Intelligent Design vs Evolution

"To suppose that the eye with all its inimitable contrivances for adjusting the focus to different distances, for admitting different amounts of light, and for the correction of spherical and chromatic aberration, could have been formed by natural selection, seems, I freely confess, absurd in the highest degree. When it was first said that the sun stood still and the world turned round, the common sense of mankind declared the doctrine false; but the old saying of Vox populi, vox Dei, as every philosopher knows, cannot be trusted in science.

Reason tells me, that if numerous gradations from a simple and imperfect eye to one complex and perfect can be shown to exist, each grade being useful to its possessor, as is certainly the case; if further, the eye ever varies and the variations be inherited, as is likewise certainly the case; and if such variations should be useful to any animal under changing conditions of life, then the difficulty of believing that a perfect and complex eye could be formed by natural selection, though insuperable by our imagination, should not be considered as subversive of the theory."

- The Origin of Species, Charles Darwin, 1859, p 133.


The evolution of the eye is really not as complicated as many would have you believe. And no - these things to not have to all arrive at the same time. Vision began with simple light detection, then directional light detection which got gradually more and more accurate. 20 minutes on wikipedia will make you wonder why people have such a hard time grasping this.

Okay, I, too, am in search of the truth. Yes, I believe in God, whoever He or They maybe. But the paramount question lurking in my mind is: Where is He? Where was God during the Holocaust or when these happened: rape? Maybe the alien God whom Cephyr13 is talking about is paramountly intelligent but has no morals. Any alien God is amoral. I have a question which I would post as another topic: Can intelligence be found in non-living matter? I mean creative intelligence, not programmed intelligence.

As can been seen from the above quote and a careful reading of Darwin's explanation in "Organs of Extreme Perfection and Complication" he never really answers the problem. In fact, regarding how the eye got started in his book Origin of Species (Darwin, 1999, p. 158) he avoids it, Darwin states,

"How a nerve comes to be sensitive to light hardly concerns us more than how life itself originated."

What kind of answer is that? It sounds similar to the WT teachings. He uses all these sophisticated words but never explain it in simple terms step by step, showing edividence, if its that simple.

Pete

so how did the eye get here through ID? magic?

sarah

I guess the "EYES" have it. LOL

so how did the eye get here through ID? magic?

sarah

Actually, I prefer to leave it to all possibilities. I wouldn't say it was definitely ID nor evolution. I do believe in both. I just don't think that saying that everything was definitely evolution without recreating it in a lab is real science. That is not real science. With real science you can recreate it in a lab. To me ID and some of E's teachings are both the same, base on belief. Do you know how many times science had to make adjustments. Why can't evolutionist be wrong sometimes. What makes them 100% right with all their theories. Why can't they broaden their minds and look at all possibilities when they can't solve a problem? With the billions of galaxies why can't they think beyond earth that maybe we didn't evolve here? I can't wait until life is found elsewhere. I think it will revolutionize both evolution and religion. Many are stuck in one belief they can't let go. I like the quote Sarah. We shouldn't get stuck on one thing.

To perceive the world differently, we must be willing to change our belief system . . .
-William James


Pete

Okay, I, too, am in search of the truth. Yes, I believe in God, whoever He or They maybe. But the paramount question lurking in my mind is: Where is He? Where was God during the Holocaust or when these happened: rape?

Gilbert

I don't think the stories in the bible are true. Some of the stories were probably made up to control women. I also think what people think of God is just a creation of their imagination. What ever is out there is not what our tiny brain can take in if there is something. Or if their is some kind thing that we can call God, maybe this is hell. Our bodies is our prison. I leave all options open.

Pete

I also preferr to live in possibilities,not limiting myself to one way of believing.

Change the way you see things,and the things you see will change.

~Dr. Wayne Dyer

Lisa

"But the old saying of Vox populi, vox Dei, as every philosopher knows, cannot be trusted in science." - The Origin of Species, Charles Darwin, 1859, p 133.

I disagree with Charles Darwin at that point. I believe in the old proverb Vox populi, vox Dei, translated, "The voice of the people is the voice of God," which is of unknown origin. The earliest "reference to the expression is in a letter from Alcuin to Charlemagne in 798, although it is believed to have been in earlier use." (Wikipedia) The proverb somehow stood the test of time and survived up to this day.

Early philosophers couldn't claim to have a good grasp of science. They along with early scientists were still in infantile stage. Modern science as we know today came in only at the dawn of the 20th century. Besides philosophy and natural science are two different things. The former deals more with logic while the latter deals with observable physical, natural laws. So that even if philosophers argue endlessly whether or not God exists, scientists will still look for undeniable, observable facts or evidence. One more thing, to whom was Darwin referring as God during his time?