atheists portray, myself i know plenty who have no intrest in either defending, promoting or even talking about their non belief or anyones belief and why they are wrong. I dont believe there is a god. I do believe we are perceiving that we experiencing a physical reality and it is as such defined by physical rules, math, space, time etc. this makes a god hard to exist. { interesting that how you look for an answer <physics, maths, religon> is how you find the answer} - is irony ok in a spirtual discussion or did you miss it? Lol.
That said is it possible that a multiverse / Schroeders cat senario is possible? Sure it is.
Philosophy, to me, is basically just ideas and questions. Is it dead? Ill answer that with a question:
Does science follow philosophy or philosophy follow science?

You know the nicest religous discussions ive had are with the Jehovah witnesses, they are so patient and happy to let a discussion go anywhere and not get upset like a lot of catholics can.
I learnt early on that if you want to engage catholics in a religon debate you have to lead in with a few soft questions then double back.

Yours in faith....

 

[manlyfan76]

Perception does not equal reality. But perception can become a person’s reality because perception has a potent influence on how we look at reality. If this thread has shown anything...it's this! lol

Perception influences how we focus on, think about, remember, interpret, understand, decide about, and act on reality. In doing so, people tend to assume that how they perceive reality is an accurate representation of what reality truly is.

The obvious problem with this is that perceptions are usually warped in the first place by our genetic predispositions, past experiences, prior knowledge, emotions, preconceived notions, self-interest, and cognitive distortions.

When dealing with our own thinking...or when we are dealing with another person and their perception of reality (thinking) it's important to not assume that your perceptions are reality (just your reality).

Don’t hold your perceptions too tightly...they may be wrong. (admitting it takes courage)

Recognise the distortions within you that may warp your perceptions. (seeing them will better ground your perceptions in reality rather than the other way around).

Challenge your perceptions. (do they hold up under the microscope of reality?)

Be open to modifying your perceptions if the preponderance of evidence demands it. (rigidity of mind is far worse than being wrong)

Now...watch everyone totally ignore that advice, point fingers or raise an argument against it so they can stick solid to their own "perception" of reality. lol

The Yogi sat under a tree answering questions for the people of the town.
In the morning one young man went up to the wise yogi and asked "Is it true that there is a god?"
"yes" said the yogi and the man went away happy.
In the afternoon an older man went upto the wise yogi and asked: "is it true that there is no god?
"yes" said the yogi and the man went away happy.

 

[manlyfan76]

 

[Bring back the.... Biff?]

Whats more believable..
That we are created by an Almighty God created in his image and given the earth and all its creatures to rule over. To follow the path

Or.

(Correct me if i have got this wrong at all)
We are part of an undying star and we breathe in the fire of life and breathe out TREES.. and that we are related to every animal insect plant algae fungi etc and we take the world into our body with every mouth full of food and our bodies are swarming with microorganisms.

I dont say the following lightly.

I read the post you wrote then deleted calling my mother a whore in Arabic.
Took a screenshot. If i didnt care for Dan and this site you would be in court by now.
Ill put it down to youth and naivety. You will do well to avoid my posts from now on.

In court you say. Good luck with that. I use vpn Hells wrong with you.. ps i dont even know Arabic lol you will do well to avoid my posts. Good day

 

[Cioran]

Ah Atheism. As far as I know I am the only non atheist in the world. People have worshiped tens or even hundreds of thousands of gods down the centuries and I’m the only person I know who believes in all of them. I’m even building a step pyramid in the back yard and doing a night course in obsidian knife making.

may the love of the great koala guide your every breath.

 

[Cioran]

Whats more believable..
That we are created by an Almighty God created in his image and given the earth and all its creatures to rule over.

Or.

(Correct me if i have got this wrong at all)
We are part of an undying star and we breathe in the fire of life and breathe out TREES.. and that we are related to every animal insect plant algae fungi etc and we take the world into our body with every mouth full of food and our bodies are swarming with microorganisms.

Hi. We’ve all, in our own ways, been trying to stear you toward a joyful awareness of the wonders of oxygen metabolism, photosynthesis and Astro physics but you may be more comfortable with the same information if you found it in the bible.

So, grab your bible. Now turn to the index at the back. Look up oxygen, carbon, and iron. Go to the indicated pages. On those pages you will find references to the peer reviewed source documents on which the assertions in the bible are based. Go read those papers and articles. Easy Peasy.

When I was a kid we used to say “easy peasy japanesy”. What racist little turds we were. I grew up and realised that racial, cultural and religious divides are meaningless. Good people are good people. I’ve even met nice Eels supporters.

 

[Woodsie]

So you mock religions but believe in this dying star breathing trees etc what the heck Woodsie. Im actually stunned! How can you mock us when you believe in that.. wow wow wow wow wow!
Whats bleat like a wee bairn mean? and get what back you didn't respond to me after a kim jonged you for some reason.
Has this dying star thingy been proven or is it another theory?
Cheers
Sincerely yours
Biff.

Yes .. it is a universally accepted fact that the planets and moons were all formed by the coming together under gravity of the matter expelled from the explosion of dying stars .... and the air that you breathe, and what you exhale contain molecules and atoms that were not only once part of a star but also part of a plant... which same molecule and atom was once a part of an animal that decomposed into the soil .. etc etc ...

Bleat like a wee bairn ... means cry like a small baby ...

I did respond .... I said I don't care what you call me ...

 

[mozgrame]

All very interesting points. What is jumping out to my biased (Jung inspired ) mind is your Shadow. Carl Jung speaks of our shadow. Basically we must all confront the monsters in us to be complete, you must look deep within and truly understand that you are the monster, accept it and then be able to control it. To admit you are indeed somewhat crazy and to embrace it, not push it away for those who only push away these things infact feed their shadow. Eventually the shadow becomes you and you are crazy, murderous or violent.
A question to ponder is while you love yourself, do you love all of yourself? Do you love whats in your shadow or do you try to push it down and never look at your shadow? Because your shadow is there, how big it is depends on how much light there is. (i can hear you saying "know thyself", wonder where that came from...)

A thought for those of very firm views one way or another.
I have a mind block on whos quote it is but: what you hate in someone else, you really hate in yourself.

The Jesus in india story makes a lot of sense. They had universities of sorts and his teachings / parables are more Buddhist than any of the previous religons of the middle east. There are some Indian stories that he was there too. One of the things i most admire in the bible is the way the jesus gets people to see the issue in their mind through his parables. Have a skim through this book if you want to see what i mean

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...Vaw2rAjAZRdVcDwa6N15T0GuF&cshid=1589195055028

[/URL]

There is alot of good to be found in hindu and Buddhism that the west would do well to learn from. i have taken on many teachings about the self, acceptance and helping others. -Side note have you seen how marvellous the ancient indian architecture is?

You come across as pretty firm in you definition of Atheism, and what they are like. Probably from the image the big name atheists portray, myself i know plenty who have no intrest in either defending, promoting or even talking about their non belief or anyones belief and why they are wrong. I dont believe there is a god. I do believe we are perceiving that we experiencing a physical reality and it is as such defined by physical rules, math, space, time etc. this makes a god hard to exist. { interesting that how you look for an answer <physics, maths, religon> is how you find the answer} - is irony ok in a spirtual discussion or did you miss it? Lol.
That said is it possible that a multiverse / Schroeders cat senario is possible? Sure it is.
Philosophy, to me, is basically just ideas and questions. Is it dead? Ill answer that with a question:
Does science follow philosophy or philosophy follow science?

You know the nicest religous discussions ive had are with the Jehovah witnesses, they are so patient and happy to let a discussion go anywhere and not get upset like a lot of catholics can.
I learnt early on that if you want to engage catholics in a religon debate you have to lead in with a few soft questions then double back.

Yours in faith....

I mentioned Carl Jung years ago on here somewhere. I got howled down, LOL! I was attempting to show people some of the shadow behaviours that were being expressed back then...and are on full show in this, and other threads today.

Things like harshly judging others. Not realising it, but pointing out your own insecurities as flaws in others. Being quick tempered and snide with those you believe are intellectually inferior...this is the shadow’s way of compensating for one’s own feelings of helplessness in the face of greater force. A willingness to step on others to achieve one’s own ends and to try and self glorify themselves and celebrate their own perceived greatness. Unacknowledged biases and prejudices. The messiah complex...when people think they can act and say whatever they like because they believe it to be a genuine effort to save people and to get them to see the light...which is actually spiritual bypassing.

I also find it interesting that Jung believed in God. Richard Dawkins called his belief blind faith...but is that true? Was he crossing his fingers and saying prayers...or was there more to it?

Jung was quoted in a newspaper interview in 1955 - "All that I have learned has led me step by step to an unshakable conviction of the existence of God. I only believe in what I know. And that eliminates believing. Therefore I do not take his existence on belief – I know that he exists."

Doesn't seem like "blind faith". His work as a psychotherapist and his mythological research had convinced him of God’s existence. It was the overall "image" of God that Jung disagreed with. He believed the truth about God was extremely complex because his nature is beyond human comprehension. When trying to understand God...he believed that as humans we try to form an image, and that image would never be accurate.

Jung said - "Whatever I perceive from without or within is a representation or image… caused, as I rightly or wrongly assume, by a corresponding “real” object. But I have to admit that my subjective image is only grosso modo identical with the object…

Our images are, as a rule, of something… The God-image is the expression of an underlying experience of something which I cannot attain to by intellectual means."


Just on the India thing...Do you know the meaning of the word Christ? Christ comes from the Greek word Christos, meaning "the anointed one." Christos is the Greek version of the word Krsna. Hmmmm...

I don't know if you've ever had a look at the hare Krishna's and Abhay Charanaravinda Bhaktivedanta Swami...but here's a link to some work by Srila Prabhupada. It's the transcript of a walk/talk he had with Father Emmanuel Jungclaussen, a Benedictine monk from Niederalteich Monastery in west germany in 1974. It's interesting to read how they believe Christos, Christ and Krsna are all one.

I first read this in a book called, The Science of Self Realization by Srila Prabhupada… it's on the net now... The Hare Krsnas - Comparison of Major Religions - Understanding Krsna and Christ

 

[mozgrame]

The Yogi sat under a tree answering questions for the people of the town.
In the morning one young man went up to the wise yogi and asked "Is it true that there is a god?"
"yes" said the yogi and the man went away happy.
In the afternoon an older man went upto the wise yogi and asked: "is it true that there is no god?
"yes" said the yogi and the man went away happy.

A priest was riding into a small country town on horseback back in the early days. He spotted a farmer repairing a fence and stopped to ask him about the people of the town...hoping to get an idea about the quality of his new flock.

"What are the people like in this town?" asked the stern looking Father.

The farmer turned and looked the priest up and down..."What were the people like in your old town?" he asked in return.

"Oh...they were a sinful lot! Hardly a good soul amongst them." Said the father with poorly hidden disdain.

As he slowly turned back to his work the farmer commented over his shoulder..."Yeah...something tells me you'll find them the same here."

 

[mozgrame]

Ah Atheism. As far as I know I am the only non atheist in the world. People have worshiped tens or even hundreds of thousands of gods down the centuries and I’m the only person I know who believes in all of them. I’m even building a step pyramid in the back yard and doing a night course in obsidian knife making.

may the love of the great koala guide your every breath.

A STEP PYRAMID!??

I. Love. EXTRATERRESTRIALS!!!! (and hangman)

 

[Woodsie]

Whats more believable..
That we are created by an Almighty God created in his image and given the earth and all its creatures to rule over.

Or.

(Correct me if i have got this wrong at all)
We are part of an undying star and we breathe in the fire of life and breathe out TREES.. and that we are related to every animal insect plant algae fungi etc and we take the world into our body with every mouth full of food and our bodies are swarming with microorganisms.

Is this a trick question ??

 

[mozgrame]

Yes .. it is a universally accepted fact that the planets and moons were all formed by the coming together under gravity of the matter expelled from the explosion of dying stars .... and the air that you breathe, and what you exhale contain molecules and atoms that were not only once part of a star but also part of a plant... which same molecule and atom was once a part of an animal that decomposed into the soil .. etc etc ...

Bleat like a wee bairn ... means cry like a small baby ...

I did respond .... I said I don't care what you call me ...

Thought I'd give the pot a stir....

We're talking science here...not god. Don't get too excited people.

Not sure I'd say the nebula hypothesis is universally accepted. (N0 pun intended lol) There are some with doubts.

Some problems with it would be...It doesn't explain the formation of the sun. To form the sun, or any star, a cloud must be dense enough to collapse and compress the interior so that it becomes hot enough for nuclear fusion to start. But most gas clouds have a tendency to expand rather than contract.

When it comes to planets...angular momentum, gas giants, rocky planets, the sun's axial tilt all pose problems to the theory...and they have for a while.

Side note ; Do you think majority thinking is always correct thinking?

 

[Woodsie]

Thought I'd give the pot a stir....

We're talking science here...not god. Don't get too excited people.

Not sure I'd say the nebula hypothesis is universally accepted. (N0 pun intended lol) There are some with doubts.

Some problems with it would be...It doesn't explain the formation of the sun. To form the sun, or any star, a cloud must be dense enough to collapse and compress the interior so that it becomes hot enough for nuclear fusion to start. But most gas clouds have a tendency to expand rather than contract.

When it comes to planets...angular momentum, gas giants, rocky planets, the sun's axial tilt all pose problems to the theory...and they have for a while.

Side note ; Do you think majority thinking is always correct thinking?

It will do me .. until those with doubts have either enough evidence to disprove the current model .. Radiation Driven Implosion .... or prove a new one ... but isn't that the wonderful thing with science ...

No ... I don't think majority thinking is always correct ... I do think the % does increase given the qualifications of the group polled, but not always ... what is the qoute attributed to Einstein ... "you don't need a consensus to prove me wrong ... you just need one fact"

... or as Agent K said ... "a person is smart, people are stupid"

 

[Woodsie]

The Formation of Stars



Back to Gallery

Cepheus B, a molecular cloud located in our Milky Galaxy about 2,400 light years from the Earth, provides an excellent model to determine how stars are formed. This composite image of Cepheus B combines data from the Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Spitzer Space Telescope.

A molecular cloud is a region containing cool interstellar gas and dust left over from the formation of the galaxy and mostly contains molecular hydrogen. The Spitzer data, in red, green and blue shows the molecular cloud (in the bottom part of the image) plus young stars in and around Cepheus B, and the Chandra data in violet shows the young stars in the field.

The Chandra observations allowed the astronomers to pick out young stars within and near Cepheus B, identified by their strong X-ray emission. The Spitzer data showed whether the young stars have a so-called "protoplanetary" disk around them. Such disks only exist in very young systems where planets are still forming, so their presence is an indication of the age of a star system.

The new study suggests that star formation in Cepheus B is mainly triggered by radiation from one bright, massive star (HD 217086) outside the molecular cloud. According to the particular model of triggered star formation that was tested - called the radiation- driven implosion (RDI) model - radiation from this massive star drives a compression wave into the cloud triggering star formation in the interior, while evaporating the cloud's outer layers.

For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/chandra/multimedia/photo09-062.html.

The above article is from a NASA site .... please don't ask me whar any of it means ... but the final sentence is interesting ...

 

[Bring back the.... Biff?]

Is this a trick question ??

Not its legit. So do you breathe the trees out of your mouth or nostrils? Or..... ah hem.. ?

 

[Bring back the.... Biff?]

Hi. We’ve all, in our own ways, been trying to stear you toward a joyful awareness of the wonders of oxygen metabolism, photosynthesis and Astro physics but you may be more comfortable with the same information if you found it in the bible.

So, grab your bible. Now turn to the index at the back. Look up oxygen, carbon, and iron. Go to the indicated pages. On those pages you will find references to the peer reviewed source documents on which the assertions in the bible are based. Go read those papers and articles. Easy Peasy.

When I was a kid we used to say “easy peasy japanesy”. What racist little turds we were. I grew up and realised that racial, cultural and religious divides are meaningless. Good people are good people. I’ve even met nice Eels supporters.

You keep sliding away from my question and have so for days now so ill ask once more plus some new ones.

1. Why arent monkeys evolving into humans anymore? Did all the monkeys evolve or only the elite monkeys? If so what makes an elite monkey? Did monkeys have a freemason system? Hmmm

2. When you breathe out the trees... what kind of trees? And where do they come out of? Nose mouth or ah hem....

3. What's the name of this undying star so i can laugh i mean look it up.

4. Can you explain to me how this happened? This star and inhaling fire and etc how? I mean you mock religion but you believe in this unproven nonsensical excuse my language poppycock baloney!

Ps iv looked on YouTube no one is blowing out trees.. can you send a link?
Im very excited to learn about this father star and its name.

Cheers
Sincerely yours
Biff.

 

[Freddo]

Not its legit. So do you breathe the trees out of your mouth or nostrils? Or..... ah hem.. ?

According to urban dictionary: TO BLOW TREES means to smoke weed, bud, grass, cheeba... you know MARIJUANA.
Hope this helps.

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

Thought I'd give the pot a stir....

We're talking science here...not god. Don't get too excited people.

Not sure I'd say the nebula hypothesis is universally accepted. (N0 pun intended lol) There are some with doubts.

I couldn't help but notice, none of your posts actually mean anything (with possible exception the one about admitting you were a hooker)
It is something of a concern that in the midst of a global catastrophe (my word, official word is 'pandemic') one of ST's most verbose and enlightened members has, well, er ... not deigned to comment!
The virus is not of God's doing? OK! Nothing to do with religion? Marvelous!
But nevertheless, we have several threads running, how I wish you would guide us with your knowledge and wisdom. Even Biff has offered his thoughts, troubled times call for leadership, are you with us? Or are you merely a ghost*?


*polite term

 

[Cioran]

You keep sliding away from my question and have so for days now so ill ask once more plus some new ones.

1. Why arent monkeys evolving into humans anymore? Did all the monkeys evolve or only the elite monkeys? If so what makes an elite monkey? Did monkeys have a freemason system? Hmmm

2. When you breathe out the trees... what kind of trees? And where do they come out of? Nose mouth or ah hem....

3. What's the name of this undying star so i can laugh i mean look it up.

4. Can you explain to me how this happened? This star and inhaling fire and etc how? I mean you mock religion but you believe in this unproven nonsensical excuse my language poppycock baloney!

Ps iv looked on YouTube no one is blowing out trees.. can you send a link?
Im very excited to learn about this father star and its name.

Cheers
Sincerely yours
Biff.

Humans didn’t evolve from monkeys. We and the great apes share a common ancestor. Humans and monkeys are still subject to selective pressures determining survival and reproductive success. Every animal and every plant is still part of an evolving species.

Right now the survival and reproductive success of young humans is being determined by how well their immune system is able to cope with Coronavirus infections. The bubonic plague, smallpox, the measles and other infections have had the same effect in the past. It’s why the arrival of Europeans in the Americas and Australia was so disastrous for the first peoples. The Europeans had already undergone selection for resistance and the people who survived the infections and whose children came to make up most of the population carried several deadly diseases with impunity. The native people lacked immunity and were decimated.

When our modern human ancestors walked out of Africa 60 to 100 thousand years ago I’d like to think they looked like Maasai. Graceful, elegant people. They probably didn’t.What I do know is that they had a lot of pigment in their skin. You need a lot of pigment in your skin when you live in a hot, bright environment. If you don’t, too much UV gets through and you die of skin cancer.

Our ancestors made their way north into areas with less ambient light and this pigment became a disadvantage. Too little UV leads to vitamin D deficiency and rickets. Rickets kills the young before they can breed so there was a strong selective pressure to loose the pigment.

Natural selection only needs four things to function. Inheritance of traits. Excess production of young. Variation between offspring. And a selective pressure that results in some offspring being more likely to survive than others. When Darwin revealed this to church leaders they embraced it as the mechanism that God had created to run his planet. It’s only recently that Christians have felt threatened by the knowledge. Most Christians still don’t.

Did you ever hear the story of the moths in industrial Britain? No of course you didn’t. Anyway, after the introduction of coal power in Britain the air in some areas became so thick with coal dust that the trees turned black. The whiter a moth was the more it stood out from the black bark on which it perched and the quicker it was eaten by birds. Darker moths survived longer and their offspring eventually came to dominate the population. This went on generation after generation until the once white moths were black. After coal power died out and the dust cleared the black moths stood out more than the white ones and were eaten faster. Generation by generation, the moths turned white again. More than 100 different species of moths underwent this gradual transition from light to dark and back to light.

Yes I fart trees. You clearly didn’t look up photosynthesis and carbon metabolism.

May the love of the great koala be with you always.

 

[manlyfan76]

It will do me .. until those with doubts have either enough evidence to disprove the current model .. Radiation Driven Implosion .... or prove a new one ... but isn't that the wonderful thing with science ...

No ... I don't think majority thinking is always correct ... I do think the % does increase given the qualifications of the group polled, but not always ... what is the qoute attributed to Einstein ... "you don't need a consensus to prove me wrong ... you just need one fact"

... or as Agent K said ... "a person is smart, people are stupid"