dad said:
You can't demonstrate it doesn't.
It's not up to me to demonstrate it doesn't. It's up to you to demonstrate it does, since you claim it. I can claim that there's an astrological aspect to something, but that doesn't shift the onus of proof onto you to demonstrate that there's not. The onus of proof remains on me to demonstrate that it does, just as the onus of proof remains on you to demonstrate a spiritual aspect that you claim.
dad said:
At least I have God's word for it
No, you don't. You have your own interpretation of a particular holy text. Of course, there are any number of other holy texts, and any number of interpretations of the particular holy text you use. That doesn't make your interpretation of that one holy text 'God's word'.
dad said:
as well as all the same evidence you have, which fits as well
"Fits"? Do you mean "is not contradicted by the claim that there is a spiritual aspect?" Then yes, it fits. It also 'fits' the claim that there is an astrological aspect, or the claim that elves directed the whole process. That's not enough.
dad said:
The water cycle is something we know, and can see. Ever since the flood, anyhow, it works that way.
The water cycle is something science has worked out - just like every other physical process science has analysed. Once upon a time, there were things we didn't know about the water cycle...and claiming a 'spiritual aspect' to it then simply because there were aspects of it we didn't understand was as invalid as claiming a 'spiritual aspect' to evolution because there are aspects of it we don't understand is now.
dad said:
Seeing a rock, and assigning age to it is different by far! (or a fossil).
No, it's not. Both are done by using the scientific method, and both yield answers and solutions using that method, without any 'spiritual aspect'.
dad said:
The way we do it is look at present physical only processes, then mentally extrapolate them back into an imagined far past, as if thats all there ever was or will be!
No, we mentally extrapolate using what we can reasonably assume to be the case given our current situation, unless there is evidence that that situation changed at some time in the past. There is no asssumption that "that's all there ever was or will be". There is an assumption that, unless there is evidence to the contrary, that is all that played a part in the particular thing under study. It's the evidence to the contrary that you can't demonstrate.
Which is exactly the way ALL of science works. That's exactly the way we worked out the water cycle, and everything else that science has ever worked.
dad said:
No, it's not. I suggest you consult a dictionary and find out the meaning of the word 'religion'.
dad said:
That is belief in the physical only in a time when there was more at work.
No, it is belief in the physical - which we know exists and has an effect. You claim that the physical isn't all that had an effect, but you have not - and cannot - demonstrate this.
Again, it's the same as the water cycle. We determined how it worked based on the physical. No assumption that that's all there was is necessary; all that is necessary is an investigation given that the physical exists (which, of course, we all know it does).
dad said:
They can not say how the first lifeform on earth appeared. (granny). Likewise they cannot say how the little speck sized hot soup big bang in it's earliest stage came to be. Where did it 'magically' come from? To me, that would be important, you know, since the whole universe was said to be in it!
Here you're simply resorting to the god of the gaps. Because there are aspects of our universe we don't currently understand, you immediately insist that there is a spiritual aspect that science doesn't address and so it will be forever flawed. This is simply not valid, for all the reasons that the god of the gaps notion has been dismissed in the past. Thousands of years ago, I can imagine you doing precisely the same thing to the question of where the rain comes from, and insisting that because we didn't know, there was a spiritual aspect of which we were ignorant and unless we incorporated this spiritual aspect into science, we would never know. It wouldn't have been valid then, and it's not valid now. This is your box.
dad said:
A supernatural aspect is universally accepted
No, it's not. Millions don't accept it. Many more do, but the fact that millions don't means it's not 'universally accepted'.
dad said:
and known worldwide by billions.
Believed worldwide by billions. Not
known. There is a difference.
dad said:
To stick our head in the sand and deny it is a mentally dangerous game.
To claim it without evidence is a mentally dangerous game.
And, again, the issue isn't the existence of the spiritual. It's the claimed 'spiritual aspect' to evolutionary theory. Claiming that the spiritual exists is something of a red herring here, because even if it does, that is no indication that there is a 'spiritual aspect' to evolutionary theory, any more that it is an indication that there is a 'spiritual aspect' to the water cycle.
dad said:
The bible also provides wonderful insight into our orgins.
Many religious texts provide 'insight into' (for which, read 'make claims regarding') our origins. So what? Without empirical verification, the claims of the bible are of no more use than the claims of any other religious text. I know you (being a christian) are more inclined to believe them, but that is beside the point.
dad said:
By the way, I don't think there had to be any evolution at all. Simply a creation, and if any evoluting or adapting was needed, it was under His direction, using His creation.
'Had' to be any evolution at all? I don't know what that means. The fact remains that there was, and still is, evolution. Whether or not it was under his direction is moot; it existed and exists.
dad said:
Most of the evolution stuff is bull, just imagination anyhow!
Yeah, those silly scientists, sharing a common delusion for the last hundred years.
It's kind of remarkable, actually. For over a hundred years, virtually all of the world's scientists - christian, atheist, hindu, muslim - they've all shared this same delusion.
dad said:
The fossil record speaks to me of a migration outward from eden, not of some creatures evolving to others!
I can say that it speaks to me of a bunch of animals arriving here in spaceships last Tuesday, but that's pretty useless. The fossil record supports evolutionary theory; it does not support 'migration outward from eden'.
dad said:
The kind of evolving or adapting I'm talking about is something like say, all 30 some odd species of tigers originally coming from one pair. In a merged world, with the spiritual this was easy.
Again, you don't need the spiritual to account for this. It is, in fact, precisely what standard evolutionary theory predicts.
dad said:
No. But God does, compared to what He knows!
Great. When god starts posting here, we'll address that. At the moment, you're posting. Do you claim that all of science is foolishness? If so, how on earth is all this 'foolishness' so successful, so accurate? How has 'foolishness' led to all that science has accomplished?
dad said:
Can't you catch the drift here? Any bits that relate to real present physical are fine. It's when they try to ignore the coming and former (I say) not only physical universe that they run into trouble!
Here we are again, with you postulating something for which you provide no evidence at all. What you call 'physicalonly' science has achieved huge successes in allowing us to understand our world and predict its behaviour. It has succeeded in physics, chemistry, biology...every discipline. But you want to claim that - in certain areas which conflict with your religious belief - it's inherently flawed because it doesn't take into account the spiritual. But you can't evidence this flaw, and you can't evidence that this spiritual is required in order for science to continue to succeed.
dad said:
The religious bits, trying to carry over the present physical only where it did not exist!
I don't know what this means.
dad said:
I believe inventions are very often inspired, for good or evil. This adds a spiritual aspect here as well, that you can't see or detect!
Again, you claim something but provide absolutely no evidence for it whatsoever. I can claim there's an astrological aspect to all inventions, that you can't see or detect. But it's a pretty useless claim unless I can support it. I can't, just as you can't support your claim above.
dad said:
One way to tell, is like music, if we want to know if it's good or bad. How does it make us feel? Uplifted, or sad and depressed. Good, positive, or horrible, fearful, confusing, bad? Same with gizmos. Like a nuclear bomb, does it help mankind? Or kill, destroy, maim, etc? Computers? Well, they can be used either way, and many of these things fulfil prophesy about the end time 'knowlege shall be increased'.
One way to tell
what?
dad said:
On the contrary, it's the severely limited onlyphysics types who are anti science! (at least the most of it they refuse to learn about)
No, it's not. Science excludes the spiritual; all it can study is the physical. Sorry, but that's just what science is. The 'onlyphysics' types are the ones doing science; people trying to talk of some spiritual dimension aren't doing science. That's not to say that there isn't merit to claims of a spiritual dimension - it's just to say that those claims aren't scientific claims.
See, you talk of people being 'anti-science' by being 'onlyphysics' types. But what you mean is 'anti-an-amalgamation-of-science-and-the-spiritual-that-I'd-like-to-call-science'. But if you amalgamate science and the spiritual (whether that would be worthwhile or not), you don't get science. You get something else, because science studies only the physical.
It's as if I declared that religion should include baseball scores, and then claimed that those who talked of religion without talking of baseball scores weren't really talking about religion at all. That's nonsense, because religion has nothing to do with baseball scores. I could create some blend of the two (perhaps), but it wouldn't be religion. You can created some blend of science and spirituality, but the result won't be science.
dad said:
Accept the good, eshew the evil, you bet!
Nobody's talking about 'good' or 'evil'. We're talking about accurate and inaccurate. As long as science doesn't tread on your religious toes, you think it's just fine. As soon as it does, you want it to change into your 'spiritualscience'. Sorry, but that's not valid.
dad said:
I certainly wouldn't give it first place, or worship it above all!
That's good, because nobody I've ever heard of does so.
dad said:
Especially the in box stuff!
What you call 'the in the box' stuff is all that science is. As soon as it steps outside the box, it stops being science.
dad said:
Getting beyond the horrid limitations of the present little physical only knowlege of choice will yeild vast treasures of hitherto undreamed of knowledge that will answer every question!
That's a religious claim which may be correct (although, again, there's no evidence that it is - in fact, there's circumstantial evidence to the contrary, since it is science that has yielded the vast treasures of knowledge that we have), but it's completely beside the point. You haven't - and can't - demonstrate that, regarding evolution (or anything else science studies), there is any spiritual aspect that exists that provides answers science cannot.
dad said:
What's lacking in the box you ask? God, for one thing! All the mysteries of the universe for another, just waiting to be discovered!
Yet religion can't discover the most basic facts about our world. It's amazing that all the 'mysteries' that religion discovers can't be verified...except by that religion.
dad said:
Our departed loved ones, for example can not dwell in the physical only either, neither can eternal life! Miracles are from outside the box, and so much more. We need to step outside the box, because it is going 6 feet under! Why put up with that?!
Now you're firmly into religious prosletyzing, which is not relevant to the issue under discussion. However, as to 'why put up with that' - because there's no evidence that there's anything else.