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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lane3 who wrote (92644)	12/28/2004 7:35:17 PM
From: cosmicforce	Respond to of 793754

<And sloppy English usage complicates the problem.> I believe that! <g> I think there are two types of "belief" and there is a steep gradient between them, maybe even an asymptote. There are things I believe like it is unlikely that a fossil hippotamus will arise from Paleozoic sediments. Such a "belief" is really a probability assessment (in this case 99.99% or so that I'm sure of the *no hippo hypothesis*, as it were). And there are those beliefs someone would have about where their dead granny may be which presumably they wouldn't set odds on or would give a great many "nines" to ... These types of "belief" are VERY, VERY different. One is refutable at a low probablility (Darwin) and the other is not.

To: Lane3 who wrote (92644)	12/28/2004 7:53:12 PM
From: epicure	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793754

There are many people who are part of the problem, when it comes to our society's illiteracy in terms of science, and I certainly offer no excuses for people who take science to their bosom as a religion. I don't recommend curing the problem by becoming even more illiterate. Can't see that as a good solution. Feel good it may be; appeasement it may be; but a solution to ignorance it ain't.

To: Lane3 who wrote (92644)	12/28/2004 8:06:31 PM
From: Ilaine	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 793754

I am headed to the public library to get a book or two, and have added Dembski's "Intelligent Design" to the list. What the hey, it's free. You might find this anecdote interesting: When I was in high school, I dated a guy whose dad was an important research geologist for a petroleum company, but also a fundamentalist. He honestly believed that the fossil record had been created by the Devil to tempt mankind (or maybe by God to test mankind, I really don't remember at this far remove). Nevertheless, he used the existing fossil record as part of his analysis of where oil fields were likely to occur. He did not have to believe that it was naturally occurring in order to do his job. Ironically, years later, one of my boyfriend's best friends was a leader in the fight against teaching creationism in Louisiana.