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I think we can have fairly high confidence in the human intellect even though it's development was driven by specifically evolutionary pressures focused on reproduction. Here is my reasoning: it seems eminently reasonable to assumed that mental machinery that is evolved to help us make enough sense of the world to survive and reproduce, also has broader application. Loosely stated, developing the capacity solve problems related to survival in mating may have secondary benefits for solving other categories of problems.
Yep. Reality beats anyone's reasoning. Sorry about that.
Problem solving alone isn't sufficient, the issue is whether or not selection pressures would lead to conforming to reality or lead to specialized distortions that increase breeding fitness. Reality-reflection and truth-finding don't necessarily improve fitness, in a number of different ways. So what we would actually expect is highly specialized reasoning abilities that serve a specific reproductive function, and not global truth-finding or reality-reflecting functions. And as I said, this isn't an entirely hypothetical issue as there have been simulations run that confirm the objection.
You were just complaining that it is pragmatic. Make up your mind.
If you were right, then the Sun would orbit the Earth, black people would have a genetic character making them fit to be the servants of white people, and lightning would be God tossing punishment at people he hates. All positions held by those who think the Bible contradicts science.
Show me where the Bible says black people are intellectually and spiritualy inferior to other people. That's the foundation of YEC. But that's not something God or science are responsible for.
But isn't your position based on an implicit assumption that the mental machinery that has evolved to promote survival and reproduction does not confer, as a kind of collateral effect, the capabilities to develop models of the world that reflect reality.
The issue is a matter of explanation of a state of affairs, not an objection to our capabilities. Perhaps an example would make the issue clearer, perception of danger. For one species, boldness might be central to their reproductive strategy so misperceiving dangers as being less dangerous than they are in fact would increase the fitness of such an animal. Alternatively, an animal might have a strategy that relies on secrecy and so misperceiving things as more dangerous would be advantageous. Accurately representing situations isn't ncessarily going to increase fitness, and in many cases misperceptions and misunderstandings increase fitness. So what we would expect are not the development of a globally reliable truth-finding or reality-mapping function, but one that is tailored to whatever niche breeding strategy the species has fallen into.
It goes beyond that, because there are good reasons that strong preferences for various biases and cognitive distortions would be preferential to any sort of accurate reflection of reality. If our sole recourse is the theory of evolution, we're left with a difficult question of why we believe our modeling functions are trustworthy or that our sensations provide us with an overall accurate reflection of the external world. Truth-finding through logical analysis and inference as a general function doesn't seem to be directly linkable to selection pressures.
Actually, a lot of evolution happens that way. The evidence indicates that feathers evolved as a means of insulation, and later became useful as display, and then flight.
Yes @The Barbarian is most informative, sadly the knowledge falls on deaf ears to those who need the education.
Martin Luther and Calvin, for example..
Often the Hamites, especially the Negroes, have become actual personal servants or even slaves to the others. Possessed of a genetic character concerned mainly with mundane matters, they were eventually displaced by the intellectual and philosophical acumen of the Japhethites and the religious zeal of the Semites.”
Because those are misinterpretations that have been decisively refuted by evidence for hundreds of years. Although many YECs have endorsed Morris' racism until very recently.
Science doesn't deny the supernatural or miracles. You've got that wrong, too.
Hitler and his henchmen praised American eugenicists like creationist William Tinkle for their help. But Darwinists like Reginald Punnett decisively debunked the whole idea, showing that besides being morally objectionable, it was scientifically unsupportable. Would you like me to show you some of that?Now ... this book ...
... that's different.
Yes. See above. Would you like me to show you some more? I realize that many, maybe most YECs have rejected the racist origins of their beliefs. But there it is.
You do realize you're arguing with a guy who thinks Adam spoke Jacobean English, right? There's not really enough common ground among his prior commitments and (y)ours to make any headway. You'd have better odds of explaining these things to Coco the gorilla and having them take.
I'm not sure there's enough distinction between Independent Baptists and YEC for that to matter much in this context.
As expected.
I suppose she might have been. THough I'm not sure she could express as much with her 1000 word vocabulary.
