{"id":1533,"date":"2009-08-03T13:55:33","date_gmt":"2009-08-03T20:55:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/canitz.org\/?p=150"},"modified":"2009-08-03T13:55:33","modified_gmt":"2009-08-03T20:55:33","slug":"creationism-and-other-bedtime-stories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/essays.rsree.com\/index.php\/2009\/08\/03\/creationism-and-other-bedtime-stories\/","title":{"rendered":"Creationism and other Bedtime Stories"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Over the years I have watched \u2013 somewhat bemused, I must admit \u2013 the ongoing debate between the proponents of the theory of evolution and those who hold that everything that exists today is the instantaneous product of an act of creation by something or another, typically a super natural being of sorts (I have no idea what that means \u2013 and those that believe this don\u2019t know what that means either, although they would say that they do \u2013 but as they are unable to demonstrate in any form shape or fashion what it is that they are talking about, it comes down to a leap of faith in the end, and that seems to be the full extent of it. )<\/p>\n

This debate is really about the distinction between theory and fantasy \u2013 between a descriptive account attempting to relate certain aspects of our observations of the physical world in some coherent and logical fashion, and a fantastic tale pulled out of a hat, a superstition gone rampant, folklore of the most primitive kind, and at best a naive belief in the order of a bedtime story for those who really don’t want to think about such things …<\/p>\n

The premise of evolution is that \u2013 as a process \u2013 it can be applied consistently to give an account of a range of observations related to such things as the fossil record and the development of species. It describes the development of organic life over time, and draws conclusion about the process that underlies it in a compelling manner. It follows observation, not faith, and as such it is \u2013 as a theory \u2013 subject to continuous revision and refinement, and has stood up well over time. It is plausible account of some intrinsic biological process that brought us here as a distinct species, regardless of the question as to why we are here. Those are different issues. Evolution does not explain itself \u2013 why it is present in the first place \u2013 what motivates it \u2013 or what its aims are. But just because it cannot account for itself in these terms does not invalidate its application to the observable world \u2013 it simply is, like the world is \u2013 and everything in it. As such it does not remove the mystery of the world \u2013 that is not the function of the theory of evolution, and it can no more account for that aspect of existence than the childish claims of creationism.<\/p>\n

If creationism can be accused of anything \u2013 other than making up stories \u2013 it is intellectual dishonesty. Someone might well be a creationist while basing their entire lives on the principles of scientific methodology \u2013 that is to say, everything they do or say is a function of astute observation and sound reasoning , of reaching conclusions based on cause and effect, and the subsequent predictability of events. This is how they plan their \u00a0daily routines, their economic decision, their careers, their lives .<\/p>\n

In that context, creationists\u00a0 are thoughtful,\u00a0 rational people. Yet, they abandon all of that when it comes to considering the larger context for this and accept some naive and simplistic account in the order of a\u00a0 fairy-tale<\/em> that is entirely without merit..<\/p>\n

This as opposed to examining the process that brought us here with the same intellectual tools that they apply to their daily lives.\u00a0 To adopt the latter approach makes one look at the world with eyes wide open in absolute wonder and \u2013 to my mind \u2013 enhancing the miracle of the universe infinitely more than reducing it to some magical act by mystical beings.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Over the years I have watched \u2013 somewhat bemused, I must admit \u2013 the ongoing debate between the proponents of the theory of evolution and those who hold that everything that exists today is the instantaneous product of an act … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[479],"tags":[85,125,202,397,434],"class_list":["post-1533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-philosophy-science-religion","tag-creationism","tag-evolution","tag-intellectual-dishonesty","tag-super-natural-beings","tag-theory-versus-fantasy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/essays.rsree.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/essays.rsree.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/essays.rsree.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essays.rsree.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essays.rsree.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1533"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/essays.rsree.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1533\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/essays.rsree.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essays.rsree.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essays.rsree.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}